Korean shamanism

Korean shamanism, also known as Muism (Korean: 무교 Mugyo "mu [shaman] religion") or Sinism (신교)} Shingyo "religion of the shin (hanja: 神 ) [gods]", is the ethnic religion of Korea and the Koreans. Although used synonymously, the two terms are not identical: Jung Young Lee describes Muism as a form of Sinism - the shamanic tradition within the religion. Other names for the religion are Shindo (traditional Chinese: 神道; ; Korean: 신도 "Way of the Gods"), Shindoism (traditional Chinese: 神道敎; ; Korean: 신도교 Shindogyo "religion of the Way of the Gods"),Gosindo (traditional Chinese: 古神道; ; Korean: 고신도 "Way of the Ancestral Gods"), and Pungwoldo (hanja: 風月道 "Way of Brightness"). It has approximately 5-15 million followers.

In contemporary Korean language, the shaman-priest or mu (hanja: 巫 ) is known as a mudang (Hangul: 무당 hanja: 巫堂 ) if female or baksu if male, although other names and locutions are used. Korean mu "shaman" is synonymous with Chinese wu, which defines priests both male and female. The role of the mudang is to act as intermediary between the spirits or gods, and the human plain, through gut (rituals), seeking to resolve problems in the patterns of development of human life.