and a goddess in the master bedroom who helps give birth to babies and protects offspring. Evil spirits outside the house cause anxiety and fear, discouraging others from entering the house. There is thus a custom to restrict the entry of evil spirits by hanging thorn trees on the gate or by setting up ritual strings to prevent evil spirits from entering the house. The gods of the house confront these evil spirits and act as guardians of the house. The village cult is an extension of the worship of household gods. The village is an extension of the family and a place where relatives live, although villages can also contain people who are not involved in the worship of the patron gods. The gods of the village cults differ depending on the characteristics of the village. Village cults are generally limited to one village, but sometimes they are extended out of the village to perform farming rituals or communal rites between multiple villages. Most villages serve one main god, who is accompanied by Jangseung (Korean: 장승, Korean totem pole) or other small subordinate gods. Korean shamanism has been looked down on by adherents of other religions, but has over time incorporated and imitated the form and organization of foreign religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism. Foreign religions in turn absorbed elements of shamanism. Shaminism also developed a complementary relationship with Confucianism. Shamanism dealt with abnormal and irregular problems, while Confucian beliefs dealt with regular and everyday problems. Korean shamanism includes rituals used to release rancor from bitter souls and expel bad luck from houses. Folk literature Folk literature is closely related to Korean culture. Most literature was passed down verbally, and revolves around the lives and customs of the Korean people. Such literature includes shamanic songs, myths, tales and folktales. There is variation in these stories, reflecting the periods of history in which they were formed. Many also have a community cultural character and are closely related to the production culture. Some literature is in metrical verse, while others are in prose form. Fragmentary written evidence of Korean folk literature can be found as far back as the 5th century, while complete stories preserved in writing exist from the 12th and 13th centuries in the Buddhist priest Iryeon's compendium Samguk yusa. Shamanic songs consist of both songs with narrative content about the gods, recited for ritual purposes, and non-narrative