Week 4 - Calvin Huang

Despite not having practiced Len Dong, I can relate to how the first Len Dong practitioner, Ba Thuong, came to bring the history and the idea of it over to the Silicon Valley.  It is similar to how when I came to the United States and brought along no belongings.  Introduced to a new world, it was very exciting yet scary.  I would imagine that is what Len Dong would have felt if it was a person.  What I didn’t know as a child, however, was the amount of opportunity that going to another place would bring.  For the Len Dong practitioner, it must have been these opportunities that drove them to bring the practice to Silicon Valley.  However, it wasn’t easy to provide Len Dong with a new home.  The practice was not easy to construct, as Ba Thuong was “Unable to purchase ready-made ritual items, Ba Thuong constructed the temple with objects she could find or make.” (97).  I think this struggle was actually beneficial.  It would help Ba Thuong to reinforce the teachings of Len Dong as and also offer an opportunity to discover new things about Len Dong.  However, Len Dong practice, at the time the author was writing this article, was illegal in California and the situation in Vietnam was improving.  This led to the return to Vietnam just to attend the ceremony without fear of being caught.  In hindsight, I would have done the same thing, since it would have been the safest choice.  Reading this part of the book has renewed my sense of belonging and made me reflect upon my choices in life.  It is interesting that the past always finds a way to make it back to the future.

Fjelstad, Karen, and Thi Hien. Nguyen. Possessed by the Spirits: Mediumship in Contemporary Vietnamese Communities. Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program Publications, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell U, 2006. Print.

https://dinhngoctu.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/hau-dong.jpg