FEBRUARY 20 — Note: There are no spoilers here for Dark Nuns and Exhuma.
I confess I’m still baffled by Korean shamanism. Yet, after watching those two high-profile Korean movies, I’m starting to suspect we could learn a thing or two from said spiritual practice (but I’m getting ahead of myself).
Last week, I caught Dark Nuns. Song Hye-kyo as a demon-hunting Christian nun who doesn’t mind turning to shamanism to help with kicking out the evil spirits? What’s not to like?
Anyway, after watching it I couldn’t help but compare it to last year’s smash K-horror hit, Exhuma, in which another Korean beauty, Kim Go-eun, employed shamanistic dance and rituals to save a family from evil (which, in this case, included a flaming Japanese monster from hell!).
In both movies there are profound scenes depicting practices from Korean shamanism.
These rituals (called gut) are performed by the shaman (or mudang) in order to a) communicate with spirits and b) resolve spiritual disturbances or remove spiritual curses, trauma and the like.
The role of the mudang essentially involves mediating between us in this world and entities in another world, hoping to strike a kind of equilibrium which both brings blessings and wards off disaster.
In both movies, just as in real life no doubt, sceptics abound. One is hardly surprised to find urban educated folks, especially authority figures, pouring scorn on such practices and labelling them nonsensical superstitions.
But could there be more to shamanism (and, by extension, many other “exotic” spiritual practices) than meets the eye?
Think about how voters feel more satisfied or secure when their favourite political leader makes yet another (grandiose? dubious?) promise about the economy, foreign affairs, or a housing project etc.
While all the above has nothing to do with “spirituality”, I can’t help but draw a connection to shamanism because in areas like politics, very often people’s feelings and sense of well-being are a function of symbols and words.
A gut ritual adopts dance and symbolic ritual to restore spiritual equilibrium, hopefully bringing peace to a traumatised family. A political leader uses a podium and big words to restore confidence to a nation, hopefully bringing about prosperity.
Aren’t both at their core basically bizarre “performances” meant to influence society?
Is the so-called “real world” truly all that different from the so-called spiritual one?
Perhaps, in the final analysis, we humans remain fascinated by the phenomenon of presentation, ceremony and rite (even if we don’t exactly use those words).
We cannot help but be apprehensive at the turmoil and uncertainty of existence and so anything which calms our fears will be welcomed?
Finally, and returning to the two movies, in Dark Nuns, Sister Junia is the ass kicking nun who boldly takes on evil spirits whilst the men cower in fear, yet male authoritarian figures scorn her abilities. In Exhuma, Hwa-rim takes a leading role in squaring off against the forces of evil.
The predominance of female shamans reflects Korean history and culture which values women over men when it comes to spiritual sensitivities i.e. women are just more in touch (compared to the guys) with the unseen forces of the universe.
Perhaps feminism and shamanism can talk?
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
