This document summarizes an academic article about female spirit mediums in Vietnam. It discusses three female master mediums and how they have exercised agency within the Mother Goddess religion and their communities. The mediums have overcome barriers, built new temples, gained large followings, and influenced the narrative around Mother Goddess worship. They see themselves as having a spiritual calling or destiny to serve as mediums. The document analyzes how they have used their skills and positions to practice their faith and assert themselves despite traditional patriarchal society.

1. reading response for Religion and Society in Southeast Asia
religion writing question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
Please write a response for attached essay and follow the instructions in the weekly
response guidelines in the attachment.
Children of the Mother Goddesses: Religion and Lives of Female Master spirit Mediums in
Viet Nam Nguyễn Thị HiềnMagic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, Volume 15, Number 2, Fall 2020,
pp.252-276 (Article)Published by University of Pennsylvania PressDOI:For additional
information about this article[ Access provided at 11 Jan 2023 17:51 GMT from UCLA
Library ]https://doi.org/10.1353/mrw.2020.0019https://muse.jhu.edu/article/775353
magic, ritual, and witchcraft (fall 2020)COPYRIGHT © 2020 UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.children of the mother goddesses: religion
and lives of female master spirit mediums in viet namNGUYʘN THI. HIÊ`NVietnam
National Institute of Culture and Arts StudiesINTRODUCTIONThrough an ethnographic
study of Lên ĐÔ`ng spirit possession rituals, the central practice of Mother Goddess worship
in Viet Nam, this article seeks to clarify longstanding debates about the distinction between
mediums and sha-mans. Drawing on theories of agency, I look at the life histories of three
female spirit mediums, focusing on the ways in which they use their skills and capacities to
practice the Mother Goddess religion, interpret their faith, and experience life and work as
children of the Mother Goddesses. These three dynamic Vietnamese women have overcome
certain barriers of traditional society wherein men are typically dominant, and have
successfully found ways to assert themselves. Their agency, I argue, is not limited to the
space and time of possession or trance, but is also evident in their active and influential
roles in their communities.Even though Viet Nam officially claims to be an atheist country,
according to statistics released by the Government Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA),
26.4 percent of the population is categorized as religious believers. In a population of 96.2
million (according to a July 2017 estimate), there are about six million Catholics, one and a
half million Protestants, and fourteen million Buddhists, among other so- called “world”
religions. Many people This research is funded by the Viet Nam National Foundation for
Science and Technol-ogy Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number 699.01-2017.01.
It is also a part of the research results of a project entitled “Cultural Management for the
Practices related to the Beliefs of the Viê․t in Mother Goddesses of Three Realms” directed
by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyẽn Thi․ Hi`ên. I would like to express my sincere thanks to
my infor-mants. I also express my special gratitude to Dr. Laurel Kendall and Dr. Frank

2. Proschan for their comments and suggestions for improving my paper.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses253unaffiliated with such religions
nevertheless worship their ancestors and local spirits, or are regarded as polytheistic
practitioners who may be adherents of the Mother Goddess religion, or go to a Buddhist
temple for a ritual, or fol-low the Confucian virtues and rituals at home or at work. Many
individuals blend traditional practices with other religious teachings, particularly those of
Buddhism and Christianity.1The Vietnamese2 worship of Mother Goddesses of the Three
and Four Realms (the so- called Mother Goddess religion)3 involves a system of beliefs in a
pantheon of spirits that are hierarchically ranked: the supreme Mother Goddess Liẽu Hạnh
at the top, lesser Mother Goddesses (Mẫu), Queens (Chúa), Mandarins (Quan), Dames
(Chầu), Princes (Ông Hoàng), Damsels (Cô), and Children Spirits (Cậu). This pantheon also
incorporates Taoist fig-ures and the spirit of Trần Hưng Đạo, a historical hero who fought
against Mongol invaders in the thirteenth century. The spirits belong to four realms: Heaven
(represented by the color red), Mountain and Forest (green), Water (white), and Earth
(yellow). The Mother Goddess religion is practiced in a number of provinces and cities in
Viet Nam, with notable centers dedicated to the Goddess in Nam Định province in
particular.Aside from festivals and celebrations, Lên Đồng spirit possession4 is the main
ritual practiced by Vietnamese adherents of the Mother Goddess reli-gion. Michael Lambek
provides some helpful concepts for understanding pos-session and trance phenomena. He
suggests that possession phenomena compass a whole social complex of knowledge and
behavior, and that what “trance” means is also culturally determined. “The appearance of
trance,” he asserts, “is mediated by the cultural model, by its social reality; the collective
representations of trance precede its incidence.”5 The Lên Đồng rituals, like 1. See
https://vn.usembassy.gov/international- religious- freedom- report- 2017- vietnam/.
