Tving docuseries "Shaman: Whispers from the Dead” follows shamans working with people experiencing paranomal phenomena. Courtesy of Tving
Tving's new docuseries “Shaman: Whispers from the Dead” starts with two presenters, actors Yoo Ji-tae and Ok Ja-yeon, exchanging a series of questions like “Have you ever met a shaman?,” “Have you ever had a shaman read your fortune?,” “Do you believe in God?” and “Do you believe in ghosts?”
Opening with these questions, the series invites the viewers into the world of Korea's deep-rooted and prevalent religious culture of shamanism.
The eight-part show, which released its first four episodes on July 11, follows real-life cases of people suffering from unexplainable paranormal phenomena and shamans, or "mudang" or "manshin" in Korean, solving the cases using their spiritual knowledge.
“In Korea, it's evident there's a world where shamanism actually operates, but we questioned why it couldn't be exposed and why the media didn't cover it. Triggered by these questions, we began developing (this series) with the intention to delve into our country's traditional beliefs and shamanism,” the show's producer Lee Min-soo said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Jongno District, central Seoul, Tuesday.
From left, co-producers Lee Min-soo and Park Min-hyeok, JTBC's head of strategic planning department Lee Dong-hee, writer Oh Jung-yoh and chief producer Huh Jin pose during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Jongno District Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Tving
The production crew, including Lee, co-producer Park Min-hyeok, chief producer Huh Jin and writer Oh Jung-yoh, spent two years following seven cases working with six different shamans and 10 experts in related fields.
The cases range from a woman haunted by mysterious presences at night in her bedroom to a shaman's daughter experiencing an undiagnosed illness, known as "sinbyeong" in Korean, as she rejects the gods' calling to become a shaman.
The show offers an in-depth look at how shamans manage each case through their exorcism rituals, while also delving into the historical and technical dimensions of this ancient religious practice.
Rather than questioning the validity of the process, the show presents the practice as it is, leaving viewers to decide for themselves whether they believe it or not.
The writer noted such a new and explicit approach to shamanism was possible thanks to the streaming platform, which embraces more diverse perspectives.
A scene from the Tving docuseries "Shaman: Whispers from the Dead” / Courtesy of Tving
“In the past, they asked questions like ‘Do ghosts really exist?' or ‘There must be a reason people believe in it.' Whenever documentaries and mainstream media covered shamanism, they approach it through the lens of folklore, anthropology or traditional and cultural rituals. Even with the phenomena occurring (while filming), they would only deal with parts that can be logically interpreted,” she said.
“But with this show, we start from the premise that there are people seeing spirits … It follows people who've actually seen ghosts, how spirits and shamans communicate and what goes on in the world of people who can see ghosts. It's different from the language of previous documentaries.”
The creators shared they went through a meticulous process to find competent shamans and vet the cases.
“Instead of just bringing on famous shamans from across the country, we tried to reflect the current picture of shamanism. In larger branches, there are shamans with legacy, newly turned shamans, lesser-known masters and widely known shamans. We aimed to discover unfamiliar shamans, so we met with various individuals and conducted cross-verifications to select the cast members,” Park said.
“To select the participants, we first asked if they had been to a hospital or received psychiatric treatment (for their phenomenon). We excluded those who were certain it was a paranormal problem without trying psychiatric consultations because we considered they were already too deep in the world of shamanism. So we tried to take in participants who were suffering from phenomena aside from their personal beliefs.”
Tving docuseries "Shaman: Whispers from the Dead” opened on July 11. Courtesy of Tving
Shamanism has recently surfaced as a popular subject in the entertainment scene, like the smash-hit occult movie “Exhuma” and the new dating show “Possessed Love,” where fortune tellers look for their soulmates.
Adding he believes shamanism is an act of healing, Lee said it is increasingly getting attention from younger generations with such aspects of the practice.
“As I observed the rituals, it made me think that the true function of shamanism is healing. Scientifically or medically unexplainable practices have persisted for thousands of years, and when you think about it, I think it's because they were effective in terms of healing,” he said.
"In the past, no one could openly talk about shamanism. It was a taboo, criticized as promoting superstition, but recently the views have shifted to entertainment rather than religion. It gives more of a comforting sense rather than being perceived as rigid, scary or heavily religious so the younger generations are getting curious about it.”