Jiyan Lu-Week3

The article by Fjelstad and Maiffret provides a thorough analysis on mediumship, whereby they specifically focus on how sprits have positive affects on individuals. Their study fundamentally examines the Silicon Valley Spirit mediums. Mediumship is an ancient ideology of how spirits exist and guide the individuals, whereas, one must approach them by performing some rituals. Their explanation on main temple (dan) and corresponding derivatives of its traditional practices, institutions, and rituals, such as dong thay, len dong, and Tu Phu elaborates on the mediumship while emphasizing on spontaneous possession of spirit, choices an individual has amid pre and post mediumship (ra dong), and vulnerability of the mediums as the few major themes of the study.

Spontaneous possession is one of the important aspects of mediumship. There is a risk that a medium might veer out of control. Therefore, the master or controller (dong thay) should carry out the process under their supervision. Residing of spirit is not limited to inside of the body, some claim that it resides in the mind as well. Therefore, individuals’ choices no longer remain theirs, rather it is the spirit who controls them. It is interesting because it relates to the philosophical debate of hard-determinism and free-will, whereby, scholarships have long argued whether humans make choices on their own or it an external force that compels or convinces them to perform such an action.

This concept further relates to the percentage of the spirit a medium possesses. It depends on the vulnerability of the individual. The weaker a person is, the more they have the tendency to attract the spirits. However, there is another concept that mediumship passes through family lines, and one has no choice in this regard. Still, during life crises and emotional disturbance, the love of Thanh (God) and spirituality provides a great support system. Therefore, this weaker individual becomes attraction for spirits, which not only provide them the psychological benefits, but make them aware of the unforeseen events. Thus, the mediums live ahead of the future.

Work Cited

Fjelstad, Karen and Lisa Maiffret. “Gifts from the Spirits: Spirit Possession and Personal Transformation Among Silicon Valley Spirit Mediums.”

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%BA%E5%BA%99#/media/File:Xiantong_Temple2.JPG