page_title: Mengdu
section_title: Ritual uses
hierarchical_section_title: Mengdu / Physical description and ritual use / Knives / Ritual uses
caption_attribution_description: English: Diagram of Jeju knife divination
context_page_description: The mengdu, also called the three mengdu and the three mengdu of the sun and moon, are a set of three kinds of brass ritual devices—a pair of knives, a bell, and divination implements—which are the symbols of shamanic priesthood in the Korean shamanism of southern Jeju Island. Although similar ritual devices are found in mainland Korea, the religious reverence accorded to the mengdu is unique to Jeju.
  The origin myth of the mengdu is found in the Chogong bon-puri, a major shamanic narrative in Jeju religion. According to this narrative, the original mengdu were possessed by the eponymous Mengdu triplets, the three deities who were the first to practice shamanic ritual on earth. The stylistic features of mengdu refer back to important events in the miraculous conception and lives of these gods. The implements play a critical role in ritual; both the knives and the divination implements are used to divine the will of the gods, and the bell is used to invite them into the ritual ground.
  Every set of mengdu is believed to incarnate the spirits of both the heroes of the Chogong bon-puri and the historical human shamans who previously owned the particular set.
context_section_description: The most important function of the knives is to divine the will of the gods. The shaman regularly throws the knives onto the ground during rituals, and the gods are believed to communicate through their relative position. There are six possible positions that the knives can take; these are referred to as "bridges." In the Chogong bon-puri narrative, Noga-danpung-agissi crosses physical bridges with the same names.
  The two most inauspicious configurations are jakdo-dari, the straw-cutter's bridge, and kal-seon-dari, the bridge of the raised swords. In both, the rounded side of the blade falls outward. Jakdo-dari is when the knives are crossed, and kal-seon-dari is when they do not. The former symbolizes Noga-danpung-agissi's parents' initial decision to kill her with a straw-cutting machine, and is believed to presage unpreventable misfortune. The latter represents her parents' decision to stab her with swords instead, and means that misfortune is impending but may be forestalled with the correct rituals for the gods.
  The rounded sides facing each other is termed ae-san-dari, the forlorn bridge. It symbolizes Noga-danpung-agissi facing her parents as they see each other for the final time, and signifies a sad event in the future. When the rounded sides face away, the resulting configuration is deung-jin-dari, the bridge of turned backs, showing the daughter and her parents turning their backs to each other. It portends a departure or discord. When either position appears when the shaman is inviting the gods into the human world, it means that the gods are unwilling to descend. When they appear when the shaman is sending the gods back to their abode, they are taken as an auspicious sign meaning that the gods are willing to leave.
  Oen-jabu-dari, the position in which both rounded sides face left, is a positive sign that the gods were originally not planning to grant blessings, but have decided otherwise due to sympathy for the worshippers upon attending the ritual. It is the symbol of Noga-danpung-agissi's father giving his daughter a golden fan. The final position of nadan-jabu-dari, in which both rounded sides face right, is highly propitious. However, both configurations are considered unwelcome when the shaman is sending the gods back, as it suggests that the gods are unwilling to leave.
  Shamans also employ knives for a number of other ritual purposes, including in ceremonial dances, to expel demons of pestilence in healing rituals, to cut out parts of sacrificial offerings for the gods, and while physically reenacting shamanic narratives.
caption: Diagram of Jeju knife divination
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