Post by hoverround on Jul 23, 2011 18:57:55 GMT
This Book is dedicated to Dr. Kim Tae-kon
who has returned to “chaos,” the truly free place
he has so eloquently described
and to
My Grandmother, who taught me so much
About Korean Folk Religious Beliefs
And their View of Life
Preface
I met Dr. Kim some 18 years ago, when I was writing my dissertation on Korean female mudangs. He had requested my help in translating his work into English. I am saddened by the fact that this translation was not completed until after he left us, but I hope that Dr. Kim's family will find consolation from his excellent work and his contribution to the study of Muism, which is his true legacy.
With his death, I feel we have lost a Shining Star in Muism research. His dedication and sacrifices have made our understanding of our Korean Folk Religion so much more accessible. It is my hope that his zealous efforts will be continued by the diffusion of the knowledge of Muism (Korean Shamanism) through Western culture.
When I interviewed Korean female charismatic mudangs, I was very touched by their pain, suffering, and their humanism. Their wisdom came from enduring pain and suffering. Each appeared to have been successful in sublimating their painful plight into a very comprehensive healing art. Their humaneness and empathetic connection to others appear to have come only from their own healing of their own wounds.
From the point of view of a Western-trained, clinical psychologist, the mudang's healing process, which occurred after projecting the causes of their own pain externally, doesn't seem particularly healthy, as no true encounter of problems takes place, and in interpersonal relationship issues a true meaning of “I” and “Thou” does not seem to occur. But I was most impressed by the abundant love, compassion, and caring displayed by mudangs, during their healing ceremony, which goes beyond the realm of logic and reason and concludes as an incredible healing process.
This translation would not have been possible without the help of Professor Choi Eun-sik, who took valuable time from his busy schedule to help his friend and colleague, Dr. Kim Tae-kon, so his work would not go unnoticed.
I also would like to thank Mr. Cecil Bishop for his editing and typing of the manuscript as well as his tremendous knowledge of religion.
In Memoriam of Kim Tae-kon (1937-1996)
by Mihaly Hoppal
(President, International Society for Shamanic Research)
Kim tae-kon was a dear colleague and friend. He was the Founder and co-President of the International Society for Shamanic Research (ISSR), President of the Eastern Office, and Director of the Folklore Institute of Kyung Hee University. He died on January 25, 1996.
It was Kim Tae-kon who, on July 30, 1988, the last day of the Shamanism Symposium organized under the auspices of the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnalogical Sciences, suggested the founding of an International society which would have as its purpose the scientific study of shamanism.
Subsequently, on the occasion of a Conference on the History of Religion, held in Helsinki, Finland, in 1990, he invited researchers of shamanism to the First International Conference of the ISSR, which was to be held in Seoul, Korea. This 1991 Conference was a success, due mainly to Kim Tae-kon's excellent organizational skills. Later on he raised money to publish selected essays from the presentations at this Conference. [Shamans and Cultures, edited by Mihaly Hoppal and Keith D. Howard, with the assistance of Otto von Sadovsky and Kim Tae-kon, ISTOR Books 5, 1993, Budapest/Los Angeles: Akademiai Kiado/International Society for Trans-Oceanic Research.]
The second Conference of this Society was organized in Budapest, Hungary, in 1993. On this occasion Kim Tae-kon was elected Co-President (along with Mihaly Hoppal). Kim Tae-kon, on behalf of the Eastern Office founded by him, decided to organize the Third International ISSR Conference. We practically developed the plan together in 1994, when we spent a month working together in Seoul, but it was Kim Tae-kon who conceived the idea that, with the help of his Japanese friends and aquaintences, Nara University could be secured as the locale of the Conference.
Between 1992 and 1995 he travelled to Siberia and Mongolia on a number of occasions to do field work on Siberian Shamanism. It is believed that on one of the last of these journeys, he contracted some unknown disease which led his fatal illness. We can truly say he died working.
In the spring of 1995, he had the pleasure of seeing the publication of his last book, the selected material of the Budapest Conference, and also the first volume of Bibliotheca Shamanistica [Shamanism in the Performing Arts, edited by Kim Tae-kon and Mihaly Hoppal, with the assistance of Otto J. von Sadovsky, 1995, Bibliotheca Shamanistica 1, Budapest: Akademiai Kiado]. For this project he magnanimously procured the funds.
Unfortunately, he was too ill to direct the organization of the Conference at Nara, Japan. His death also meant the closing of the Eastern Office, for which he alone had been in charge.
His selected works deserve publication in a separate volume. He published over a dozen books, but most of these had only been available in Korean. With the publication of this working English, significant access to Kim Tae-kon's research is given to English speaking scholars of Shamanism.
May the helping “Shaman Spirits” aid him on his journey to the Other World!
*
This book can be purchased from www.hanbooks.com
Highly Recommended
I want to know :
If any of you who are not yet attuned would purchase this if this is a reasonable method of self-attunement? Were you able to be attuned to 'reiki' / shamanism through understanding the scope of this book?
Second,
Have you ever been ritually possessed and what does it feel like?