Accessed August 10, 2020.2. In this paper, here and elsewhere when I use the term
“Vietnamese” speaking about “Vietnamese beliefs” or “Vietnamese people” I refer to the
Việt, the largest ethnic group in Viet Nam, not the national identity with its diverse
ethnicities.3. See, Ngô Đư
́ c Thịnh, ed., Đạo Mẫu Việt Nam (The Mother Goddess Religion in
Viet-nam, Vol. I and II) (Hanoi: Nhà Xuất bản Văn hóa Thông Tin, 1996); Nguyẽn Thị Hi`ên,
The Religion of the Four Palaces: Mediumship and Therapy in Viet Culture (Hanoi: Nhà Xuất
bản Thế giới, 2016).4. Spirit possession ritual (Lên Đồng) is also called Hầu Bóng—the word
hầu means “serving spirits” and the word bóng means “spirits” or “shadow.” Researchers
use both words interchangeably. See, for example, Nguyẽn, The Religion of the Four Palaces;
Ngô, ed., Đạo Mẫu Việt Nam; Maurice Durand, Technique et Panthéon des médiums
vietnamiens (Dong), Vol. XLV (Paris: Publications de l’Ecole Francaise d’extreme Orient,
1959).5. Michael Lambek, “From Disease to Discourse: Remarks on the Conceptualization of
Trance and Spirit Possession,” in Colleen A. Ward, ed., Altered States of Consciousness and
Mental Health: A Cross- Cultural Perspective (London: Sage Press, 1989), 38.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020254spirit possession in many other parts of the
world, feature a series of incarna-tions during which spirits take possession of spirit
mediums, who speak and perform as the spirits they embody.6 Adherents of Lên Đồng must
be initiated to become mediums, and initiated mediums must perform at least two rituals a
year.7 During each Lên Đồng ritual, a spirit medium is possessed by a num-ber of spirits

3. (which can range from five to thirty- six); each incarnation lasts from three to fifteen
minutes, or longer . The incarnation expresses the spirit’s personality and idiosyncrasy
through costume, music, chầu văn (“songs for the spirits”), dance, and verbal interaction
with participants (for illustrations of master spirit mediums incarnating specific spirits, see
figures of Mrs. Ngân, 1.1, 1.3; Mrs Vinh, 2.2 and 2.3; and Mrs. Huyền, 3.2 and 3.3.)Today,
since UNESCO has included “Practices related to Việt Beliefs in Mother Goddesses of Three
Realms” on its Representative List of the Intan-gible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2016),
Lên Đồng rituals have become widely known in mass media and to the public in general,
including people who are not adherents of the religion. This recent visibility contrasts with
the situation before Renovation in Viet Nam in the 1990s, when Lên Đồng spirit possession
rituals were condemned and suppressed as superstition. Before Renovation, Lên Đồng was
seen as a “social evil” or “superstitious practice” and performances were banned.8 Lên Đồng
and other religious practices in Viet Nam have been more openly practiced since
Renovation and especially after the implementation of the 2004 Ordinance on Beliefs and
Religions. Because Lên Đồng features various forms of traditional Vietnamese music, dance,
and costume expressing an imagined past, the rituals can be seen as a “living museum”
embodying its practitioners’ ethnotheory of Vietnamese culture.9 Spirit mediums perform
Lên Đồng rituals in order to serve the spir-6. See Ngô, ed., Đạo Mẫu Việt Nam; Laurel
Kendall and Nguyễn Thị Hiền, “Dressing up the Spirits: Costumes, Cross- Dressing, and
Incarnation in Korea and Vietnam,” in Women and Indigenous Religion, ed. Sylvia Marcos
(Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010).7. In fact, a number of spirit mediums may perform only one
ritual a year. Sometimes, they make a petition ritual for the delay, or give some money to
their master mediums to perform for them instead.8. See, for example, Nguyẽn, The Religion
of the Four Palaces; Barley Norton, Songs for the Spirits: Music and Mediums in Modern Viet
Nam (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009); Karen Fjelstad and Nguyẽn Thị Hi`ên, eds.,
Possessed by the Spirits: Mediumship in Contemporary Vietnamese Communities (Ithaca:
Cornell Southeast Asia Program, 2006).9. See, Frank Proschan, “Lên đồng (hầu bóng)—Bảo
tàng sống của di sản văn hóa Việt Nam”(“Lên Đồng Spirit Possession Ritual—the Living
Museum of Vietnamese Cultural Heritage”) in Tạp chí Văn hóa dân gian 4, no. 76 (2001):
64–68.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses255its and to receive good luck, good health,
and prosperity in return. For these and other reasons, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture,
Sports and Tourism has included some practices of the Mother Goddess religion on the
National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage.10 Thus, Lên Đồng has been trans-formed
from a “superstition” into a “beautiful tradition”11 that flourishes today not only among the
spirit mediums, but also many other people of different ages and social standings.Scholars
have debated whether the Lên Đồng ritual is best described as spirit possession,
shamanism, spirit mediumship, or some other hybrid term. In general, one essential factor
distinguishing these forms is the degree of agency enjoyed by shamans (who are typically
seen as mastering the spirits) as con-trasted to mediums (who are typically seen as being
mastered by the spirits). Some have argued that the tools of spirit possession can also be
empowering.12 Since I. M. Lewis associates greater power with shamanism and sees the
sha-man as being in control of his own spiritual wandering, some scholars have sought to

4. stress the commonalities between shamanism and spirit medium-ship in order to
emphasize this agency.13 Other Vietnamese scholars wish to identify the mediums as
shamans.14 In this article, I continue to use the term “spirit medium,” but seek to address
how master spirit mediums of the Mother Goddess religion can express and exercise their
own agency both inside their religious practice and outside in the larger society, even
though the latter is 10. The National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage lists Chầu Văn
(Songs for Spir-its) rather than Lên Đồng rituals in order to avoid the term used until
recently to con-demn “superstition.”11. Kirsten Endres, Performing the Divine: Mediums,
Markets, and Modernity in Urban Viet Nam (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2011), 159.12. See,
for example, Phạm Qu`ynh Phương, “Empowerment and Innovation among Saint Trần’s
Female Mediums,” in Modernity and Re- enchantment: Religion in Post- revolutionary Viet
Nam, ed. Philip Taylor (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2007); Vũ Thị Tú
Anh, Quyền lực mềm của người phụ nữ trong văn hóa Đạo Mẫu (The Soft Power in the
Culture of Mother Goddess Religion) (Hanoi: Nhà Xuất bản Giáo dục, 2016).13. I. M. Lewis,
Ecstatic Religion: An Anthropological Study of Spirit Possession and Shaman-ism, 3rd ed.
(Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 2003), 3. For other perspectives see Laurel Kendall,
Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean Ritual Life (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1985); Youngsook Kim Harvey, Six Korean Women: The
Socialization of Shamans (Eagan: West Group, 1979). 14. See, Ngô Đư
́ c Thịnh, ed., Đạo Mẫu
và các hình thức Shaman trong các tộc người ở Việt Nam và châu (The Mother Goddess
Religion and the Shamanistic Practices of Ethnic Groups in Viet Nam and Asia) (Hanoi: Nhà
Xuất bản Khoa học xã hội, 2004); Ngô Đư
́ c Thịnh, Lên đồng: Hành trình của thần linh và số
phận (Spirit Possession Rituals: Spiritual Journeys and Destinies) (Hanoi: Nhà Xuất bản
Khoa học Xã hội, 2008).
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020256still rooted in a strong patriarchal tradition and
has not consistently imple-mented the communist revolution’s call for gender
equality.THREE FEMALE MASTER SPIRIT MEDIUMS AND THEIR AGENCYSpirit mediums
ascribe their mediumship to having what is called in Vietnam-ese the “root of mediumship,”
or căn đồng. Here căn, “root,” has the sense of “nature” or “basic character.” In this context it
also connected to the concept of destiny. People whose basic character and destiny impel
them toward medi-umship are said to have căn cao số đày—spiritual fate or destiny. A spirit
root may be either heavy (nặng) or light (nhẹ). Mrs. Ngân told me that those who possess a
heavy or burdensome spirit root are said to have been touched by a certain spirit for a
special life as a medium for that spirit.15Three case studies examining the life histories of
three female master spirit mediums make clear how they have used their spiritual calling to
develop a strong following, build new temples, and gain a large degree of control over the
narrative concerning the Mother Goddess worship. They are seen as mas-ters of
mediumship, skillful in performance and knowledgeable about their forms of worship; they
see themselves as the spirits’ children, possessing certain destinies that require fulfillment
through initiation and regular service. They are eligible to perform initiation rituals for
novice mediums and have their own temples.The first master medium is Mrs. Ngân, with
whom I began working in the 2000s. She was a prominent subject of my doctoral
dissertation; see figures 1.1 to 1.3 for images of her ritual performance and altar space. Mrs.

5. Ngân’s strong will is an important feature of her character and evident in her devotion to
the Mother Goddesses. She has been willing to go to great lengths for her private temple and
its followers. The second master medium is Mrs. Vinh, who has built two temples devoted to
the Mother Goddesses from scratch; see the images of her altar and ritual performance in
figures 2.1 to 2.3. Not only has she managed to over-come financial difficulties, but she has
also demonstrated her intellectual capacity in dealing with administrative procedures
necessary for the manage-ment of her temples. This included knowing how to lobby the
government authorities so that Quảng Cung Palace could be officially recognized as cul-tural
and historical heritage on the provincial (2011) and national (2013) levels. Mrs. Vinh
recognizes and lives in harmony with Catholics in Vỉ Nhuế village where her palaces are
located. 15. See, Nguyẽn, The Religion of the Four Palaces.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses257The third spirit medium on whom I will
focus is Mrs. Huyền, whose altar and ritual performance are captured in figures 3.1 to 3.3.
She is the third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Trần, the caretakers of the Tiên Hương Palace in
the Phủ Dầy Complex (see figure 3.4)—the heart of religious practices associated with the
Mother Goddesses. As a member of a powerful family, Mrs. Huyền has inherited the power
of her parents, who are guardians and caretakers of the Tiên Hương Palace, the worshiping
center of the Mother Goddess reli-gion. As a spirit medium, Mrs. Huyền received the Mother
Goddesses’ bless-ings to carry out initiation rituals for hundreds of followers who suffer
from the “heavy destiny” of spiritual calling and its accompanying sickness. Today, she plays
an active role in leading a group of spirit mediums who raise their voices in defense of the
legitimacy of the Mother Goddess religion.It is important to emphasize that these three
women are experienced and influential master mediums: they have numerous disciples and
have accom-plished many sacred works, including but not limited to temple building,
healing, and praying for their disciples and members of the community.16 Their personal
agency is evident through their spiritual work and their pow-erful presence is tangible in
both ritual and everyday life. As I have argued elsewhere, the work of these mediums is no
different from that of shamans.17 But I would argue further here that these mediums are in
no way peripheral, low status, or marginalized; rather they are prominent “spiritual”
persons by virtue of authority and mastery attributed to them. They have a voice in their
families and in their communities. The agency of these women in Vietnamese society belies
and challenges older claims and assertions of scholars of shaman-ism who see mediums as
lacking agency, as Firth, Lewis and others following them have proposed.1816. Cf., Viveca
Larson and Kirsten Endres, “Children of the Spirits, Followers of a Master”: Spirit Mediums
in Post Renovation Vietnam,” in Possessed by the Spirits: Medium-ship in Contemporary
Vietnamese Communities, ed. Karen Fjelstad and Nguyẽn Thị Hi`ên (Ithaca: Cornell
Southeast Asia Program, 2006), 145–48.17. Kendall and Nguyẽn, “Dressing up the
Spirits.”18. A distinction set out by Raymond Firth in “Problem and Assumption in an
Anthropological Study of Spirit Possession,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
89 (1959): 129–48; and by I. M. Lewis following Firth in his 1971 book Ecstatic Religion:
both authors paradigmatically contrast the high status male shaman, active in relation to
spirits, to a relatively marginal and powerless female medium. This opposition is still widely
shared in both popular and scholarly literature; see, for example, Patricia Caplan, African

6. Voices, African Lives (London: Routledge, 1997), 249; Michael Winkelman, Shamanism: A
Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing (Westport: Praeger, 2010), 168;
Mai Lan Gustafsson, War and Shadows: The Haunting of Vietnam (Ithaca: Cornell University
Press, 2010), 81.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020258Figure 1.1 Mrs. Ngân performing a Lên Đồng
ritual at her private temple in Hưng Yên province, the incarnation of General Trần Hưng
Đạo. Photo by Nguyẽn Thị Hiền, 2009.Figure 1.2 An altar dedicated to Mother Goddesses
and other spirits in Mrs. Ngân’s private temple in Hưng Yên province. Photo by Nguyẽn Thị
Hiền, 2010
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses259Figure 1.3 Mrs. Ngân performing a Lên
Đồng ritual at her private temple in Hưng Yên province, the incarnation of the fifth
Mandarin. Photo by Nguyẽn Thị Hiền, 2010.Figure 2.1 The altar dedicated to Mother
Goddesses at Mrs. Vinh’s Quảng Cung Palace, Nam Định province. Photo by Nguyẽn Văn
Huynh, 2014.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020260Drawing on the approach in the studies of
agency, gender, and spirit pos-session developed by Albert Bandura and Chris Baker,19 I
hope to address women’s strength and resilience both in their spiritual and everyday lives.
