Observations placeholder
Mudang spiritual experiences – A Dream of Holy things
Identifier
027164
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Korean Shamanism – Muism – Dr Kim Tae-kon
Mudang Chang, another subject of my individual research, has Sanshin (the mountain god) as her Momjushin. Specifically, thirty letters which she saw in the white sand during the process of becoming a mudang, are considered by her to be "gods" and therefore, for her, those thirty letters are deified.
She worships these 30 gods by placing them on her altar.
My research also revealed that when the mudang lm, from Inje, encountered god's entering her body, Ch'ilsongshin (the Seven Stars - the Big Dipper) appeared in her dream and told her the whereabouts of holy things (such as an hour glass shaped drum, cymbals, a bell and a miniature map).
She gained the spiritual power after she found those holy things, and since has attended Ch'ilsongshin as her Momjushin.
Such examples of momju (possessing god) must be generally valid, due to the fact that each kangshinmu attends her/his specific Momjushin (selected from many). The Momjushin that a kangshinmu specifically attends shows that the mudang has experienced that god, and at the same time, it defines the mudang's experience of god concretely.
In addition, the Momjushin demonstrates that the contents of this experienced power are systematically conceptualized, forming the religious consciousness. From these examples, the immediate reason for the genesis of the idea of a god, is the fact that a mu experiences a god's power concretely, which becomes an impetus for the mu to put the power of other gods, with whom she/he has had no experience, in a concrete form which is able to be observed.