Koryo Beliefs

Koryo Beliefs is a collection of folk-religions of the Koryo culture, before Seogism became the dominant Koryo religion.

It still exists as a minority religion among many Koryo places, but is dominant only on the islands Makkaha, Yeoguk, (TODO: names)...

There are only about 132000 believers left in these old folk religions.

Koryo Beliefs do not worship gods, but ancestors and ancient spirits. One of its strongest prohibitions is against necromancy (punishable by painful death) and disturbing the rest of the deceased.

This page is still incomplete and missing content or details that are planned, but have not been added yet.

Shamans

The religious leaders of the Koryo Beliefs religion are the local shamans, which can be both genders. In fact, shamans are considered omni-sexual, their traditional clothes are ambivalent in gender expression and many of them can be safely described as transsexual, bisexual or otherwise sexually deviant from the norm. A young adult expressing uncertainty about their sexual orientation or showing signs of a non-binary gender identity is often seen as a sign that this person may be chosen by the ancestors for a career as a shaman.

There are two branches or directions of shamans:

The Spirit Guides are mostly concerned with the ancestors and the ancients and dabble in the deeper meaning of life and old wisdom. Many of them are mages, sometimes of considerable power. Most of them have little interest in the world of the living and they travel the land, begging or providing services for alms. Riches are of no importance to them, and the people have a deep respect for them. A Spirit Guide coming to a village can always expect to receive shelter and food, as well as whatever he or she needs to continue travels, such as repairs of clothes or shoes, directions, rations, etc.

The Life Guides are the more common village shamans. These men and women are concerned about which help the ancestor spirits can provide to the living. They are herbalist, midwife, doctor and soothsayer of their community, but also trusted advisors and mediators for disagreements. Far from the priviledged life of priests elsewhere, the Life Guide of a village is often the hardest-working member of the community, as their tradition has a strong "show, don't tell" conviction. Their only consistent priviledge is that they are allowed to marry up to three others, who can be men or women or any combination.