In October, many people look forward to a holiday: Halloween. The main symbol of Halloween is a pumpkin named Jack-O-Lantern. Children disguised as ghosts, witches, and monsters go door to door shouting “Trick or Treat!” in exchange for candies and other snacks.

  Halloween is a holiday that has its origins in North American culture. November 1, the day following Halloween, is “All Saints’ Day,” a day to honor all saints who died in Christian culture. In other words, Halloween becomes “All Saints’ Day Eve.” Halloween evolved from an ancient Celtic festival. In the Celtic calendar, October 31 was the last of the year, and it was on this day that the dead came to this world to leave for the afterlife. Since then, as the two cultures harmonized, October 31 has taken on the significance of a day to honor the dead.

  Halloween exemplifies Western culture’s belief in an afterlife. Korea has similar traditions and notions. There are rituals in honor of the dead, and diverse religions and folk beliefs such as Confucianism, Taoism, Shamanism, and Buddhism present different views on the afterlife. In addition, various folk tales about the afterlife are handed down. In October, when Halloween is celebrated, The UOS Times aims to delineate for its readers stories and cultures related to South Korea's world after death.

Korean Traditional Ceremony to honor the souls of the dead

  “Jesa” refers to the ritual of offering sacrifices to gods, spirits, and the souls of the dead. In Korea, jesa is called “charye” and is performed on New Year’s Day and Chuseok (Thanksgiving Day of Korea). Charye refers to a simple Jesa to express courtesy to the progenitors and ancestors of a family. As Confucian culture is ingrained into Korean daily lives, charye has evolved into a rite limited to a family’s ancestors to honor in conjunction with the familialism emphasized by Confucianism.

  Another traditional Korean ceremony is “gut.” Gut alludes to the traditional Shamanism rituals in Korea. Korean shamanism is called “Mugyo.” Mudang, a priest of Mugyo, acts as a mediator between the spirit and humans, and through the gut, offers sacrifices to the spirit and prays for human wishes to come true or bad things to disappear by dancing and singing.

  Mugyo had a significant influence on the concept of the afterlife in Korea. In Mugyo, there are gods who rule or supervise the afterlife. However, Korea’s notion of the afterlife was heavily influenced not only by Mugyo, but also by Taoism and Buddhism, two other traditional beliefs that have been influenced by Christianity in recent times.

South Korea’s traditional afterlife conception

  The concept of the world after death, the afterlife, is called the “jeoseung.” On the contrary, the world in which people currently live, that is, this life, is known as “iseung.” After a human being is born, lives in this world, and dies, the soul goes to the “jeoseung.”

  In Buddhism, when a person dies, he or she stays in Iseung for three days before going to jeoseung with the guidance of the messenger of death. At that time, the “Myeongbusiwang” are the ten kings who judge the sins of the dead in the jeoseung. The dead are judged by the seven kings for 49 days, seven days each. However, those who have committed many crimes in their lives are judged again after 49 days by three other kings.

  “Yeomnadaewang (The Great King Yeomra, in English)” is the fifth of these 10 kings and is regarded as their head. However, in Korea, this concept has evolved, and yeomnadaewang is regarded as an emperor of jeoseung, tasked with dominating hell and further managing human lifespan, rather than as a mere official.

  If yeomnadaewang is stuck in the world after death, there should be a mediator who connects the two worlds, this life and the afterlife. They are called “jeoseungsaja” in Korea. When a person dies, jeoseungsaja picks him or her up and guides him or her to jeoseung. Thus, the family prepares meals for jeoseungsaja to ask him to lead the dead to jeoseung. jeoseungsaja is believed to be accompanied by three people when he comes to pick up the dead. jeoseungsaja is mainly depicted in Korean media as a man with a pale face wearing a black gat (traditional Korean hat), a durumagi (traditional Korean outer coat). However, in gut, it is also described as a soldier.

  A judge and a mediator judge the dead. They are sent to hell, also called “Narak,” based on the severity of their sins when they were alive. Heaven does not appear in this “judgment story,” but it does figure in Korean culture by appropriating concepts from Buddhism such as “Keukrak.”

The Afterlife in Korean Traditional Myth

  Excluding the concepts of Buddhist spirits such as yeomnadaewang or jeoseungsaja, “Baridegi” is the goddess of the world after death in Korean mythology. Also called Princess Bari, this goddess is regarded as the founder of all Mudangs in Mugyo. She serves as a link between the worlds of humans and gods and assists in guiding the souls of the dead in jeoseung.

  The story begins in a country called Bulaguk. Only six daughters were born to Ogudaewang and Gildaebuin, who ruled Bulaguk. They were worried that they would not have a son who would inherit the country. They assumed that because the seventh child had a spiritual sign, he would definitely be a son. However, the child turns out to be a daughter. Ogudaewang, enraged, puts his seventh daughter in a box and throws her into the sea. Gildaebuin, her mother, gives her daughter the name ‘Bari’ in the sense of being abandoned and sends her away.

  Bari, abandoned in the sea, was found by an elderly couple and was carefully raised. While Bari was growing up, Ogudaewang became ill, and it was prophesied that he would need healing water from jeoseung to cure his illness. While neither his vassals nor his six daughters were willing to go to jeoseung in search of healing water for him, Bari, upon discovering her biological parents, said she would go to jeoseung to save her father.

  Bari encountered an older man who plowed the field and Magohalmi of Cheontaesan, who managed their quests. They crossed twelve hills, passed through Hwangcheonsoo and Siwangguk, and got over Yaksu Samcheonri. Meanwhile, she overcame the crisis by obtaining flower branches with three-color flowers and a golden bell. Finally, Bari met Dongdaesan Dongsuja, who guarded the healing water, but demanded that she marry him and bear three sons. Bari, who complied with his request, finally got healing water.

  She eventually returned to Bulaguk with her three sons, but Ogudaewang had died. Bari revived him with flowers infused with healing water. The revived Ogudaewang promised Bari the country, but she refused and became the goddess of jeoseung.

  Many people want to believe that there is a world even after death. It is also a tradition in many cultures to hold a ceremony in honor of the dead in order to remember those who have passed away or receive blessings from them. Similar rituals and ideas with a long history exist in Korea. In recent years, various media narratives based on Korea’s unique stories of the afterlife have been actively produced, which attract public attention. A representative example is the movie “Along with the Gods,” which drew 10 million viewers in Korea by telling fascinating stories about Korean hell. It would be an excellent idea to spend this Halloween immersed in Korea’s fascinating afterlife culture.