Korean Superstitions

The topic of superstitions came up with a few of my students, and I thought the follow information was irresistible.

Let’s start with what is called a “Bujuk “ A Bujuk is based on Korean Buddism and shamanism. Bujuk, traditionally, is a piece a paper bringing good luck and gets rid of bad luck. People carry it or keep it in their homes for protection. Visitors of Buddhist Temples and Japanese Shrines are welcome to take a Bujuk with them for fortune and glory (name that movie). ‘Fortune and glory kid.’ These rolls of paper are written in many different languages. The common English letters are V, for victory and G for good/great.

My students, Nick and Joel, drew a few Bujuks and told me what different colors signify. If the paper is yellow, it is lucky. It means an old grandmother with a cane, peg-leg and scythe walked over you while you were sleeping – not my idea of luck, but the boys were adamant that it is. If there is red writing I will become a zombie. BAM, just like that, a zombie! There is no other possibility, red Bujuk = zombie, that’s all there is.

The color red is very symbolic, anywhere really, but in particularly here. My first day on the job, I wrote a student’s name on the board with red marker and heard a deep intake of breath from the rest of classroom. Apparently, you only write a name is red if the person is dead. *Note to self. Blushing, I corrected this mistake with a black marker and recommenced my lesson. I couldn’t believe I had blundered so magnificently in the 15 minutes on the job. There was no warning on my pamphlet ‘So you’ve decided to teach English in Korea,’ though of course such pamphlet doesn’t exist. I can still hear, ‘No Teacher, no. Red very bad color.”

So as it stands, it seems to reason that the color red would have a rather large and ominous role in Korean superstitions.

There is a ‘Red Pen’ test for all knew homeowners. Throw a red pen behind you while inside the new (to you) home and it if you hear it hit the floor, no ghost. If there is no sound, it means a ghost caught it. Is it just me, or does this seem like the kind of test Dr. Peter Venkman would ‘perform.’

There is also an Egg-ghost, it’s an egg with feet and ‘strange’ eyes. The only thing that scares the egg-ghost is a frying pan. That made me laugh.

These have been playful and fun, I mean really, a yia-yia with a peg-leg? Really? But I haven’t told you about the Lady with a mask yet. She is someone to avoid at all costs. I’ll explain.

There is a Lady with a mask, and there are two factors that determine your interaction with her. First, the color of her mask. Second, what blood-type you are. For this purpose, I will write about your interaction if she is wearing a red mask during your unfortunate encounter.

She will ask you if you think she is pretty or ugly. There is no way to avoid this question, and whatever your response is, the results are not pretty. If you tell her she is pretty she will rip your mouth into an exaggerated smile. Here’s where your blood type comes into play: if you have A-type blood, the rip is only 1 cm long. Not ideal, but manageable I think, well, at least when you compare it to the other blood types. B-type blood, she will rip your whole face into a big smile, we’re talkin forehead to forehead here. And if you 0-type blood, like me, she will scratch off your face completely. The AB blood types have it easy, you die.

So now your wondering, why didn’t I say she was ugly? You can of course, but you’ll just die afterwards. It’s kinda a no-win scenario.

Her punishments vary depending upon the color of the mask she is wearing. She could use her tongue like a boa constrictor and kill you that way. She could turn you into a vampire or she could make you smell like death.

It seems evident to me that the best course of action is to stay away of this lady, clearly she has some issues.

I don’t want to leave you on a bad note, so I’ll tell you about the Ye-gi-mong ghost, who whispers your future in your dreams. I guess that’s the only way parents can get kids to go to bed after some of these tales.