Dongti
punishment caused by transgression againsts spirits in Korean shamanism
Dongti (Korean: 동티), also known as Dongto (동토; 動土) or Shinbeol (신벌; 神罰; literally Punishment of the Gods) is the term for Divine punishment in Korean mythology.
Causes
Dongti are said to be caused by shamanistic deities, including village patrons. For example, in one myth, a man used Jangseung, or totem poles, for fuel, foolishly believing that the Jangseung would not avenge him. Because the man received the rage of the Jangseung, or Dongti, he quickly died from an assortment of deadly diseases. Similar myths tell of how people who toppled the village altars, the Seonangdang, suddenly fell sick and died due to Dongti caused by the village patrons, the Seonangshin. There are also myths about the holy trees, the Shinmok or Dangsu Namu, causing fatal disease.
The Gashin, or household deities, can also cause Dongti. When the objects the Gashin embody (such as the Seongju Hangari of the Seongjushin, Cheollyung Hangari of the Cheollyungshin, Jowang Geurut of the Jowangshin, Jeseok Ogari and Mom Ogari of the ancestor gods) are shattered, when the animals (generally toads, weasels, or rat snakes) that the goddess Eobshin embodies are killed, or when someone digs on the earth that Teojushin embodies without an appeasing ritual, the person who is blasphemous gets Dongti, mostly by disease and/or great misfortune. The goddess of the pit toilet, Cheukshin, is one of the best-known causers of Dongti; when her long hair touches a human who has not coughed thrice before entering the Outhouse, the human gets an incurable sickness and dies. This is a reference to many pathogens spreading via feces.
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This entry incorporates text from “Dongti” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.