A feminist tradition has long existed in Vietnamese society; however, despite the fact that
women can achieve promotions and attain a degree of respect, they still endure inequality
at home, at work, and in society. I want to address their sources of social power—their
ability to sustain difficulties, respond to chal-lenges, and lead their lives in the world of
faith, both in the Lên Đồng ritual space, and in the social world beyond it. The stories of the
three spirit medi-19. See, Albert Bandura, “Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of
Inhumanities,” Personality and Social Psychology Review 3, no. 3 (1999): 193–209; Chris
Barker, Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice (London: Sage, 2005).Figure 2.2 Mrs. Vinh
performing a Lên Đồng ritual, the incarnation of the Little Dame at her Quảng Cung Palace,
Nam Định province. Photo by Nguyẽn Văn Huynh, 2014.Figure 2.3 Another shot of Mrs. Vinh
during the incarnation of the Little Dame at her Quảng Cung Palace. Photo by Nguyẽn Văn
Huynh, 2014.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses261Figure 3.1 Altar dedicated to Mother
Goddesses at the prohibited hall at Tiên Hương Palace in Nam Định province where Mrs.
Huyền is the manager. Photo by Nguyẽn Văn Huynh, 2014.Figure 3.2 Mrs. Huyền praying to
the Mother Goddesses before her Lên Đồng ritual at Tiên Hương Palace in Nam Định
province. Photo by Nguyẽn Thị Hiền, 2016.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020262Figure 3.3 Mrs. Huyền performing a Lên Đồng
ritual at Tiên Hương Palace, the incarnation of the tenth Mandarin. Photo by Nguyẽn Văn
Huynh, 2014.Figure 3.4 Tiên Hương Palace in Nam Định province was crowded with
pilgrims during the festive days in the third lunar month. Mrs. Huyền is the manager of this
Palace. Photo by Nguyẽn Văn Huynh, 2014.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses263ums presented in this article illustrate the
ways in which women exercise agency in their effort to achieve specific goals or forms of
selfhood.Scholars researching women and spirit possession have long observed that
possession provides women with social agency (ever since the publication of I. M. Lewis’s

7. study in 1971).20 However, it is not always clear what these schol-ars mean by “spirit
possession” or “spirit medium,” nor do they always discuss where or how the mediums’
agency is enacted. In other words, such discus-sions of agency often fail to distinguish
between what spirits enable women to do and what some spiritually empowered women
accomplish within or outside the frame of ritual. Exercising agency as spirit mediums,
women become empowered not only during their ritual performances, but also in their
social and family life. In this article, I hope to show that agency is pro-duced by or emerges
from varied conjunctions of the following set of factors: 1) a strong spiritual conviction, 2) a
forceful personality, and 3) being born into a powerful spirit medium family.LÊN ĐOˆ`NG
RITUAL: SPIRIT POSSESSION OR SHAMANISM?Unlike a shaman who travels consciously up
to the spirit world (or down to the world of the dead) and who does so on behalf of a
patient, Lên Đồng mediums have spirits come down to “sit on their bodies.” The difference
between “up” and “down” is significant. Spirit mediums are often not fully conscious of their
movements while performing ritual dances, since they are in a sort of trance. As Kendall and
Nguyen have discussed some years ago, a “medium” is a vessel for a spirit.21 Within Mother
Goddess worship, mediums are seen as the “children of the Mother Goddesses,” destined to
respond to the wishes and whims of particular figures within the pantheon. The idea of des-
tiny emphasizes that mediums are called to service,22 and that service may often be
arduous and demanding, imposing obligations and responsibilities upon them. For these
reasons it may seem that the medium lacks agency in relation to the spirits.But the whole
picture is more complex. In the Lên Đồng ritual, possession is not merely the “entering” of a
spirit from the pantheon of the Mother Goddess religion into the bodies of the mediums
(who may incarnate up to thirty- six spirits during performance). When the mediums are
possessed, whether lightly or deeply, the spirits cause their bodies to move and act in
particular ways. But this supposedly involuntary trance is also mediated by the 20. I. M.
