The Shaman


One scene I didnt quite get is when the shaman went cowering back in his house after seeing the woman in white, and then start praying to Buddha for protection.

If the shaman is evil and is a puppet of the demon, why did he pray to Buddha?

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My speculation is that when the ritual 'Gut' is interrupted by Jang-Gu (the father) the Shaman we all see is sinned for calling evil spirit upon him. Since the ritual was left unfinished, he was not able to cleanse himself back to purity. Therefore, he himself may not know he's half-possessed and half himself. It becomes clearer when the crow comes when Buddha's protection was doubted (as the candles didn't stay lit). He was just a pawn all along in between the competition of the 'women in white' and the Japanese demon. I hope it answers your question! This was all my speculation though. As the himself director had intended the film to be an open ending, so this is just my analysis for this scene :)

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In Korea shamans worship Buddha as well as their own deity so they have a statue of Buddha on their alters although they communicate with the diety most of the time. The reason for this is in general shaman's dieties are not powerful enough to protect them from other dieties or spirits that might try to enslave them, while Buddha can.

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I don't think the shaman was evil. It was chun i think.

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