Mu (shaman)

Mu is an ancient Korean word defining a shaman-priest intermediary between the first god, gods of nature, and men, in the Korean traditional religion. They perform rituals called gut. In modern Korea different terms are used for this ministry, the most notable being mudang (mostly for females), baksu (only for males), tangol.

The Korean word mu is thought to come from the same root as the Chinese wu, defining a shaman-priest of either sex. The Korean language and culture, however, has developed its own terminology: already in Yi dynasty records, mudang is used prevalently instead of mu. Also mudang apparently derives from Chinese, and originally meant the "altar [or shrine] of mu" and not the person itself.

Mudang is used mostly for female shamans, though not exclusively. Male Korean mu are called by a variety of names, such as sana mudang (literally "male mudang") in the Seoul area, or baksu mudang, also shortened baksu ("doctor", "healer") in the Pyongyang area. It is reasonable to believe that baksu is an ancient authentic designation of male shamans, and that locutions like sana mudang or baksu mudang were formed because of the prevalence of female shamans in recent centuries.Baksu may come from a Korean adaptation of several Siberian names for male shamans, such as baksi, balsi or bahsih.

The mu is known as "magician, medicine man, mystic and poet" (Eliade, 1974). What set him apart from other healers and priests is his ability to move at will into trance states. During a trance, the shaman's soul leaves his body and travelled to other realms, where helping spirits guide him in his work. The mu provides healing on many levels: physical, psychological and spiritual.

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