Spirits without Borders: Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a Transnational Age (Contemporary Anthropology of Religion)

231 Pages·2011·1.79 MB·English

by  Karen Fjelstad

CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY OF RELIGION
A series published with the Society for the
Anthropology of Religion
Laurel Kendall, Series Editor
Curator, Division of Anthropology, America Museum
of Natural History
Published by Palgrave Macmillan:
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The Road to Clarity: Seventh-Day Adventism in Madagascar
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Yoruba in Diaspora: An African Church in London
By Hermione Harris
Islamic Narrative and Authority in Southeast Asia: From the
16th to the 21st Century
By Thomas Gibson
Evangelicalism and Conflict in Northern Ireland
By Gladys Ganiel
Christianity in the Local Context: Southern Baptists
in the Philippines
By Brian M. Howell
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Missions and Conversions: Creating the Montagnard-Dega
Refugee Community
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Gender, Catholicism, and Morality in Brazil: Virtuous Husbands,
Powerful Wives
By Maya Mayblin
Direct Sales and Direct Faith in Latin America
By Peter S. Cahn
Shamans, Spirituality, and Cultural Revitalization:
Explorations in Siberia and Beyond
By Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer
Spirits without Borders:
Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a Transnational Age
Karen Fjelstad and Nguyễn Thị Hiền
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Spirits without Borders
Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a
Transnational Age
Karen Fjelstad and Nguyê˜n Thi. Hiê`n
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SPIRITS WITHOUT BORDERS
Copyright © Karen Fjelstad and Nguyê˜n Thi. Hi`ên, 2011.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–0–230–11493–7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the
Library of Congress.
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: July 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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For all the spirits of Ðạo Mẫu, and all the people
who honor and serve them.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1
Border Crossings: Setting the Theoretical Stage 1
Chapter 2
Spirited Research: Studying Lên Ðồng in
Vietnam and California 17
Chapter 3
Ðạo Mẫu Spirits, Temples, and Rituals 39
Chapter 4
Spiritual Callings: Becoming a Medium in the
Contemporary World 77
Chapter 5
“Lên Ðồnging” in Silicon Valley 99
Chapter 6
The Vietnam- Cali Connection 137
Chapter 7
“You Have to Respect the Local Spirits” 169
Glossary 187
Notes 193
References 203
Index 213
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Acknowledgments
T
his book could not have been written without the help of many lên
đồng spirit mediums and disciples in the United States and Vietnam.
They generously invited us into their homes and temples, patiently
answered our questions, and allowed us to participate in their rituals.
We have changed everyone’s names to protect their individual privacy.
We owe a special debt of gratitude to Phan and Mrs. Nga, the two
mediums who first took us under their wings, and to our friends at
the Chúa Bói temple, whose desire to have initiations in Vietnam led
to the idea for this study. We also thank Mr. Thanh for his hospital-
ity and teachings, and Mrs. Vân, Tania, and Brian for their constant
support of this project as well as their carefully constructed com-
ments, corrections, and discussions. We are also deeply grateful to
Mr. and Mrs. Viên, Mr. and Mrs. Lương, Mr. and Mrs. Tuyết, Mr.
Thái, Loan, Kim, Tiffany, Billy, Jonathan, Frank, Erik and his par-
ents, Elise, Choi, and Hoa.
We owe a special debt of gratitude to Laurel Kendall who sup-
ported this work from its inception. She encouraged us to conduct
collaborative research, helped us to locate funding, and read several
drafts of this manuscript. Always enthusiastic and incredibly generous
with her time, she nudged us along even in the darkest hours. She had
the particular talent of developing great ideas, yet making it appear as
if they were our own. She is a true scholar in the noblest sense of the
word, and we thank the mother goddesses time and again for allow-
ing her to be our colleague, mentor, and friend.
The current group of lên đồng researchers is small but formidable,
and we are grateful to be in the presence of such spirited researchers.
We thank Ngô Ðức Thịnh and Nguyễn Khắc Khảm, both pioneers
of lên đồng research, for inspiring our own studies, and we thank
Barley Norton, Kirsten Endres, and Phạm Quỳnh Phương for their
generous assistance in the field as well as their social and intellectual
support. We offer special thanks to Alex Quan for his insightful and
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