Possessed by the Spirits: Mediumship in Contemporary Vietnamese Communities

Cornell University Southeast Asia Program #23

by Karen Fjelstad (Editor)

The essays in this volume examine the resurgence of the Mother Goddess religion among contemporary Vietnamese following the economic "Renovation" period in Vietnam. Anthropologists explore the forces that compel individuals to become mediums and the social repercussions of their decisions and interactions.

Genres: Religion

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

Reviews

[RYAN PHAM]

Laminated cover

Karen Fjelstad's section on Spirit Mediums in Silicon Valley and their struggles to make money and to be seen as an expression of Vietnamese culture and not simply as financial scam artists. The interplay between Vietnamese and Vietnamese American spirit mediums was fun to watch as the two countries opened up to each other.

Overall, the tendency of emotionally stressed people to become mediums and engage in popular religions reminds me of the book Possessed by the Virgin by Kristin Bloomer, which describes Tamil Catholic possessions and how they are shaped by Hindu influence.

[anh thư]

I found this very repetitive. After the first 2-3 articles, I already felt I had a good enough grasp of how mediums operated in the goddess religion. The rest of the volume did not really provide anything new or different. Maybe there's just not that much that can be said on the topic.

[Jo]

Earlier this year I visited the Vietnamese Women's Museum in Hanoi, where there is an exhibition entitled 'Worshipping Mother Goddess: Pure Heart - Beauty - Joy'. The exhibition presents essential elements of Mother Goddess worship in Vietnam, alongside testimonies from its followers, offering some insight into what has become a vibrant thriving religion, since the relaxation of state controls. I was fascinated by this exhibition, and spent some time afterwards interrogating my (very willing) guide on the subject. A regular, educated guy, he took for granted the popularity and importance of Mother Goddess/Four Palace religion in Vietnam, and shared many stories of family members who have consulted with its mediums and fortune tellers and attended 'len dong' rituals. This piqued my curiosity no end!!!

So I was delighted to discover this book shortly afterwards, and to find that some of its contributors were involved as consultants in the creation of the Hanoi exhibition. Edited by Karen Fjelstad (Lecturer in Anthropology at San Jose State University, U.S.) and Nguyen Thi Hien (Head of Cultural Heritage Studies and Executive Director of Visual Anthropology at Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies, Vietnam), both leading academics in this field, the book brings together a series of essays by Vietnamese and U.S. anthropologists exploring the recent revitalisation of Mother Goddess/Four Palace religion in Vietnam, and particularly the practice of 'len dong' (spirit possession rituals).

Until recently spirit possession has been illegal in Vietnam and condemned as superstitious practice. Today it is flourishing, and alongside it a significant business thrives. Outside of Vietnam, among communities of diaspora Vietnamese, there is also a resurgence in these practices. So (some of) the questions are why might this be happening? How does it connect to the economic changes of recent decades? How does it relate to the State? Who is associated with it, and what does it involve? Why do people become mediums and how do they and others benefit from what they do? The book offers a fascinating mix of personal stories and socio cultural reflection exploring these kinds of questions. It has left me better informed and more critically aware, and has reminded me of just how deeply complex and contradictory human experience is, and how difficult it can be to describe and analyse human experience - even our own! - using the limited tools of language and ideas. Well done to this team of researchers for combining their different standpoints and disciplines to produce such a helpful whole.

http://www.baotangphunu.org.vn/Tin-tu...