Bradley Kitaoka - Week 4

               This week I read “Possessed by the Spirits Mediumship in Contemporary Vietnamese Communities” by Karen Fjelstad. One thing that was very interesting in the reading was the section when they talked about male mediums. They made it seem like male mediums are not good people and they tend to be thieves and only care about themselves. It was interesting to read this especially since we had just talked about how spirits tend to choose female mediums in class on Thursday. Something else I thought was weird was when the California mediums went back to Vietnam but were scared to perform possessions there because they didn’t want to get in trouble. I’m not sure if I’m reading that incorrectly but I was shocked that a country had banned a religious practice that seems important to their people. Another thing that I felt was kind of weird was how devoted they were to using specific Vietnamese items. I understand that these items hold more value if they are from Vietnam, but I thought it was weird that they rather have nothing than use American made items. I figure they would rather have some sort of ritual than no ritual at all, but I guess the value of the Vietnam made items is too much to overlook. Overall, I thought the reading was really interesting and I felt that I learned the most from this reading so far.

 

Cite: Top 10 Best Thai temple in San Francisco Bay Area, CA - Last Updated April 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2020, from https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=thai+temple&find_loc=San+Francisco+Bay+Area,+CA

Question: Going back to male mediums are there fewer male mediums because people are more aware of this stereotype or are they just picked less by the spirits?