The Structural Paradox of the Shamanic Healing Ritual: Relational Displacement and the Search for Transcendence in Korean Spirituality
Dongkyu Kim
Religions June 19, 2026 DOI: 10.3390/rel17060733 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | byeong-gut (Korean shamanic healing ritual) |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Keywords | Transcendence philosophy Spirituality Scholarship Displacement psychology Dual grammatical number Event particle physics Epistemology Self Blessing |
| Key points | Argues that the byeong-gut operates through a dual mechanism of material displacement and discursive reassembly, transforming suffering into an intelligible event within a relational cosmology. |
Abstract
This article explores the structural paradox of the byeong-gut (Korean shamanic healing ritual): why it adheres to the rigid and canonical format of the jaesu-gut (shamanic blessing ritual) instead of adopting a specialized clinical procedure. Critiquing the instrumental trap of previous scholarship that reduces shamanic healing to psychological comfort or social liberation, this study proposes a relational displacement model by integrating Roy Rappaport’s theory of ritual invariance with the relational ontologies of Bruno Latour and Tim Ingold. The article demonstrates that shamanic healing operates through a dual mechanism. First, at the non-discursive (material) level, the ritual functions as an ontological technology that objectifies and displaces individual suffering onto external surrogates. Second, at the discursive (linguistic) level, a meticulous analysis of the manse-baji (invocation chant) illustrates how the patient’s fragmented life is re-assembled into a meshwork of human and non-human agencies. Ultimately, this article argues that the byeong-gut transcends mere functional curing; it serves as a sophisticated knowledge system that re-maps the isolated ego onto a relational cosmology, transforming the Geertzian bafflement of suffering into an intelligible event within a shared and sacred cosmic order.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |