I was an easily frightened child. When I heard my first 도깨비 story, my grandparents told me not to be afraid. "There are much worse demons out there," they said. "The 도깨비 is not really your enemy. If you know how to deal with them, you will be more than fine."
Here are the few things that they told me. The 도깨비 more or less looks and dresses like a very strong human male. They may or may not carry around a 도깨비 방망이 (a magical club that conjures anything you want), but the one thing that is sure is that they will always want to engage you in some competition. Their favourite competition is wrestling (씨름). They just want to prank you and have a good laugh -- It's much better than most other demons, who just want to kill you.
"And here's how you beat a 도깨비 when they ask you for a game of 씨름," they said.
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Once upon a time, there was a farmer who really liked to have a drink at the end of the day.
This day also, he had gone to the pub in the next village over to have a drink with his friends, and he was coming home, slightly drunk but in a good mood. When he was just about ten minutes away from his village, he saw a tall man blocking the road. The man was almost ten feet tall.
"I'll let you use the road, if you can beat me in the game of 씨름," the tall man said.
The farmer, who was not a weak man himself, agreed, and they started wrestling. The man was very strong, and the farmer, no matter what he tried, could not beat him (you have to either force the opponent's knee or his back to touch the ground). Now, the easiest technique (and really, the only viable technique if you're not a professional wrestler) to try in the game of 씨름 is to try to knock out one of your opponent's legs by using one of your legs as a hook. But no matter what the farmer tried, the man was like a mountain.
So the wrestling went on all night. As the dawn approached, the farmer, finally feeling clear-headed after the night of drinking, looked down. To his surprise, he realized that the man had only one leg. His right leg, which is the leg that the farmer has been trying to knock out all night, was not actually there. The man was a 도깨비.
Gathering his wits about him, the farmer hooked the 도깨비's left leg, and down the 도깨비 went!
While the 도깨비 was dazed in shock, the farmer dragged the 도깨비 to a nearby tree, and tied it up tightly to the tree. Exhausted, the farmer went back home, and fell asleep.
The next morning, the farmer, remembering the previous night's encounter, went back to the tree to check on the 도깨비. The 도깨비 was no longer there; tied to the tree was an old broom.
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"Remember," my grandparents said. "The 도깨비 is very strong. The only way to defeat it in wrestling is to remember to hook its left leg and knock it out, because they have only one leg. But don't worry, because whether you win or not, the 도깨비 will let you go in the morning."
Then my grandmother, who is always a little bit mischievous and loves to tease, added, "but if you don't manage to defeat the 도깨비, you will be sick for fifteen days." Okay, thanks, grandma.
Anyway, so, there are two things that I want to point out (Koreans would learn it through repeated exposure. But maybe you want to know it sooner.)
First, how are the 도깨비 born? It seems that they are made from well-used household objects, such as brooms. Koreans believed that if you use something for a long time, those objects get a soul of its own! And since you go back a long way with these objects, they rarely mean you real harm. They're happy to have some fun with you.
This also illustrates something that is at the core of Korean shamanism, which believes that everything (including the inanimate things) has a soul. The Korean shamans worshipped certain animals and sacred objects, while other things were condemned as having cursed.
If you think about it, this is not a bad way to think about your everyday life -- if you believe that even the most mundane things have souls, you would naturally be a lot more respectful. Maybe you wouldn't litter, because that piece of trash could have a soul, and curse you for littering. You would think twice before plucking off that flower, lest the soul of the flower appear in your dreams.
So, while the word "shamanism" definitely comes with some sort of a negative connotation (maybe that people who practice shamanism are uncivilized), there are always two sides to a story!
Secondly, the Korean demons, including 도깨비, seem to have a common special power. They are able to distract you enough, to make you imagine seeing things that are not actually there. For example, the 도깨비 in the above story was able to trick the farmer into thinking that he was a real person (when in reality, he has only one leg!) Other demons often do this as well. When this happens to you, Koreans say that they have been "귀신에 홀렸다," or "mislead by a demon."
This second part, some Koreans still believe. There are still malicious beings in the modern Korean shamanism, and Koreans often believe that these demons are responsible for seeing things that are not actually there. If they were grossly mistaken, they still often say:
내가 뭔가에 홀렸었나 봐. (It seems that I was mislead by something supernatural.)I added the word "supernatural" into the translation even though it isn't really explicitly present in the Korean sentence, because the use of the verb "홀리다" already implies a supernatural being.
While this of course provides a terrifying element to the Korean folklore, there is also a positive side -- if you are able to pay attention and stay focused, you should be able to overcome the demon's powers, and see through what they really are (really, nothing but an old broom!)
So, there it is. Always remember to have your wits about you, and remember, it's the left leg!
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