Chapter 19. Korean

Foundations of the states

The foundations of various states came about when a celestial male fraternized with an earthly female. These produced various gods and male children, from whom the imperial family descended.

Shamans

Some shamans inherit the right to perform rites and some are trained and initiated. Hereditary shamans manage specific gods with ritual implements. Initiated shamans may be possessed by the spirit of dead person such as a child from their own families. Shamans perform rituals for physical and mental healing, for prosperity, peace, protection from wild tigers safety for fishermen, and abundant harvests, to ward off evil spirits, to honor village guardians, to cleanse spirits so that they may enter the world of the dead, to release grudges of those who die unjustly, and to initiate other shamans. Shamans tell stories associated with the gods and can invent like poets to introduce characters and elaborate plots.

Gods of earth

Many gods live on earth, such as river gods, sea gods, mountain gods, and forest gods. There are gods of trees, stones, Some are gods of the household, such as the goddess of the kitchen the goddess of the bathroom, the god of the front door, the god of the back door, the god of fire and the hearth, and the goddess of the outhouse, Then there’s the god of flowers, the god of grain, the god of spice pots, the god of carnivorous hunting, the goddess of agriculture, numerous and various patron and guardian gods including village gods and goddesses, numerous gods of smallpox, the goddess of childbirth, and the goddess of cowbirth. There are many gods and goddesses of death, the goddess who brings death to children, the god of those who die by fire, the god of those who die in the ocean, the god of those who die in wells, and the god of those who are killed by stones. All gods have numerous sons and daughters who get into trouble and can be introduced before the story gets boring.