Shamanism, an archaic belief system, has more or less disappeared in today’s world, but still exists in newly industrialized South Korea that has emerged as one of the world’s great trading nations. This book helps unravel the mystery of Korean shamanism and reasons for its persistence in South Korea. Korean shamanistic ritual (gut) reflects the centuries of Korean culture, society and its ethos, and is based on the principle underpinning all social interactions in Korean society, i.e. reciprocity. Therefore anyone interested in Korea will find this book fascinating and helpful.