ใกล้หมู่บ้าน Gureombi บนเกาะเชจูของเกาหลีใต้, หมอผีอธิษฐานต่อมหาสมุทรเพื่อความอุดมสมบูรณ์และความมั่งคั่ง. พวกเขาทำพิธี Chogamje ที่พวกเขาเชิญ 18.000 เทพเจ้าและเทพธิดาจากมหาสมุทรสู่สถานที่ศักดิ์สิทธิ์. ก่อนที่เทพเจ้าจะเข้ามาในไซต์นั้นจะต้องถูกทำให้บริสุทธิ์เสียก่อน. For thousands of years these religious and spiritual rituals have provided prosperity for the villagers.

"(…) หลังจากที่พวกเขานั่ง, the Shimbang Shaman prays to them for the well being of the villagers and for saving Ganjeong.”

รูปถ่าย: Verschuuren เบส, 2012

– SunYoung ฮ่องกง, expert and researcher

The Gureombi’s sacred sites, and with it the traditional rituals, are directly threatened by the construction of a navy base near Gangjeong village. Development of the base conflicts with the original lifestyle of the villagers and the fear is that presence of the base will permanently change the unique lifestyle of the villagers. This is both a danger for the environment and for the socio-cultural life of the villagers as the two are closely connected.

A difficulty in protecting Gureombi sacred site, and many others, is that they are not registered and often only visited by the older generation. Destroying these holy natural sites will bring an end to an age old lifestyle and might destroy it forever. Safe Jeju now is part of an international protest campaign aiming to stop development of the navy base. For more information about protests or threats to the site see the ‘Save Jeju now’ เว็บไซต์ or read the online กรณีศึกษา that was developed after the SNS initiative visited the site and recorded the traditional ceremony in 2012 as part of a group of international sacred natural sites custodians.

 

โดย: Rianne Doller