#51. Hobgoblin's magical club (Shamanism 1)

First, an announcement! I'm back on Twitter! I had given up for a while because I didn't know how to effectively use it. But now I'll use my Twitter account for your practice. Tweet your attempt at Korean slang at my Twitter account and I will tweet back with corrections (or affirmation that it is correct).

And now, I start the first installment of a series that I hope will tell you about the Korean shamanism, a topic that has long fascinated me. Most Koreans kind of learn by experience (it's not like most of us explicitly practice shamanism, or take a shamanism class!) so my hope is that you'll have a similar experience through the stories that I grew up with. Questions? Complaints? Leave them as comments. Here goes!

Korea has always been, and still is, a fairly pagan country. Throughout the history, many different kinds of religion were mixed with each other, and created a very unique brand of religion that does not exist outside of Korea. Korea has its own native gods, its own fairies, and its own demons, and much more.

Unfortunately, most of the folklore is based on oral tradition. While the Western parents put their children to bed with a fairy tale, Korean grandparents (Korean families all lived together in one big house!) would entertain their grandchildren through the long winter nights over roasted chestnuts (군밤) and sweet potatoes (군고구마) over a charcoal warmer (화로). 

So, gather around with your roasted chestnuts and a blanket, lie on the warmest part of the stone-heated floor (아랫목), and I'll tell you some stories from my childhood that my grandparents have told me. Through the "folklore" series of this blog, you will get to meet the Korean deities and the demons, which form the basis of the modern Korean shamanism as well. I will upload a folklore every Wednesday.

Yum!

Well, that's the mood that I want to set for these folklore series. I want you to imagine that you're huddled in a warm room with your grandparents, and they're about to tell you a story.

But let's be realistic here. It's summer. It's hot (sorry, southern hemisphere readers!) You don't want a bunch of hot charcoals in your room. So I'm going to do what the Koreans do, and start off with a scary story. Scary stories give you goosebumps, and you also get goosebumps when you're cold. So, in Korea, summer and scary stories go together. Most scary movies open in the summer, and people sit around telling each other scary stories in a summer campground. So that's what I'm going to do. Not going all out with the scariest story I know just yet, but I still want to talk about a demon, rather than a god.

So, here goes. This story is called "도깨비 방망이 이야기 (story of hobgoblin's magical club.)"

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Once upon a time, there lived a good, but poor woodcutter (나무꾼). He lived with his parents and his wife, and he supported all of them through woodcutting. One day, while he was cutting wood as usual, he came upon a hazelnut bean (개암 열매).

"Wow, what a lucky day!" he exclaimed. "My parents would love this hazelnut!"

As he returned back to gathering wood, he found yet another hazelnut bean. Ecstatic, he cried, "Now my wife can also taste this hazelnut! What a lucky day!"

In a little while, he chanced upon a third hazelnut. Totally satisfied, he told himself, "This one is for me."

Unfortunately, the day had already gotten dark, and he could not find his way back to his hut, where his family was waiting for him. Not wanting to risk the treacherous paths in the mountain, he looked for a shelter for the night, and soon came upon an abandoned house. He huddled down in a small empty room, and fell asleep.

Houses like this, called 초가집 (house of grass roof), is where most Koreans lived, unless they were upper class.

But he was soon awoken by very loud noise. Terrified, he peeked outside his room. There were a bunch of 도깨비 (often translated as hobgoblins) sitting around and being merry. Now, 도깨비 are supernatural beings that look almost human. They're not exactly malicious, but it's not exactly friendly, either. They're playful and strong, and you should be a little afraid if you encounter it.

Afraid is exactly what this woodcutter felt. He hid in his little room and watched the 도깨비 wave around their magical clubs (도깨비 방망이). They yelled, "금나와라 뚝딱! (give me some gold! 뚝딱 is an onomatopoeia)" while waving the club, and gold magically appeared. Then they yelled, "은나와라 뚝딱!" and some silver appeared.

The 도꺠비 방망이 is often depicted as a spiked club

Seeing all the wealth made the 나무꾼 feel hungry. As the hazelnut beans were the only things he had in person, he cracked one of them with his teeth.

CRACK, it went. The 도깨비 heard it, and wondered what was making this loud noise.

The woodcutter bit into another hazelnut as he couldn't contain his hunger, and CRACK went the second hazelnut. The 도깨비, startled, looked around and still could not figure out what was making the noise.

Still hungry, the woodcutter cracked the third hazelnut. CRACK. The 도깨비, terrified at this unknown noise, finally fled, leaving their 도깨비 방망이 behind. The good woodcutter went home in the morning with the 도깨비 방망이, and he was able to support his family very well without ever having to cut wood again.

If you HAD to encounter a Korean demon, I'd say that 도깨비 is probably the best. They look like very strong humans (some say that they have horns, some say that they don't), they're fun-loving, they're open to conversation with humans, and most of all, they're kind of dumb.

The good woodcutter's neighbour, who was not an honest man, became jealous of the woodcutter's sudden wealth. He nagged and nagged the good woodcutter until the good woodcutter told him of his secret, and how he obtained the 도깨비 방망이.

So the neighbour retraced the woodcutter's steps. He also found three hazelnut beans. The first, he declared, was for himself. The second was for his wife, and the last was for his parents (A big no-no, according to Confucianism! Parents are always first, and you put yourself last.)

He found the old abandoned house and hid in the room that the woodcutter told him about. Sure enough, the 도깨비 appeared and started playing with their 도깨비 방망이 again, conjuring up gold and silver.

The neighbour bit into his hazelnut. CRACK. The 도깨비 started looking around. Excited, he quickly bit into his second and third hazelnuts -- CRACK -- CRACK!

However, the 도깨비, instead of fleeing in terror, looked straight into his eyes, and said, "You're the reason we lost one of our magical clubs the other day! We will make you pay for that today." Then the 도깨비 proceeded to beat him up with their magical clubs until the crack of the dawn, and they disappeared. The disheartened neighbour came back home with nothing but bruises.

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Do Koreans still believe in the 도깨비? Not really, except a very small minority (I'll come back to this at another time.) But 도깨비 still makes appearances in many Korean literature, TV shows, and manhwa. It is a supernatural being particularly beloved by the Koreans, because it is right in the border between friendly gods and malicious demons. So it is unpredictable and it loves to have fun! (See how humour has always been a big part of the Koreans' lives?)

Many Korean children are introduced to the Korean demons via 도깨비, because they're really not that bad. Preparing your children for the 도깨비 meant that your children was ready to understand humour. And as a result, it is probably the most well-known and iconic of the Korean demons!

So, remember: always have your wits about you. As long as you can do that, 도깨비 can be defeated, and you will be handsomely rewarded!