Lewis, Ecstatic Religion.21. Kendal and Nguyẽn, “Dressing up the Spirits.”22. See, Fjelstad
and Nguyẽn, eds., Possessed by the Spirits; Endres, Performing the Divine.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020264voluntary and conscious operation of the spirit
medium’s own goals and intentions. Each spirit bears a historical, cultural, and ethnic story
that is made tangible through costumes, personalities, ceremonial acts, ritual props, and
worship items provided by the medium. Every single incarnation in the Lên Đồng ritual is a
“play” or cultural discourse in which the spirit expresses its identity as an authority who
exhibits both supernatural power and compas-sion through the distribution of blessed
offerings to disciples. Incarnations are also varied depending on the personality and history
of the spirit medium herself. Lên Đồng, like possession trance phenomena everywhere, is a
com-plex mix of expression, states of possession, and control of oneself or of the spirits. The
medium is no mere passive vessel: she collaborates with the spirits, and she also enacts her
own spiritual, social, and political agency both within ritual and non- ritual
contexts.AGENCY AND SPIRIT POSSESSION RITUALSA number of studies dealing with
gender and spirit possession rituals have addressed the agency of women merely in terms
of resistance to subordination. For instance, Lewis generalized his observations on zar
possession in Somalia, maintaining that these largely female cults, which he termed
“peripheral,” were the result of women acting against their subordinate positions.23 Others

8. argue that female shamans become empowered by their spiritual calling as compensation
for their peripheral social status.24 In contrast, the idea that pos-session trances or spirit
possession help readjust power imbalances between the sexes has been recently restated
by Erika Bourguignon, who argues that “for women, possession trance constitutes a
psychodynamic response to pow-erlessness by providing them a means for the gratification
of wishes ordinarily denied to them.”25 In other words, in the context of spirit possession,
acting out the identity of the spirits during a trance offers women an acceptable way of
expressing thoughts and feelings that are forbidden in situations of social subordination.26
Through possession women resituate daily reality in light of their world and their own
specific concerns without denying dominant mas-culine ideologies.27 In a study dedicated
to the Zebola ritual of Mongo females 23. I. M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion, 32.24. See, V. N.
Basilov, Izbranniki Dukhov (Moscow: Politizdat, 1984), cited in Shamanic Worlds; Rituals
and Lore of Sibera and Central Asia, ed. Majorie Mandelstam Balzer (New York and London:
North Castle Book, 1997); Harvey, Six Korean Women.25. Erika Bourguignon, “Suffering and
Healing, Subordination and Power: Women and Possession Trance,” Ethos 32, no. 4 (2004):
557.26. Ibid.27. See, Janice Patricia Boddy, Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men, and the
Zar Cult in Northern Sudan (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1989).
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses265in the Congo, Ellen Corin states that spirit
possession redefines the founda-tions of relationships of these women within the cultural
order.28 However, it is also important to challenge definitions of agency based on the idea
of “pursuing one’s own interests.” Such challenges, which can be traced back to the early
critiques of Lewis’s pioneering work, are a common thread through-out the literature on
spirit possession. In fact, Laurel Kendall’s first book about shamans and women in rural
Korea was a critique of the idea that women went to shamans out of self- interest rather
than in the interest of their families.29Agency has generally been understood by scholars as
“the capacity to real-ize one’s own interests against the weight of custom, tradition,
transcendental will, or other obstacles,” hence assuming “the humanist desire for autonomy
and self- expression” that realizes itself “in the form of an act of resistance.”30 Sherry
Ortner suggests that there is “something about the very word ‘agency’ that calls to mind the
autonomous, individualistic, Western actor.”31An alternative approach to this focus on
individual resistance, compensa-tion, gratification, or self- redefinition is evident in recent
work, but in general it still fails to attend to the sources of the medium’s agency within the
ritual space and community. Focusing on the spirit possession rituals of the Ndau people of
Zimbabwe, Tony Perman de- centers the individual self through attention to the
relationship between spirits and spirit mediums, thereby focusing on the agency of both
spirits and mediums. Perman clearly states, however, that although agency can be
attributed to both spirits and mediums, human agency is not a constant or absolute
condition in spirit possession rit-uals, contending that “once the medium gives way to the
spirit, he or she is no longer the agent of the experience.”32 Similarly, in a study of African
spirit possession, Corin emphasizes that when spirit mediums are taken by spirits, they are
controlled by an external power.33 The mediums themselves become 28. Ellen Corin,
“Refiguring the Person: The Dynamics of Affects and Symbols in an African Spirit Possession
Cult,” in Bodies and Persons: Comparative Perspectives from Africa and Melanesia, ed.

9. Michael Lambek and Andrew Strathern (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 1998).29.
Kendall, Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits.30. Saba Mahmood, Politics of
Piety. The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject (Prince-ton, N.J., and Oxford: Princeton
University Press, 2005), 8.31. Sherry B. Ortner, Anthropology and Social Theory. Culture,
Power, and the Acting Subject (Durham, N.C. and London: Duke University Press, 2006),
130.32. Tony Perman, “Awakening Spirits: The Ontology of Spirit, Self and Society in Ndau
Spirit Possession Practices in Zimbabwe,” Journal of Religion in Africa 41, no. 1 (2011):
86.33. Corin, “Refiguring the Person.”
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020266merely “corpses” for the spirit to take possession
of, but they still can enact agency.For my purposes, the concept of agency is interpreted and
applied to emphasize strong and active characteristics of female master spirit mediums in
the ritual space, in daily life, and in community activism. Generally, previous approaches to
the study of agency reinforced the idea that it is possible for women to negotiate with their
social reality through spirit possession rituals, rituals that serve as a means for them to
solve both individual and social issues.34 Mary Keller argues that agency is the foundation
on which the self and power are developed35, while Ivan Karp defines power in terms of
“capac-ity and agency.”36 Mediums, Karp argues, are empowered through the experi-ence
of being taken by spirits.37 In contrast, I want to make it clear that this is not an accurate
depiction of social and spiritual life in Viet Nam. I would like to clarify that women can
express their power both through ritual and in day- to- day life. For instance, Mrs. Ngân is a
capable healer, and Mrs. Huyền and Mrs.Vinh express “power” and are “empowered” in
their daily life and work through their active role in the construction and supervision of the
Thiên Hương and Quảng Cung Palaces.These women are experienced in both spirit
possession rituals and the initiation ritual referred to as “opening a palace.” At the same
time, they have also managed to overcome difficulties in their lives (e.g., Mrs. Ngân); have
managed to build temples and palaces (e.g., Mrs. Vinh); and have taken on considerable
responsibility in the management of temples domestically and internationally (e.g., Mrs.
