Today I woke up at 6:30 (AM, yes.) and took the bus into Jeju City. My destination was Soohyup fish market. Tucked away in a warehouse next to a large industrial ice machine and behind tanks and tanks of fish bigger than me ... I witnessed a sacred event. Today marks the arrival of the gods to Jeju - apparently the gods are still low-level employees and don't have that many vacation days, so they return to where-ever they came from during a similar ceremony on March 13th. Below you can see the ajjumas setting up the scene and the shaman in the corner getting dressed, apparently the colored bits of art are to attract the gods - like god flypaper?
The first male shaman then read the names of all the fishing ships and of the haenyo (fisherwoman divers ... they catch all kinds of mollusks and shells for the restaurants), to put them in good favor with the gods.
Of course, the gods are only appeased with a good stick raise,
and a stick twirl.
Another shaman gives a rousing talk in Korean, with the most excellent hat I've ever seen.
The "Legitimate Businessmen's Club" of Jeju City (actually, the Fisheries Bank senior staff) get the gods' fishy blessings for a new year.
Members of a shaman dancing troupe onstage for a traditional dance.
A female shaman (wearing brown) lets out a delighted bellow as the dance goes on.
The ritual ended with a free-for-all of bowing, dancing, and even a belligerent drunken fisherman who staggered on-stage, arms outstretched. Who knows, perhaps the gods come in strange forms?
These pictures seem a bit whimsical, but seriously ... they don't really capture the scene. I have some great video clips and when I get a clips site up and running (hopefully soon) I'll be linking to it ... the crescendoes with the traditional drumming got both the shaman and the crowd's hearts pounding, like the climax of a good techno song. I caught myself gasping a few times. There was something sacred happening today -- even if it did smell like fish. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment