몽골 샤머니즘 속의 동물상징 고찰

Animal Symbols reflected in Mongolian Shamanism

This paper deals with animal symbols reflected in Mongolian shamanism. Mongolian shamanism can be regarded as one of the most distinctive folk religion in Asia since it contains various elements of animism, totemism and nomadic views of cosmology. Comparing Korean shamanism with Mongolian shamanism shows that in general the two share some similarities but they are also different. For example, animal symbols implicated in Mongolian shamanism express the unique nomadic culture of Mongolians. In this research, I try to analyse animal symbols inside Mongolian shamanism from three main points. Firstly, I investigate every aspect of animal symbols from shaman’s rituals to artifacts inside Mongolian shamanism. Secondly, in order to find out further internal animal symbols in relation with shamanism, I look into animal symbols inside Mongolian folktales. Thirdly, through these arguments, I clarify the folkloric meaning of animal symbols inside Mongolian shamanism in general. When we follow Mongolian shamanism in every day practice, we discover that there are special animals like snake, eagle, crow, deer, horse, wolf, magpie, bear, etc. that appear more frequently than others. In particular, snake is traditionally the most common animal concerning Mongolian shamanism. However, after Buddhism was introduced to Mongolia during the 13th century, the shamanic symbol of snake was weakened by another animal, namely the giant falcon’s figure capturing a snake. In addition, black kites and eagles are often mentioned inside Mongolian folktales which describe Mongolian shamans. The principle meanings of animal symbols in Mongolian shamanism are both spirits itself as one of the natural deities or as mediators between spiritual world and human world. In the former case, animals are believed either as a part of Lus-Savdag or the Lus-Savdag itself. Whereas, in the latter case, animals are considered as recipients of shamanic gods who are descending on to the earth.