Sounds to soothe the soul: music and bereavement in a traditional South Korean death ritual

Abstract

In South Korea today, following the death of a loved one, a small minority of people still choose to employ the services of a mudang (Korean ‘shaman’) to conduct a ritual known as ‘Ogu Kut’. In this lengthy ritual, the mudang summons the deceased's spirit into the ritual space, expresses the latter's feelings of unhappiness through song, dance, and the spoken word, and encourages the bereaved to express their own grievances within symbolic psychodrama. Once the emotional ties between the bereaved and the deceased have been loosened, prayers for protection are offered to various deities, and the mudang guides the spirit towards the Buddhist paradise. Finally, the deceased's earthly possessions are cremated and the bereaved are left better able to move on in their lives. Through analysis of ethnographic data and interviews with mudang, this article explores the various roles that music plays within the context of Ogu Kut, focusing mainly on the East coast region, where enclaves of traditional folk belief remain prevalent and where ritualists place strong emphasis on cultivating musical skills. In particular, this paper investigates how the ritualists' music helps in the expression of diverse emotions relating to loss, within both meditative and cathartic episodes.