Traditional che-sol Ceremony

My Korean friend, Jun recently invited me to a special ceremony at his parents’ house. The ceremony is held to mark the one year anniversary of his grandmother’s death. It is a traditional all over Korea and it is done for all family members.

Another American friend, and myself got dressed up and met Jun at the subway station. His parents live on the top floor of a small apartment building. After taking off our shoes, we entered a lovely and comfortable apartment. His family was more than welcoming-they immediately told me to sit down and offered me snacks and drinks. Fortunately for me, my friend Jun’s English is great! He played the role of translator all night! His parents and sister were able to understand nearly everything that I said, but weren’t always able to respond. Somehow, we still managed to have a great time and to get to know each other. Jun’s mother showered me with compliments, which I really enjoyed!  His mother and sister cooked the entire time-they refused my help even though I asked 100 times! Everyone else visited and relaxed. We all wore black, and no one wore red (it is a color that is considered rude and disrespectful at an even such as this).



At about 11:00 p.m., Jun’s family began to open all of the windows and doors in the house-I was told this was to allow the spirits of the ancestors flow freely into the house.

Jun put up a large screen with Korean writing on it. In front of the screen they placed a table. The most important things on the table were a small wooden case with his grandmother’s name and life accomplishments and two candles. His family arranged an entire feast on the table, in a very specific order. Then end of the table farthest from the screen was for fruit-which was then arranged according to the number of seeds in the fruit. The next row was for vegetables, the following row for main dishes. The main dishes that were animals (fish, chicken, etc.) had to be place with the tails at the West-since the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. In front of the dinner table, there was a smaller table with incense on it.






Once everything was arranged, the ceremony started. All of Jun’s family members bowed to their ancestors. Then, each member of the family took turns presenting Jun’s grandmother with rice wine. A small amount of the wine is poured into a cup, which must be swirled three times, and it is then placed near the candles. The chopsticks are also re-arranged multiple times in the order of the food that was favored by the specific ancestor. After more bowing, a few moments was allowed for either silence or for offering verbal memories of Jun’s grandmother.




When the ceremony was finished-Jun took the rice paper with his grandmother’s name on it outside. He lit the paper on fire, and allowed the ashes to blow away-this allows the spirit a peaceful exit from the home.



We then enjoyed a delicious meal, conversation, and rice wine. I feel so fortunate to have been able to participate in such a traditional Korean ceremony. The che-sol was such a beautiful and respectful ceremony. I feel as though I was a part of something truly special and sacred.