Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did shamans respond to beliefs that illness was caused by an invading spirit?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Mudang in South Korea — Shamanism Korean shamans, or *mudang*, performing a ritual dance in South Korea.

In the context of shamanism, when illness is believed to be caused by a spirit entering a person’s body, the shaman acts as a healer to resolve the affliction. The primary method employed by the shaman to cure the patient in these instances is to drive the invading spirits out of the body.1

This practice is part of the shaman's broader role as a mediator between the human and spirit worlds. Beyond driving out invading spirits, shamans address other spiritual causes of illness, such as soul loss—where a person's soul has been captured by angry spirits—by liberating the strayed soul. Additionally, in some traditions, shamans may work to appease spirits through sacrifices or specific rituals to conciliate the entities responsible for a disaster or illness.1