*I own a copy of this book. I bought it through Hanbooks. There are other books on that store that seem interesting like
Korean Shamanism -in- Christianity
and
Kut : Happiness Through Reciprocity
who has returned to “chaos,” the truly free place
he has so eloquently described
and to
My Grandmother, who taught me so much
About Korean Folk Religious Beliefs
And their View of Life
Preface
I met Dr. Kim some 18 years ago, when I was writing my dissertation on Korean female mudangs. He had requested my help in translating his work into English. I am saddened by the fact that this translation was not completed until after he left us, but I hope that Dr. Kim's family will find consolation from his excellent work and his contribution to the study of Muism, which is his true legacy.
With his death, I feel we have lost a Shining Star in Muism research. His dedication and sacrifices have made our understanding of our Korean Folk Religion so much more accessible. It is my hope that his zealous efforts will be continued by the diffusion of the knowledge of Muism (Korean Shamanism) through Western culture.
When I interviewed Korean female charismatic mudangs, I was very touched by their pain, suffering, and their humanism. Their wisdom came from enduring pain and suffering. Each appeared to have been successful in sublimating their painful plight into a very comprehensive healing art. Their humaneness and empathetic connection to others appear to have come only from their own healing of their own wounds.
From the point of view of a Western-trained, clinical psychologist, the mudang's healing process, which occurred after projecting the causes of their own pain externally, doesn't seem particularly healthy, as no true encounter of problems takes place, and in interpersonal relationship issues a true meaning of “I” and “Thou” does not seem to occur. But I was most impressed by the abundant love, compassion, and caring displayed by mudangs, during their healing ceremony, which goes beyond the realm of logic and reason and concludes as an incredible healing process.
This translation would not have been possible without the help of Professor Choi Eun-sik, who took valuable time from his busy schedule to help his friend and colleague, Dr. Kim Tae-kon, so his work would not go unnoticed.
I also would like to thank Mr. Cecil Bishop for his editing and typing of the manuscript as well as his tremendous knowledge of religion.
In Memoriam of Kim Tae-kon (1937-1996)
by Mihaly Hoppal
(President, International Society for Shamanic Research)
Kim tae-kon was a dear colleague and friend. He was the Founder and co-President of the International Society for Shamanic Research (ISSR), President of the Eastern Office, and Director of the Folklore Institute of Kyung Hee University. He died on January 25, 1996.
It was Kim Tae-kon who, on July 30, 1988, the last day of the Shamanism Symposium organized under the auspices of the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnalogical Sciences, suggested the founding of an International society which would have as its purpose the scientific study of shamanism.
Subsequently, on the occasion of a Conference on the History of Religion, held in Helsinki, Finland, in 1990, he invited researchers of shamanism to the First International Conference of the ISSR, which was to be held in Seoul, Korea. This 1991 Conference was a success, due mainly to Kim Tae-kon's excellent organizational skills. Later on he raised money to publish selected essays from the presentations at this Conference. [Shamans and Cultures, edited by Mihaly Hoppal and Keith D. Howard, with the assistance of Otto von Sadovsky and Kim Tae-kon, ISTOR Books 5, 1993, Budapest/Los Angeles: Akademiai Kiado/International Society for Trans-Oceanic Research.]
The second Conference of this Society was organized in Budapest, Hungary, in 1993. On this occasion Kim Tae-kon was elected Co-President (along with Mihaly Hoppal). Kim Tae-kon, on behalf of the Eastern Office founded by him, decided to organize the Third International ISSR Conference. We practically developed the plan together in 1994, when we spent a month working together in Seoul, but it was Kim Tae-kon who conceived the idea that, with the help of his Japanese friends and aquaintences, Nara University could be secured as the locale of the Conference.
Between 1992 and 1995 he travelled to Siberia and Mongolia on a number of occasions to do field work on Siberian Shamanism. It is believed that on one of the last of these journeys, he contracted some unknown disease which led his fatal illness. We can truly say he died working.
In the spring of 1995, he had the pleasure of seeing the publication of his last book, the selected material of the Budapest Conference, and also the first volume of Bibliotheca Shamanistica [Shamanism in the Performing Arts, edited by Kim Tae-kon and Mihaly Hoppal, with the assistance of Otto J. von Sadovsky, 1995, Bibliotheca Shamanistica 1, Budapest: Akademiai Kiado]. For this project he magnanimously procured the funds.
Unfortunately, he was too ill to direct the organization of the Conference at Nara, Japan. His death also meant the closing of the Eastern Office, for which he alone had been in charge.
His selected works deserve publication in a separate volume. He published over a dozen books, but most of these had only been available in Korean. With the publication of this working English, significant access to Kim Tae-kon's research is given to English speaking scholars of Shamanism.
May the helping “Shaman Spirits” aid him on his journey to the Other World!
*
This book can be purchased from www.hanbooks.com
Highly Recommended
I want to know :
If any of you who are not yet attuned would purchase this if this is a reasonable method of self-attunement? Were you able to be attuned to 'reiki' / shamanism through understanding the scope of this book?
Second,
Have you ever been ritually possessed and what does it feel like?
*I own a copy of this book. I bought it through Hanbooks. There are other books on that store that seem interesting like
Korean Shamanism -in- Christianity
and
Kut : Happiness Through Reciprocity