Indigenous beliefs: Travel far to rediscover yourself.

From shamanic dances in Korea to spirit medium rituals in Vietnam, from the revival of Maori ceremonies in New Zealand to the spread of Mother Earth spirit across the Americas – 21st-century people are rediscovering what was once considered outdated: Indigenous beliefs.

While the 1990s saw the world moving towards globalization and religious unity, the 21st century is witnessing the opposite: people are returning to "local beliefs."

In South Korea, young people are relearning shamanic rituals; in Northern Europe, temples dedicated to Odin are being rebuilt; in Vietnam, spirit medium rituals are being livestreamed and young people are calling them "living heritage"... The return of indigenous beliefs is not just a cultural story - but a journey to rediscover identity in a world that has become too flat.

The music video "Bac Bling" by artists Hoa Minzy, Meritorious Artist Xuan Hinh, and musician Tuan Cry recreates the culture of Northern Vietnam through spirit medium rituals, traditional costumes, and folk music interwoven with modern rap segments. (Source: YouTube)

The quiet revival

In a world saturated with technology and speed, a paradox is unfolding: the more modern we become, the more we seek out primal values. This isn't just a resurgence of yoga, meditation, or "green living" movements, but more profoundly, a return to indigenous beliefs, belief systems once marginalized by monotheism and rationalism.

In South Korea, shamanism (musok) – once considered superstition – has now been recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). According to the Korea Times ,

South Korea currently has around 300,000 shamans, the majority of whom operate unofficially. In Seoul alone, many séances (gut) are being revived and are appearing in films, music videos, and contemporary art exhibitions. These "guts" are appearing in films, music videos, and contemporary art exhibitions.

Speaking to Reuters , renowned shaman Lee Kyoung-hyun said, “Shamanism…is an invisible, mysterious, and spiritual world.” She approaches her clients in a completely modern way: through social media accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers.

In New Zealand, Maori youth are also reviving the haka and karakia rituals – not just in sports, but as a way of “preserving the spirit of their ancestors.”

According to the Te Ao Māori newspaper, Matariki activities (Maori New Year) – including the pre-dawn prayer ritual (dawn karakia) and collective ritual dances (haka) – have become a space for young people to reconnect with “tikanga” – the Māori way of life.

In Northern Europe, the neo-paganism movement (a revival of pre-Christian religions in Europe and North America) is spreading as thousands of Swedes and Norwegians return to worshipping Odin, Freya, and other Norse gods. They see it as “a natural response to the spiritual emptiness of the digital age.”

The Iceland Review once noted that the Norse Revival Society in Iceland was one of the two religious organizations with the largest increase in membership in the national religious registry.

In Latin America, Inca and Aztec rituals, once banned by Spanish colonizers, are being revived by younger generations as an act of identity revival. In ceremonies in Peru or Mexico City, people burn copal resin or traditional herbs to purify the space, offer coca, and pray to the sun – images once only seen in history books, now appearing frequently on Instagram and TikTok with the hashtag #returntotheroots.

It's not just the curiosity of young people; it's a quiet revival. And perhaps, as globalized cultures make people more alike, indigenous beliefs become the way for each nation to rediscover its own identity.

Why turn back instead of moving forward?

Scholars call this trend "re-indigenization"—a return to traditional values ​​to heal the modern world.

Shamanic dances are increasingly appearing in Korean films and entertainment programs. (Source: Yonhap)

According to Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis in a 2020 interview on the independent media site Mongabay , we are living in a time when language is gradually disappearing. Language, not just vocabulary and grammar, is an inseparable part of the human spirit, the means by which the soul of a culture connects with the material world. This loss is synonymous with the disappearance of thousands of spiritual universes. In this loss, humanity begins to realize that material development does not equate to happiness.

The 20th century celebrated reason, science, and growth, but it also plunged humanity into a spiritual crisis. Digital loneliness, depression, burnout, disorientation... all left people feeling empty, despite material abundance.

When the world becomes too noisy with data and logic, people begin to yearn for moments of inner peace – where emotions and intuition are heard. And indigenous beliefs are the oldest language of that. Indigenous rituals – from fire dancing in Africa to the gongs of the Central Highlands – awaken the inherited memories of nature in each person's mind. In the sounds of drums and gongs or the scent of incense, people rediscover a sense of "belonging" that technology cannot recreate.

In Canada, Indigenous people celebrate Powwow with tens of thousands of participants each year, as both a festival and a declaration: "We are still here." Indigenous beliefs, in that sense, are not just spiritual – they are about the right to exist as distinct individuals.

Vietnam is no exception.

In Vietnam, the phenomenon of returning to indigenous beliefs is occurring subtly but noticeably. In 2016, the Mother Goddess religion was inscribed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Spirit medium rituals are gradually appearing more frequently in urban life, especially in Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Nam Dinh.

While in the past spirit medium rituals were associated with the peasant class, today young people, artists, and businesspeople are all seeking them out. They not only "ask for blessings," but also find a "local spiritual language" for themselves. On social media, pages like Vietnam Beliefs and Mother Goddess Today have tens of thousands of followers. Videos of spirit medium rituals have reached millions of views on TikTok.

Besides the Mother Goddess religion, the worship of the God of Agriculture, the Mother of Water, and the harvest-praying rituals of the Tay, Dao, and Muong people are also being revived in festivals and community-based cultural tourism tours. In addition, many young Vietnamese artists are incorporating indigenous spiritual elements into their works, creating unique blends between tradition and modernity.

From the visual works of Le Giang and Nguyen Trinh Thi to the musical projects of Den Vau and Hoang Thuy Linh, all utilize imagery of the Mother Goddess, deities, and rituals to express aspirations for freedom and identity.

Recently, Hoa Minzy's music video "Bac Bling," a collaboration with Meritorious Artist Xuan Hinh and musician Tuan Cry, became a prime example: recreating the culture of Northern Vietnam through the ritual of spirit mediumship, traditional costumes, and folk music interwoven with modern rap. The song not only took social media by storm but also ignited national cultural pride in the younger generation, proving that indigenous beliefs and culture are being reborn in a popular format.

Is this wave just temporary?

The resurgence of indigenous beliefs reflects a global spiritual need – the need to be connected, to belong, to find balance. 21st-century youth don't reject technology; they simply want to be more deeply rooted while still reaching for the sky. They meditate via phone apps while attending New Year's ceremonies; they listen to trance music while getting Maori tattoos; they use social media while listening to folk tales on podcasts.

Indigenous beliefs are therefore no longer confined to temples and shrines, but are permeating contemporary life in new forms: electronic folk music, spiritual documentaries, performance art, community tourism, and even in fashion design and digital art.

It helps young people see that identity is not something outdated, but rather the material for creating the future. Returning to indigenous beliefs is not a denial of progress, but a reclaiming the right to balance reason and spirit, so that the past and present can "speak" to each other.

An article published in the academic journal Public Culture in 2000 noted that, in the era of globalization – when the world seems "flatter" than ever before – local people seek to preserve their own identity through distinctive cultural beliefs and practices.

In other words, humanity is seeking to re-engrave its fingerprints onto the spiritual map of humankind, and that is the deepest meaning of this return: We are not seeking the old, but rediscovering ourselves – the primal part that the world's progress has inadvertently left behind.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/niem-tin-ban-dia-di-xa-de-tim-lai-chinh-minh-333158.html