Week 2 Presentation

Uyen Ngo, Diane Tran, Alyssa Vang

ASA 189B - Spirit Realm

10 April 2019

Spirits Healers of Different Worlds

Possessed by Spirits - Fjelstad & Maiffret (Vietnamese)

This paper is centered around the spirit of “Cau Be” (the Young Prince) and is focused on the Vietnamese community in the Silicon Valley. It is important to note that the word len dong will reappear many times throughout the paper. The word translates to spirit possession ceremonies in which the mediums are possessed why Tu Phu, which are spirits that will likely possess mediums during len dong. Before we explain how the ceremonies work, let’s talk about the mediums.

Mediums often have different reasons for becoming mediums. These reasons include: they were a part of a family of mediums, they participated as a way to create or maintain friendships and ended up enjoying it, it was a response to life crises (ex. Lots of loved one, financial problems, or interpersonal conflicts), it was due to their love of Thanh (God), some promised to become mediums for their safety on boat journey while many endured severe trauma when they left vietnam or because of intergenerational conflict as it was a way to maintain cultural integrity Despite this differences are the reasons they became mediums, all acknowledged their callings as destiny and were subject of a can nang (heavy fate). Friendships might seem like a weird reason but is because people often attend a len dong because of their friends and end up falling in love with the ceremonies and “become mediums themselves to serve the spirit world” (114).

Some characteristics of mediumship is that it is often recurring in families; not uncommon to find several in one family. We see a story of a mother and daughter Co Hong and Jenny. Jenny was the first to become a medium. Similar to Houa Lor (class lecturer), Jenny found herself to feel unwell and spent day after day sleeping and not moving till she realized her illness was Cau Be’s way of forcing her to become a medium, just as how Houa Lor’s shaman spirits was calling her to be a shaman through her illness. There are also familial effects. An example is if you fail to answer your calling as a medium the spirits will make your offspring sick.

Now moving onto the spirits. There are three ways spirits can influence: Day to day life influence, len dong possession and spontaneous possession. These spirit are thought to constantly be “around” the medium (either inside body or near head) and when a medium is possessed, she has no control over the spirit. The degree of possession varies depending on spirits involved and temple where it is taking place and mediums are often inclined to “be possessed by spirits with whom they share some affinity/intimate transformative relationship between spirit and servant” (118).The personality and behavior of medium often mirrors her spirits. An example is a medium whose spirit likes dark tea and smoking cigars. On the basis, she wouldn’t be able to stand dark tea and doesn’t smoke but when possessed she enjoys both. These characteristics are also associate with gender so if a man is more feminine, he might have female spirits roots. There are interpersonal tension between len dong since there are a variety of different types of len dong: either reserved or very expressive with a wide range of emotions. Spirits can also causes short and long term physical changes in the people they possess

The way mediums heal is they start by distinguishing between yin and yang illnesses. Yin illnesses are caused by spirits and must be cured in supernatural world. On the other hand, Yang illnesses are considered to have “natural” or “biological” causes and can be cured with secular medicine. The function of spirits is to teach the mediums certain lessons and guide them in their daily lives. In return, several spirit mediums have received the gift of divination such as changes in occupation and social status or inner gains.Tu Phu spirits have the power to make one ill because they want that person to serve as a medium, and while the medication will temporarily suppress the symptoms but the spirit will find another way to rise again. Spirit mediums must sponsor ceremonies, attend the ceremonies of others, and perform time-consuming and costly private rituals.

The Journey between two Worlds - The Pa Lor Story (Hmong)

This paper is centered around the Hmong culture of shamanism and the story of how Pa Lor became a Shaman. Shamans in the Hmong community are considered as the mediators between the living and spirit world. They believe in Animism which is to believe that everything has a soul or spirit, every living being to natural objects. In addition, they believe human souls live inside of the body in the physical world. Each Hmong family has a group of ancestor spirits, which belong to the father of the husband’s side of the family. From time to time the ancestor spirits are in great need of certain things from the descendants’ family to be used or spent in the spiritual world by causing illness in a member of the family. There are six house spirits who play an important role in the house in guarding the individual person's souls and spirits and while fending off any outside spirits. The spirits of the of fire or stove, the spirit of the kitchen, the ancestor spirits live in the central pillar, the spirit of wealth and prosperity, the spirit of the marital bedroom. The lost spirits can be lost in any way from fear, depression, trauma, kidnapped by evil spirits, a long trip, and simply getting lost. Calling the soul back ranges from different ceremonies in complexity to simple soul callers. Shaman ceremonies are in the early morning and can take all day long. They were different color veils to cover their faces.

Pa Lor was sick at a young age in high school with constant aches, pains, and fatigue. The doctors did not know what was the cause of her illness and told her to take pain medication such as Tylenol. She thought she was dying and told her mother. Her mother called upon a shaman to see what the illness was caused. During this practice, Pa Lor had her first vision. The shaman told her illness was the calling to become a shaman. To transition into a shaman, she had to practice under the guidance of an experienced shaman. She had spirit helpers who helped guide her throughout the spirit world. Her spirit helpers obtain information for her to solve problems. Her job as a shaman is to ask permission to enter and leave homes to help or find spirits. Becoming a shaman is an unexpected journey. There is no answer on how to become one, you just acquire the calling and suddenly obtain the knowledge to become one. It takes awhile for one to accept the calling. The life of a shaman is one of great sacrifice, but a shaman is able to help the lives of others.

Shamanism In Trouble - Chongho Kim (Korean)

In Kim’s reading it centers around the story of shamanism in the Korean culture. As his article, he has claimed that Korean shaman work is ‘the field of misfortune’ which is separate from health care but under the same area. Kim argues that “shamanism is not a sort of traditional medicine, and the utilization of shamanic healing is not a phenomenon of medical pluralism” where he sees that shamanism is not a traditional medicine under Korean government but should be seen as a health-care resource (15). Through his studies of medical pluralism he looks into the view of an Anthropologist to argue for his points. Kim was heavily influenced by a medical anthropologist from Harvard University; Professor Arthur Kleinman. In his claim he sees herbal medicine and shamanism under a study of ‘local health care system’. After several studies and research over the years, he has found that Korean shamanism is different from medical practitioners and herbal medication; Korean shamanism is its own study and does not involve any type of medicine at all. Through his apologies he states that “Korean [shamanism] is not a healthcare practitioner, but a ritual practitioner dealing with matters of misfortune” (18). From this chapter he wants to focus on what the real definition of shamanism in Korean society.

Korean shamanic rituals are done for illnesses, illnesses itself is not referred to shamanic healing. Misfortune is seen through illness which they call byong or a disease that they call jilbyong in the process of the ritual which then leads to the several other misfortunes. None of these ritual doings include any medicine or any traditional medication. There are practitioners that use traditional medication but they are technically seen as healthcare resource. Kut is one of the most important things in a korean shamanic ritual, it is seen to be the one that connects everything together when talking about the rituals. Whether you have different styles of rituals or beliefs, kut is always in deed needed for rituals. Kut is defined as a ritual that consists of offerings and sacrifices to gods, spirits, and ancestors which is used through songs, chants/prayers, and rhythmical movements.

Understanding Korean shamanic rituals is not the only information that should be respected on but what you call them. Most of the time people call them mudang which is seen as a negative connotation, in the Korean society of shamanism it is actually seen as an insult. They would prefer people to call them mansin or bosal which means ‘ten thousand gods’ but until this day several people still call them mudang’s.