Women Shamans

I found the readings on women shamans very interesting to read. They gave me more insight on the world of shamans. I wasn't aware that there were two types of mudang (shaman) in Korea: the "family priestess whose role is inherited" (Harvey, 37) and the professional shaman who charged fees for her services. I also didn't know that the sinbyung (possession sickness)was a prerequisite to becomming a shaman. It was believed that sinbyung was sent from the divine and therefore its victims were not free to deny or reject it. If they tried, there was the belief that there would be supernatural retribution and their lives would be in danger. Hence it seems that most of the women who caught the sinbyung were forced one way or another to accept the shaman life.

Spirit possession in shamanistic rituals


Reading Harvey's account of women shamans and possession sickness in Korea, I can't help but feel sorry for these women that generally had no choice but to accept their role as a shaman. The mystical experience of sinbyung in effect forced them into further subordination, as if living in a patriarchal society wasn't bad enough. They were now socially ascribed as outcastes, falling victim to social isolation, stigma, and hostility. They were now subject to maltreatment because they were A)female and B)shamans. The persecution of shamans restricted their “ability to use their influence and economic power for personal or family social mobility” (Harvey, 38). On top of all that misery, woman shamans and their families constantly lived in fear of "supernatural retaliation" (Harvey, 43).

The only good aspect I can see coming out of sinbyung is the fact that because the woman shaman was now hosting divine spirits, she was able to move up the power ladder within the household. She gained more power within the family and as a result rearranged the roles in the family. The woman shaman was able to bargain "with her family from a position of strength based on her earning power, spiritual superiority, and recovered health and self-confidence" (Harvey, 43).

Even with the benefits, the negatives weigh much heavier. If the woman caught the sinbyung she had little choice but to accept her shaman role. If she accepted her calling and became a shaman, she would be declared an outcaste by society and would suffer from stigma, social isolation, and persecution. She could decide to deny or ignore the sinbyung altogether but then her mortal life would be in danger due to the belief in divine retaliation. What is a girl to do? All the options seem so promising. What would you choose?




I'd like to focus a little bit on the Bourguignon's article. Bourguignon presents a feminist approach to understanding mystical experiences by asserting that possession trance is a feminist response to women's social subordination and powerlessness. Acting through the spirit, women were able to "express unconscious, forbidden thoughts and feelings, particularly in situations of social subordination” (Bourguignon, 558). They were able to voice out their feelings on issues regarding social subordination and the injustices that women faced everyday but were not allowed to speak of. Although I don't doubt the possibility that for some women shamans, a possession trance may have been sort of a venting method. It gave them the ability to express forbidden and unconscious thoughts regarding women's social subordination. I do disagree with an overly feminist approach to understanding mystical experiences where you assume all shaman women were feminists of some sort, using the possession trance to express their feelings on the injustice of women's subordination in society. Many of these women may not have harbored feminist ideas such as the equality of men and women given that they were living entrenched in a patriarchal society. They may have accepted their subordinate role as natural.


Bourguignon, Erika. “Suffering and Healing, Subordination and Power: Women and Possession Trance.” Ethos 32, no. 4 (2004): 557-574.

Harvey, Youngsook Kim. “Possession Sickness and Women Shamans in Korea.” In Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious Lives, edited by Nancy A. Falk and Rita M. Gross, 37-44. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1989.