''Gawp'' (

Jeju Jeju may refer to: South Korea * Jeju Island (Jejudo), South Korea * Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo ** Jeju City, its capital ** Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo ** Jeju language ** The ...

: ) is a cosmological concept in

Jeju Island Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The i ...

shamanism Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

referring to the divide between heaven and earth, humans and non-humans, and the living and the dead. * In the Jeju creation myth, a ''gawp'' between heaven and earth is said to be created from the original mingled state of the universe. Later, the god Daebyeol-wang creates a ''gawp'' between humans and non-humans when he numbs the tongues of animals, plants, and rocks so that they can no longer speak, and physically separates the living from the dead. * In the Buldo-maji, a series of rituals held for fertility gods, shamans (''simbang'') create a ''gawp'' between Saengbul-halmang, the goddess of childbirth and patron of young children, and Gusamseung-halmang, the goddess of dead children who send illnesses to kill babies and bring them under her dominion. * In the

Durin-gut The Durin-gut (), also called the Michin-gut () and the Chuneun-gut (), is the ritual (Gut (ritual), gut) for mental illnesses in the Korean shamanism of southern Jeju Island. While commonly held as late as the 1980s, it has now become very rare ...

, a ritual held to cure mental illnesses, shamans endeavor to create a ''gawp'' between the human patient and the malevolent ''

dokkaebi () are legendary creatures from Korean mythology and folklore. , also known as "Korean goblins", are nature deities or spirits possessing extraordinary powers and abilities that are used to interact with humans, at times playing tricks on them ...

'' that has entered their body and is responsible for the insanity.

References

Works cited

* * * {{cite journal , author = 김선희 (Kim Sun-hee) , title = 'Bepo-doeop-chim'-ui changjo-sinhwa-jeok seonggyeok , script-title = ko:「베포도업침」의 창조신화적 성격 , trans-title = The nature of the ''Bepo-doeop-chim'' as a creation myth , journal = Yeongjueomun , issn = 1598-9011 , volume = 22 , year = 2011 , pages = 61–90 , url = https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001576913 , access-date = June 8, 2020 , ref = {{harvid, Kim S., 2011 Korean shamanism Culture of Jeju Province Jeju mythology