Observations placeholder
Symbolism - Korean mystic shamanism - Path or road
Identifier
027141
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Korean Shamanist Ritual - Symbols and Dramas of Transformation - Daniel Kister
In the subsequent rite called Chiltakkilm, or "Cleansing of the Road,” a long white cloth is stretched out lengthwise to become the watery path to the "other shore" (p'ian, or nirvana); and several white-clothed mudang send the deceased to the other world, rhythmically chanting as they slowly pass along the cloth white paper symbols of the deceased in a graceful ritual dance.
In this rite and the Kop'uri, those present pray for the peaceful passage that the rites seek magically to achieve for the deceased, while experiencing themselves the soothing effect of the rhythmic ritual actions and chant.
The spatial poetry of these ritual gestures reinforces the belief of the kut community that death is an event of sacramental peace and invites all present, believers or not, to experience death as the transformation of the accumulated sufferings of a lifetime in an act of peace, freedom, and beauty.