As you all know, last Tues April 8th was Lunar 3.3 (third day of the third moon) and so there were Sanshin-je [Mountain-spirit veneration-ceremonies] held in villages and at sacred mountains nationwide. I spent my time at Inwang-san right here in Seoul, where i found a great medium-sized Sanshin-je going on at a relatively-obscure cliff-shrine; turned out to be the the first such event by a new-to-me nationalist-shamanic Association who have a high regard for that sacred mountain (and some other ones). They were very friendly & welcoming to having some foreign observers (not always true at these gigs) and the leader-woman even invited me to make a brief speech to the crowd. I’ve started to put photos up here, but haven’t gotten too far yet…
Anyway, these fascinating (to students of still-thriving Korean cultural traditions) events continue this very weekend, with Lunar 3.15 (the third full moon) falling on Sunday, auspicious for bigger crowds. There should be plenty more Sanshin-je and other Shamanic rituals going on at sacred mountains nationwide, and most Buddhist temples will hold theirs on Monday (lunar 3.16) like this one i sometimes go to in Seoul. If anyone here knows of any such events going on near where they are (or anywhere) please post some info in the comments here.
This year i’m going to the 4341 Gyeryong-san Mountain Spirit Festival — my 5th time there, as it’s the largest, most spectacular and most multi-religions one in the entire nation, but my first in some years. I want to see what it’s grown ito by now… My photos from the 2001 festival start on this page. For those interested in attending that, and maybe linking-up with me and my friends there, i’ll post more info in the first comment. It’s supposed to be excellent weather this weekend, so get out there and enjoy some mountain-culture!!
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I’m going to the Gyeryong-san Mountain Spirit Festival with some of my friends, will leave in my car Friday evening, and will meet up Sat AM at the site with whoever else wants to attend. You can give this information to anybody you know interested in going. I’m happy to provide directions, explanation and advice for seeing the events to anyone.
All of the events will take place in front of, inside of and behind Shinwon-sa Temple on the western side of Gyeryong-san National Park (which is west of Daejeon City). Shinwon-sa is within the southern border of Gongju City, and so the best way to get there is to take a public highway bus to Gongju (from Seoul or wherever), and then a city bus from Gongju Terminal to Shinwon-sa (they run frequently). If you have a car, it’s better.
The main events begin on Saturday morning at 10am with a Neo-Confucian mountain-Spirit ritual, and then Shamanic mountain-Spirit rituals (Sanshin-kut) on that afternoon. There will be kind of a party with traditional music in the evening.
On Sunday will be another /kut/ of some kind at 2-4 in the afternoon, but otherwise all day are just some Festival-style performances of traditional and popular entertainment culture (like farmers music and pop-songs). Assuming good weather, i myself will probably take the opportunity to go hiking on the mountain, to some other temples.
The large and spectacular Buddhist Mountain-Spirit ritual will be held on Monday morning starting at 10am, finishing around 1. There’s a final “Village Sanshin-je Kut” on that afternoon 2-4pm, but i will probably drive back to Seoul later that afternoon.
There are a couple of yeogwans (motels) right at the site outside the entrance of Shinwon-sa, and another a bit further down the entrace road that i stay at (as it’s quieter at night) — but i can’t remember the name! Others are around, including minbaks close by, other motels farther out, all price-ranges.
Anyone interested in this can contact me at 011-9743-9753 or mntnwolf@yahoo.com for further information and to arrange meet-ups.
Looks like you’ve just invented a new word:
http://www.google.com/search?h.....gle+Search
That search found 129 hits, so i clearly can’t clain invention… Fixed now, thanks for pointing it out.
Just a bit of extra information on buses in Gongju:
The bus to Shinwon-sa from Gongju leaves from the OLD terminal, which is downtown, next to the market). Buses from Seoul and almost everywhere else arrive at the NEW terminal or the express terminal (next to each other) on the other side of the river - it’s easiest to take a taxi from there to the old terminal. Some buses from Daejeon stop at the old terminal.
Thanks Mike!
Going up on the Daejeon info site. Thanks for the heads-up! I have wanted to take one of these in for a long time and have kept missing them.
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[...] From Sanshinseon over at the Marmot’s Hole: All of the events will take place in front of, inside of and behind Shinwon-sa Temple on the western side of Gyeryong-san National Park (which is west of Daejeon City). Shinwon-sa is within the southern border of Gongju City, and so the best way to get there is to take a public highway bus to Gongju (from Seoul or wherever), and then a city bus from Gongju Terminal to Shinwon-sa (they run frequently). If you have a car, it’s better. [...]