Huyền). The three mediums whose experiences I present are strong women in everyday life
and when they “serve” the spirits; they express their sense of self strongly through the
numinous power granted them by the spirits. Finally, they are subjects who express
themselves in spiri-tual and embodied ways through the practice of spirit possession.34.
See, Heike Behrend and Ute Luig, eds., Spirit Possession: Modernity and Power in Africa
(Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1999); M. Fiéloux, “Cultes de Posses-sion et
Relations de Genre: Les Jeux de la Bigamie à Madagascar,” in Femmes Plurielles: Les
Représentations des Femmes, Discours, Normes et Conduites, ed. D. Jonckers, R. Carré, and
M.- C. Dupré (Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, 1999); Margaret
Rausch, Bodies, Boundaries and Spirit Possession: Moroccan Women and the Revision of
Tradition (Bielefeld: Transcript, 2000).35. Mary Keller, The Hammer and the Flute: Women,
Power and Spirit Possession (Balti-more: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002).36.
Ivan Karp, “Power and Capacity in Rituals of Possession,” in Creativity of Power: Cosmology
and Action in African Societies, ed. W. Arens and Ivan Karp (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian
Institution Press, 1989), 105.37. Ibid.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses267EVERYONE HAS A DESTINY: THE STORIES

10. OF THREE FEMALE MASTER SPIRIT MEDIUMSPractices of the Mother Goddesses religion,
including its spirit possession ritual, are activities that serve as channels for transferring
power. As a child of the Mother Goddesses, a spirit medium gains capacities by which the
Mother Goddesses and spirits have empowered them. These include, for example, reading
fortunes, guiding therapeutic practices, leading initiation rituals, and receiving energy
granted by the Mother Goddesses and spirits to perform these tasks. For mediums, the
highest objective is practicing and sustaining the worship of the Mother Goddesses.SPIRIT
MEDIUM NGÂNSpirit medium Ngân38 has led the initiation ritual of palace openings since
she was twenty- seven years old. Mrs. Ngân was one of countless spirit medi-ums who have
been captured by spirits and went mad.39 The spirits forced her to “go into the river,”
catching snails to exchange for rice so that she could feed her children. As she explained,
“No one from my husband’s house believed that I was being tortured. They said that it was
caused by ghosts rather than spirits. They beat me and chased me away to my parents’
house. My mother went to a fortune- teller, and she was told that I had the destiny to
become a spirit medium. If I did not go through an initiation ritual as a spirit medium, I
would die when I turned twenty- eight years old.”40 Following the initiation ritual she
acquired the ability to read for-tunes and cure people. For Mrs. Ngân, the expression of self
and agency is vivid in the stories she tells about receiving blessings from the Mother God-
desses to rescue people who are in similar situations and suffer from mental or physical
ailments. She has hundreds of disciples, whom she exorcises, cures of disease, and helps to
do good business. There are not many masters like Mrs. Ngân.Unlike Mrs. Ngân, Mrs. Vinh
and Mrs. Huyền strongly express their polit-ical and social agency in daily life, sometimes
even more fruitfully than during possession rituals. To understand how this is the case, it is
necessary to attend to their expressions of agency in their daily work and life.38. I have
known Mrs. Ngân since 1998 and consider her a very good friend, as close as a sister.39.
