The Durin-gut seeks to cure the mental illness by exorcising this spirit, which is often identified as a yeonggam, a type of dokkaebi or goblin-like being with a penchant for attaching to human women that he lusts for.

Durin-gut is a compound of durin, the adnominal form of the Jeju-language adjectival verb durida "to be deranged; to be foolish; to be lacking; to be young",[1][2] and the noun gut "ritual".

[1][a] Korean shamanism traditionally offers a number of supernatural explanations for human illnesses, both physical and mental.

This includes the escape of part of the soul due to a traumatic or shocking event, especially common in childhood when the soul's association with the body is weaker; the attachment of a malignant force, such as a minor spirit or ritual impurity, upon the patient's body, also often caused by a traumatic event; and the anger of a god or an ancestor at the patient's behavior.

If part of a child's soul has escaped, the shaman holds rituals to put it back inside the body.

In these rituals, the shaman engages in active communication with the gods or ancestors that have brought on the disease and convinces or intimidates them into departing or taking mercy.

[8][9] The Durin-gut—the healing ceremony for mental disorders in Jeju Island shamanism—belongs to the final category, in which the shaman communicates with a malevolent deity that has entered the body and forces it to depart.

The youngest of the yeonggam brothers is a hideous creature who often attaches to human women that are the objects of his lust, and drives them insane.

[10] The other yeonggam brothers are more benevolent figures who the shaman convinces through ritual to take away their troublesome youngest sibling.

[3] The purpose of the Durin-gut is to cure the illness by creating a gawp, or separation, between the human patient and these possessing spirits.

[3] A video of a 1984 Durin-gut ceremony—held for a twenty-one-year-old woman who had gone insane while working at a Seoul factory in order to financially support her family[14]—is the key primary source for ritual procedures.

[17] The Chogam-je of the Durin-gut involves the Bepo-doeop-chim, in which the shaman narrates the Jeju creation myth;[18] the Nal-gwa-guk-seomgim (lit.

'polishing the causes'), in which the shaman explains the reasons the ritual is being held, in this case the specific details of the patient's illness;[2] the Gunmun-yeollim (lit.

He goes to high school and to college; he wins success in society...[27] The patient is made to dance to the song and the beat.

In the meantime, the shamans use bamboo leaves to spray liquor outside the gate as a sacrifice to minor gods who could not consume the offerings at the altars.

[2] Over the course of the conversation, the patient confesses traumatic memories that they had repressed or were unwilling to face; this trauma is considered the moment when the malevolent spirit entered the body.

[35] In the case of the 1984 ritual, the patient talked about having discovered a corpse in the factory toilets and encountering her dead father in her dreams.

[41] In such longer versions of the Durin-gut, the purpose of the Neok-deurim is to recall any parts of the human soul that have been displaced by the illness-causing spirit, while the Pudasi and the Aek-magi are preventive measures seeking to stop similar diseases from happening again.

[39] Sometimes for female patients,[42] the Dojin is followed by a final ceremony dedicated to the yeonggam called the Bel-gosa (lit.

After changing clothes, the patient stays at a relative's house for some time, as dangerous spirits may be waiting for her at home.

[47] In the Gwang'in-gut, the shaman intimidates the spirit that is causing the mental illness by walking on the edge of a blade and brandishing swords, knives, and axes.

[49] The shaman then smears red ink (a surrogate for blood) on the patient's face, covers their head with a straw mat, and beats them with a peach branch to force the spirit out.

[50] Sometimes, cold water is splashed on the patient's face, and salt and grain are poured on the ritual ground once the exorcism is over.