Mudang-bok

Korean shaman's ritual gown

The mudang-bok is the elaborate costume worn by Korean shamans during a gut (ritual ceremony). Built on the hanbok foundation, its unique system involves the shaman changing into different garments as they invoke successive spirits: a red jangsam and navy kwaeja for the initial descent of the spirit, a red cheollik and helmet for the warrior god, black official robes for the governing spirit, white dangui for the grandmother spirit, and multicolored saekdong for the child spirit. The garments embody the shaman's role as a stage on which multiple deities perform. Colors follow the obangsaek five-element scheme — red, blue, white, black, yellow mapping to directions and forces. In Korean fantasy and horror, the mudang-bok, paired with bells and blade, is the iconic image of spirit-walking and exorcism.