Lee Kyoung-hyun is part of a growing number of Korean shamans embracing social media to attract or interact with clients, riding a wave of popular culture that is quickly warming up to a homegrown tradition once viewed with distrust.

Seoul

Lee Kyung-hyun is performing a ritual dating back centuries in South Korea. The 29-year-old is a practicing shaman with a modern twist. She's better known as "aegi sonyeo," or baby fairy, her social media handle with a large online following. It's how she's educating a new generation of Koreans about the ancient traditions.

Shamans in South Korea are increasingly visible. Lee has been practicing for six or seven years and has observed this shift. South Korea, known for its high-tech economy, shows that more than half of its 51 million population are not religiously affiliated. Despite this, Google Trends reveals that searches on YouTube for "shaman" and "fortune-telling" in Korean have nearly doubled over the past five years.

Shamanism is deeply rooted in Korean culture, believed to provide a spiritual connection to an invisible world. Now, YouTube videos are making it more approachable. Traditional shaman consultations include rituals like ringing bells, tossing grains of rice, and dancing on knives, typically costing around $70.

Park Chae-bin, a 32-year-old client, visits Lee seeking peace of mind during insecure times, such as an unemployment crisis. Many of Lee's millennial and Gen Z clients also inquire about affordable housing and child-rearing costs. In Seoul, where Lee is based, a home cost more than 15 times the median salary in 2022, exacerbated by high inflation and interest rates.

Han Seung-hoon, an assistant professor at the Academy of Korean Studies, suggests that shamans sharing cultural experiences and urban living can deepen conversations, leading to the shaman-as-friend trend. This phenomenon is even reflected in pop culture, with one of South Korea's biggest movie hits of 2024, "Exuma," featuring shamans lifting a family curse.

A 2022 culture ministry agency estimated that South Korea has around 400,000 shamans and fortune tellers, although visiting them still carries a stigma. The journal BMC Psychiatry noted a significant gap between those needing mental health treatment and those receiving it, partly due to this stigma.

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New generation of South Koreans reviving Shamanism

Lee Kyung-hyun is performing a ritual dating back centuries in South Korea. The 29-year-old is a practicing shaman with a modern twist. She's better known as aegi sonyeo, or baby fairy, her social media handle with a large online following. It's how she's educating a new generation of Koreans about the ancient traditions. I've been a shaman for six, seven years, and there's been a shift. Shamans are more out in the open now. South Korea is one of the world's most high-tech economies. Polls show more than half of its population of 51 million are not religiously affiliated. Yet, Google Trends show that searches on YouTube for shaman and fortune-telling in Korean have nearly doubled over the past five years. Shamanism is deeply rooted for Koreans. It was believed to be an invisible, mysterious, and spiritual world. But now, with all of these YouTube videos, people are finding it more approachable. Korean shamans typically answer queries after conducting rituals that span from ringing bells and tossing grains of rice to dancing on the edge of a knife to call on divine intervention. But consultations can be pricey. They typically charge around $70. Thirty-two-year-old Park Chae-bin says she comes to Lee for a peace of mind. I'm here to get counseling from someone who understands me a little more and sees me through. With that, I think I felt a sense of peace during situations of insecurity like an unemployment crisis. Lee says many of her other millennial and Gen Z clients ask about affordable housing and the cost of raising children. In Seoul, where Lee's based, the price of a home was more than 15 times the median salary in 2022. The country has also suffered from high inflation and interest rates. That may be driving the trend, according to Han Seung-hoon, an assistant professor at the Academy of Korean Studies. The shamans who are from the same generation share similar cultural experiences and live in the city. People can have deeper conversations than they might with their close friends. We can see that it is one of the reasons why the shaman as a friend counselor has emerged. It's even seeping into pop culture. One of South Korea's biggest movie hits of 2024 is the supernatural film, Exuma, in which shamans are tasked with lifting a curse on a family. A culture ministry agency estimated in 2022 that there are around 400,000 shamans and fortune tellers in South Korea, but there's still a stigma around seeing them. A 2022 study in the journal BMC Psychiatry noticed a huge gap between South Koreans needing mental health treatment and getting it, which it partly attributed to stigma, too. I believe the current state of South Korean society, which is tough, is a factor that can't be ignored.

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