Nguyẽn, The Religion of the Four Palaces.40. Mrs. Ngân, in discussion with the author, 2009.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020268SPIRIT MEDIUM VINHBefore serving the spirits,
Mrs. Vinh worked as a healthcare worker and later transferred to employment in a food
company. After leaving these state- run organizations, she began to work as a volunteer at
temples. Her destiny to become a spirit medium was witnessed by illness; she suffered from
fatigue all the time and got sick very often, but would feel better when she came to and
served at the temples. Thus, she was initiated to serve the order of the Mother Goddesses,
and to work as a temple assistant at the Phủ Dầy Complex. Having gained personal
experience and knowledge in temple management, she was invited to take care of and
manage Phủ Nấp Palace in Vỉ Nhuế village of Ý Yên District.41 Over the course of the past
twenty years, Mrs. Vinh has been trying hard to build and restore this place of worship and
revitalize the traditional festival associated with the Palace. Over the years, she has been
quite successful in whatever she does within the Mother Goddess religion. She has
successfully managed to build two temples/palaces and restored the organization of the
festival. She recalls that when she began her spiritual work, there were three rooms and
two small adjacent rooms in Phủ Nấp. In the 2000s, she gathered money from her relatives
and the residents of her village to build Quảng Cung Palace in Tiến Thắng hamlet, near the
church of the Vỉ Nhuế parish. After a few years had passed, Mrs. Vinh bought a new piece of

11. land on which she built a second temple bearing the name of Thủy Temple. In the past two
years, she has secured permission from the state to upscale the traditional fes-tival in Phủ
Nấp or Quảng Cung Palace, with a procession beginning at this temple, passing by the village
temple and communal house, and eventually arriving at the Thủy Temple. During my
observation of this festival in 2014, Mrs. Vinh meticulously managed every detail of the
festive activities. Her devotion seems to have given her the internal strength to put forth her
best effort to perform man-agement tasks with little help from anyone else. She made her
visions and desires for the festival a reality, despite facing tremendous hardship. She strug-
gled to earn enough money to buy land for the worship of the Mother God-desses in a
village with a prominent Catholic parish. (Vỉ Nhuế parish was the cradle of the first
missionaries coming to Viet Nam, and the village of Tiến 41. Quảng Cung Palace, also called
Phủ Nấp, is situated in Tiến Thắng hamlet, Yên Đồng commune, Ý Yên district, Nam Định
province. It is about seven kilometers away from Phủ Dầy Complex, which is known as one
of the birthplaces of the Mother God-dess Liẽu Hạnh.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses269Thắng is currently 93% Catholic42). As she
said, some of her Catholic neigh-bors come to her Palace to help and join the feast
sometimes, although they do not attend the rituals dedicated to the Mother Goddesses. Her
life story and her successful construction of Phủ Nấp Palace and Thuỷ Temple have some
important implications as they reflect the will (i.e., the agency) of a child of the Mother
Goddesses.SPIRIT MEDIUM HUYEˆ`NMrs. Huyền was born to a family with six children, four
sons and two daugh-ters. Although she is the youngest daughter, Mrs. Huyền has taken care
of many family matters that are usually regarded as the son’s responsibility. Her parents
contributed much to the restoration and management of Tiên Hương Palace within the Phủ
Dầy Complex. They started to come to the Palace in the 1970s when it was abandoned and
devastated due to the policy of neglect in relation to religious practices in Viet Nam at that
time. Step by step, they restored the Palace and constructed more worshiping halls
dedicated to spirits of the pantheon. Since then, they have managed the Palace, maintaining
and taking care of the ritual practices and related religious activities. Mrs. Huyền’s parents
were initiated and became spirit mediums at a time when the Lên Đồng ritual was
prohibited. Her father was even arrested and put in custody for performing the Lên Đồng
ritual, as Mrs. Huyền recalled.Since they were born into a family of spirit mediums in charge
of the cen-tral Palace dedicated to the Mother Goddesses, Mrs. Huyền and her siblings are
seen as “children of the Mother Goddesses,” and thus they were eventually initiated as spirit
mediums themselves. Due to her spiritual calling, Mrs. Huyền could not finish school and
left in the seventh grade. She had a dream about being blessed by the Mother Goddess after
which her father began to guide her in the rituals. She has not suffered from misfortune like
Mrs. Ngân and Mrs. Vinh; rather, her destiny is familial and carries with it the power and
responsibility of taking care of the Palace.When her father died in 2006, Mrs. Huyền’s
mother took the leading role in the family and managed the palace while her children
supported her. Due to her health problems, in 2018 she passed the management role of the
Tiên Hương Palace to Mrs. Huyền. Having talked to her and observed her activities and
management at the Palace in the past years, I see Mrs. Huyền as a smart woman who is
actively engaged in receiving and caring for guests and in many other tasks. Administrative

12. tasks and procedures for temple restoration, 42. See
http://www.giaoxugiaohovietnam.com/HaNoi/01- Giao- Phan- HaNoi- ViNhue.htm.
Accessed August 10, 2020.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020270expansion, and construction are also primarily
her responsibility. These are all external affairs that had previously belonged to men in the
family. She com-mented, “All family affairs, the important ones and the small errands come
to my hands.” Others in the family, such as her elder brother, elder sister, and younger
brother are not able to handle these things. Today, on social websites such as Facebook, she
often posts messages about protecting the practices related to the Mother Goddesses and
protests and resists negative attitudes toward the Mother Goddesses.POLITICAL AGENCY:
STRUGGLING FOR THE LEGITIMACY OF THE MOTHER GODDESSES WORSHIPSome of the
common characteristics shared by these three women include their active political
engagement on behalf of the Mother Goddesses and their great efforts to protect and
disseminate the values associated with their belief in the Mother Goddesses. They can be
described as the individuals who tend the flame of their belief, allowing it to slowly grow so
that it spreads not only within their personal lives, but also into their social lives.In the
course of her life as a spirit medium, Mrs. Ngân tried many times to protect her practice
when police arrested her or prevented her from per-forming spirit possession rituals. She
and several of her followers recalled that police in the province of Son La once arrested her
in the 2000s and held her in custody for several days. In 2004, together with an American
researcher specializing in Korean shamanism, I went to Mrs. Ngân’s home in Hưng Yên
province to participate in a spirit possession ritual. Police soon arrived and forbade her to
perform, saying that there was a foreigner present, and she should not be allowed to display
the “superstitious things” of Viet Nam. Not letting us explain that we were researchers
focusing on the phenomenon of going into and out of trance, Mrs. Ngân said, “We worship
