Seokga- Korean GodDeity
Also known as: 석가, Seokga-yeorae, and 석가여래
Description
Seokga stole the flower contest from Mireuk just as Sobyeol stole it from Daebyeol, swapping his wilted bloom for his rival's while Mireuk slept. His victory gave him the human world, and his character as trickster explains why it is plagued by disorder and the prosperity of the undeserving.
Mythology & Lore
The Contest with Mireuk
In the Changsega, the creation chant preserved in Korean shamanic tradition, Seokga and Mireuk both claimed authority over the human world. To settle the dispute, they agreed to a flower-growing contest: whoever produced the finer bloom would govern the living.
Mireuk, working honestly, grew a magnificent flower. Seokga's withered and died. But while Mireuk slept, Seokga switched the pots, placing Mireuk's thriving bloom beside himself and his own dead plant beside his rival. When the contest was judged, Seokga appeared the winner and was awarded sovereignty over the human world.
Mireuk saw what had happened but could not undo it. He withdrew, leaving the human world to the trickster who had stolen it. The Changsega holds that Mireuk will return at the end of the age to reclaim his rightful place and set the world right. Until then, the living endure a ruler who won his throne by cheating, and the world bears his character: the dishonest prosper, the honest do not always prevail, and the order that should govern human life was broken before it began.