Ch.3 Korea’s Ancient Culture of Nature Spirituality In the Shamanism of these villages, people believed that every distinct landform, plant, animal and human being were revitalized by spirits, effective but insubstantial vitalizing deities that should be understood as something in between a ―ghost‖ and a ―god‖ in the western senses. These spirits, singular or in combination, were and are believed to exercise influence on natural phenomena (weather, abundance or decline of food availability, etc) that directly determined good fortune or misfortune for individuals and their neighbors.
or special utility, and there was a core belief in mythical cosmic trees by which the shamans could climb to and from heaven in order to communicate with the powerful spirits there. Particular trees have long been considered holy due to their prominence, size and character. Simple shrines can still be found at the base of quite a few of them, out in the deep forests or nearby a rural village, and Koreans still leave offerings on the stone altars and say prayers in front of them. Some of the most famous sacred trees still have elaborate Daoist, Confucian and/or Shamanic rituals performed at them by the local residents on an annual or seasonal basis. Some of the oldest Korean artworks that we now have, contain images of mountains and trees, both realistic and stylized, clearly regarded as sacred natural forms. This is good evidence that the peaks and the forests below them were regarded religiously. The shamanrulers conducted both private and communal rituals in which they communicated in ritualistic ways with the spirits of Heaven, Earth and deceased persons. This was done in hopes of preventing, driving-away or at least reducing ―bad fortune‖ such as extreme weather, sicknesses, injuries, infertility and shortages of desired foods, and then attracting ―good fortune‖ such as health, abundance, fair weather, fertility and fecundity.
Shamans in casual attire practice rituals for the forest spirits near the Baekdu-daegan.
When they became known from Shamanic explorations as the sources of the life-giving rivers and sites of mystical energies, the key mountains of the Baekdudaegan and its branch-ranges became regarded as sacred, and have always remained so. Later visitors had visions or dreams of the mountain-spirits residing there, or other sorts of spiritual epiphanies, and the reputation of those peaks and slopes grew. Buddhist monks established their temples in their forests, attaining enlightenment and wisdom within the wilderness context. Increasing numbers of temples and shamanic shrines were built on these mountains, and they were given names with profound and auspicious religious meanings. Visitors intuited that their crags, trees and waterfalls are infused with strong ―earth-energy‖ that grants health, wisdom and good fortune for the residents.
The proto-Koreans believed that these spirits could be communicated with, appeased and negotiated with through veneration in ritualized ceremonies. They envisioned the spirits in hierarchies that reflected the natural and social world they knew, with the heavenly ones in highest status, mountain-spirits just below them, and then the major plant, animal and humanorigin spirits forming the base of the earthly ranks, and then ghosts, goblins, demons and all kinds of minor spirits on the lowest ranks. Spirits of particular mountains, trees and animals (such as tigers, bears, deer and fish) became favorites due to their perceived efficacy.
Even Confucian scholars came to study deep in the valleys, seeking and finding their own brand of illuminated wisdom about the principles of Heaven, Earth and Humanity under the inspiration of their natural beauty. Korean Christians even set up their prayer camps in the forests at their feet, finding it an ideal place to draw closer to God. By the modern era no one can remember a time when these mountains were not considered sacred in a wide multi-religious sense. Even their botanical products are accorded higher status and value when they are branded as having come from such holy mountains. The Baekdu-daegan system contains most of them, and became considered as sacred in its own right once it was recognized as a distinct entity just over 1000 years ago.
Koreans have always paid special veneration to treespirits, a natural outgrowth of their fundamental connection, love and respect for the mountain-forests and their fruitful residents. In traditional Shamanism, certain species of trees (such as pines, birch, yew and zelkova) are especially sacred due to their appearance
Many of Korea's secular national heroes were legendarily said to be born, educated or trained at great sacred mountains. It is a frequent motif in the tales that the great person in his younger days prays to the mountain-spirit in a cave or at a stone altar below one of these famous peaks, and is rewarded with a magical 7