| The Korean Shaman Ssitgimgut Shaman Ritual (Link to photo.) The alchemist strives to enter the trying process of finding the treasure within. However, according to some, not everyone chooses this way but is chosen! For many people, this explains what they are going through. Reading about shaman from different cultures, it is interesting to learn about how similar the experiences are. I am sure you will see many parallels to alchemy. Some items struck me about the following writing... Statistics is the big one. Of course, being a little nerdy, I love it! Isn't it great that this book can site shamanistic statistics with some authority? I picture scientific shaman association meetings where experts are stating facts and figures with great authority and no kimchi being tossed in their direction.  Another interesting point is this writing hits me in a way that leads me to feel the shaman fits in very well with the culture and is quite accepted. (I do not know for sure, but this is part of an information series put out by the Korean Overseas Information Service, Republic of Korea). At some points, they appear to be very similar to the homeless people on the streets of the United States. *** From Shamanism, Korean Heritage Series No 15. ...Shamans are divided largely into two types according to their initiation process--those who are chosen by the spirits and those who inherit the vocation from their ancestors. The shamans who are chosen by the spirits are endowed with supernatural powers to heal and to divine... Shamans of this type experience without fail the so-called shinbyong, the illness resulting from resisting the call of the spirits, as an unavoidable process of initiation. The shaman candidate usually faints, has visions, and similar symptoms. Then, in a vision or a dream, the spirit who has chosen them appears and announces their being chosen, a call necessary for shamans to acquire their powers. The illness will cause the future shaman to suffer for months, or perhaps for years. Statistics say that the illness lasts about eight years on the average, but in some cases, it may last as many as 30 years. In an extremely unstable psychological state bordering lunacy, the person can hardly eat and sometimes roams around in the fields and in the mountains. The illness, which defies modern medicine, disappears all of a sudden when the person finally gives way to the compulsion and becomes a shaman... | 
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