The Visitor Ghost of Death by Smallpox

In the historical drama Jewel in the Palace (episode 51) (set in the early 16th century) the heir to the throne comes down with smallpox and we find our heroine Dae Jang Geum desperately trying to find a cure. There were regular outbreaks of smallpox in the Joseon period and I was intrigued to learn that there was once a belief that smallpox could be caused by a disgruntled ghost.

The ghost were called Sonnim – meaning ‘Visitor.’

And they were known to be the ghosts of death by smallpox – spreading disease when people displeased them. This belief has its roots in SHAMANISM.

using a shaman to persuade the common people in Deep Rooted Tree episode 21 (SBS 2011) 

In shamanism, it’s believed that spirits are all around us living in nature – in the mountains and rivers – as well as in manmade objects. (There’s a fun folk story about a man who gets advice from a rusty gate hinge!) Anyone from family ancestors to great historical figures can become deified spirits after they die.

But these spirits have to be treated well – otherwise they will turn nasty. So ceremonies with lavish food offerings were a way to try to keep the spirits happy. In folk stories, the stingy, rich man who refuses to be generous to the spirits always gets his comeuppance. And when he upsets the spirits, there’s only one thing to do: call the local Mudang (Shaman)

HOW TO BECOME A SONNIM – GHOST OF DEATH BY SMALLPOX?

If someone dies a tragic early death they become a wayfarer ghost – a haunted spirit of someone who has died too soon. And they spend their time travelling around knocking on doors asking for food and shelter before their long journey ahead.

In folk stories, if the homeowner refuses the visitors, the ghosts will exact their revenge ruthlessly – targeting the children of the house with a serious, or even lethal, dose of smallpox. The only way to remedy the situation would be for the mudang (shaman) to carry out a smallpox prevention ritual (sonnimgut ceremony 손님긋) where they contact and appease the aggrieved visitor ghost.

RELEVANCE IN MODERN LIFE

You might be thinking, well this may all have been very believable years ago when Korea was an agricultural society, but the sonnim visitor ghosts can’t influence modern society, can they?

Yes, they can.

The idea of the sonnim ghost with the ability to cause havoc and misfortune to our lives is still alive and well! Not specifically spreading smallpox of course, but an array of other mischief instead. And where can you see proof of this? On the lunar calendar.

LUNAR CALENDAR

‘son-omnun-nal‘. 손없는 날 = days without ‘son’.

My parents-in-law follow the lunar calendar – hence forgotten birthdays and general confusion (from me) about when anything is going to happen! And then to add to my befuddlement, I noticed that on the lunar calendar on their wall, about five days of the month were labelled as ‘son-omnun-nal‘. 손없는 날 = days without ‘son’. 

Turns out that ‘son’  is an abbreviation of son-nim = the visitor ghost. 

So it literally means ‘a day without a ghost visitor‘! And these are considered to be lucky days. (There’s also a Chinese character with the same pronunciation (son 손 損) that means loss / damage) 

The visitor ghosts travel around, but not in a willy nilly fashion. They work methodically in a clockwise direction in a 10 day cycle starting in the east where they stay for two days before moving to the south then the west, north, and finally spending 2 days in heaven before starting the whole 10 day cycle again in the east.

So the two days in each cycle (days 9 and 10) which the ghosts spend chilling out in heaven are the designated lucky days of the month. (There’s an explanation in Korean about this in a video here. It’s worth looking at the creepy  ghostlike hangul graphics in this video if nothing else!  See below. I love it.) 

LUCKY DAYS IN MODERN LIFE

In everyday life, people may not pay too much attention to these no ghost visitor days. But things definitely change when a BIG EVENT is planned.

Because on lucky days, wedding halls are heaving and moving companies put their prices up! The websites of moving companies have info all about how to find these lucky days – A cynic might say that it’s in their interest to promote the lucky days as they can charge more money on them. Other major events such as opening a new business are also often planned taking the lunar calendar dates into account.

Shamanism was the belief system before Buddhism and then Confucianism and other religions entered the country. Buddhism and Shamanism overlap in some areas including the use of these lucky dates which also appear on the Buddhist calendar in Korea.

Even though it’s been repressed over the years, there are still elements of Shamanism that quietly carry on in modern society. And Shamans continue to be regularly consulted too. Perhaps the next time I want to be absolutely sure that my plans are going to go well, I should book a consultation with a shaman?

Stories of Korean Mythology can be found here.