American documents Jeju’s shamanic traditions
Last October, Jeju Island’s most beloved Shamanic shrine tree with a 400-year-history fell due to high typhoon winds, and Giuseppe Rositano found himself mourning the loss with the people in the nearby Waheul village. The tree was an intangible cultural treasure familiar to many on the island and served as the village’s spiritual center.
It is shrines like this that Rositano has spent years documenting in order to shed light on the shamanic traditions of the island that reach back to before recorded history.
He originally hails from Tennessee, but has lived on Jeju since 2006. He became enthralled with the shrine worship while there and for the past decade has sought to document through photos and video the rites and rituals many believed had disappeared.
“Jeju’s muism is one of the strongest living examples of Eurasian polytheism that we have in the world. It’s quite likely this religion will die with the elder generation,” Rositano said. “What can be salvaged as a physical representation of that culture are the shrines.”
Muism is a traditional Shamanism specific to Jeju, and there are over 400 related shrines on the island. Over the past decade the shrines have come into major news outlets from time to time as they were either desecrated or set to be torn down due to a contentious naval base being constructed.
“There has been some action for sure in recent years to save the shrines,” Rositano explained, “with more maintenance sponsored and funded by the island government.”
Some shrines were reinforced with stone, and saplings were planted where famous shrine trees had died. Still, commercial development has been a major issue and shrines have either been displaced or destroyed. Rositano says, “as far as recognition of the issue, this is something that has changed dramatically with people becoming more conscious that the Shamanic shrines are a cultural heritage.”
It is exactly this cultural heritage that Rositano seeks to document and share with the world in a three-part documentary film titled “Spirits: The Story of Jeju Island’s Shamanic Shrines.”
The first hour-long part of the series delves into the concept of “Story Healing.” The shrines on the island are often used for healing purposes, specifically dealing with emotional and psychological trauma. Healing through storytelling is a connection we have across cultures but Rositano explains, “On Jeju Island the techniques of such healing are applied in very concentrated and obvious ways.”
The second part in the series will focus on the faith of the “haenyeo,” or women divers famous on Jeju Island, and the third part will delve into Jeju’s mountainous area. Both will be released later this year. Rositano has also released a full-color 220-page photo book of the same name to share more of the intimate experiences he has had visiting the villages, meeting the villagers and viewing the shrine worship. Both the documentary and the book can be found on Gumroad.com.
Visit pagansweare.com or joeyrositano.myportfolio.com for more information.