our Father and Mother who protect us. We worship Trần Hưng Đạo, a hero in Viet Nam’s
history. Now he has become a spirit. He comes to help ordinary people to eliminate evils. I
am granted by him [the capacity] to cure people. There are other national heroes…” The
policemen relented and let her continue her spirit possession ritual.Mrs. Vinh states that
she believes in the Mother Goddesses because this is the belief of many Vietnamese people
who practice ancestor worship. She confessed, “In the beginning I did not think much. I just
thought that this religion is for the worship of our parents, our ancestors. When drinking
water, we should remember the source. Later I thought that the Mother Goddesses are the
mothers of Vietnamese people, like Mother Âu Cơ, a mythical mother who gave birth to a
hundred eggs that then hatched to become a hundred
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses271children. These children were raised to
become the fifty- four ethnic groups of Viet Nam. I believe that we, Vietnamese people,
should preserve the history and the temples for ancestor worship of our country.”43As has
been mentioned already, Mrs. Vinh has independently built two tem-ples for the worship of
the Mother Goddesses over the course of two decades. In her constant efforts to protect and
preserve the beliefs and spiritual prac-tices devoted to the Mother Goddesses, Mrs. Vinh
clearly expresses herself and makes visible the perspective of an insider and a child of the
Mother God-desses. In the beginning, when the construction of Phủ Nấp Palace had just

13. begun in 2000, she made the following comment: “The [People’s Commit-tee)] Chairman
wanted to forbid [the construction of the temple]. However, in general, I tried to protect this
heritage. I said that the construction of the temple was the preservation of cultural-
religious features of the nation.”44 When I asked her about her relationship with the
villagers identifying as Catholics and practicing Catholicism, she replied by first
acknowledging that they have their religion, but adding, “I often say that we should hold on
to our origin, especially worshiping our parents. No matter which religion they fol-low it is
necessary to worship parents and ancestors and to remember those who have contributed
much to this country.”45 At the same time, she was trying to maintain a good relationship
with local Catholics, often inviting them to join in temple activities and meals. In a village
where about 93% of villagers are Catholic, for her, as for every Vietnamese of whatever
religion, there is a need to “respect the religion of our ancestors and historical
heroes.”46Spirit medium Huyền, as I have witnessed, has officially protected the belief in
the Mother Goddesses. In 2017, as one of the active spirit mediums who fought for the
legitimacy of the Mother Goddess religion, Mrs. Huyền sent an official letter to the
Government Committee on Religion on behalf of the followers of the Mother Goddesses in
regards to the Phủ Dầy Complex. This letter formally requested clarifications pertaining to
the improper declaration from a monk of venerable status at the Ba Vàng Buddhist temple
regarding the Mother Goddesses. He criticized the legend of the Mother Goddess Liẽu Hạnh
in one of his sermons, claiming that it was fake, that the belief in her as the supreme
Goddess is untruthful and garbage, and that the practice of Lên Đồng is a superstition. Spirit
mediums fiercely protested these comments; they gathered and went to the Ba Vàng temple
to open up a dialogue with the 43. Mrs. Vinh, in discussion with the author, June 2017.44.
Mrs. Vinh, in discussion with the author, June 2017.45. Ibid.46. Ibid.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020272monk, and demanded an apology. Mrs. Huyền
posted a Facebook status explaining why it is important to respect belief in the Mother
Goddesses. She wrote, “We have always desired the solidarity of different religions and have
respected the religious freedom of each Vietnamese person. Mother God-desses have taught
us that when we drink water, we should remember its source, we should pay respect to
heroes who have sacrificed their life for [our] country for us to have life today. That is why
our ancestors have built temples and temples to honor the Mother Goddesses and our
spirits.” She and her family have engaged in a considerable amount of construction and
restoration work and additionally organized festivals, spirit possession rituals aimed to
protect the legitimacy of the belief in the Mother Goddesses.AGENCY AND DISTINCTIONAll
three spirit mediums have been granted certain kinds of power in recog-nition of their
commitment and dedication to the Mother Goddesses. Although all three of them are the
children of the Mother Goddesses, self- expression and formation for each medium has been
distinct. Each spirit medium had a different destiny situated in a particular context and each
engaged in different activities as a means of expressing her belief in the Mother Goddesses.
Each medium also has a particular set of personal characteristics (i.e., a unique self), solves
problems particular to her situation, and engages in particular kinds of work. In the context
of practices associated with the wor-ship of the Mother Goddesses, individuals express
themselves as having the power of spirit mediums. Spirit mediums have temples and

14. receive the bless-ings of the Mother Goddesses, who offer them “name and appearance,
good luck and money,” so that they can perform the spirits’ tasks and help other people in
certain spiritual fields. In this section, I will elaborate the ways in which the three spirit
mediums demonstrated their agency.Having followed Mrs. Ngân for many years, I have
witnessed her journey from the time she was tortured by the spirits and suffered from
madness to subsequent years of struggle and hardship. Her spiritual work of helping oth-ers
to overcome hardship and sickness emerged through her personal experi-ences. Her life
was characterized by periods of suffering from madness caused by the spirits. Being blessed
by the Mother Goddess inspired her to help other followers overcome hardship and
sickness through the individual ritual. As a healer she is confident and assertive, even
claiming that those who do not accept her cures will have bad luck.4747. See, Nguyẽn Thị
Hi`ên, “Seats for Spirits to Sit Upon: Becoming a Spirit Medium in Contemporary Vietnam,”
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 38, no. 3 (2007): 541–58.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses273By telling stories about herself and other
followers, Mrs. Ngân attracts new adherents to a belief that is deeply imprinted in the minds
of Vietnamese people who believe that the living have many obligations toward the dead
(i.e., their ancestors). The dead should be worshiped, especially on the anni-versary of their
death. The living are further responsible for fulfilling the wishes of the dead, which means
that they should, among other things, demonstrate their continued care for their ancestors
by offering them food and clothing. Building big tombs as an expression of respect towards
the dead to better worship them ensures that the living will be supported by the dead.
However, those who fail to pay respects to the dead might be punished and develop a yin
disease.48 Even if the stories told by Mrs. Ngân are “mythical,” or only a matter of belief,
they nevertheless serve to strengthen the Vietnam-ese social structure, belief system, and
cultural fabric.Mrs. Vinh has faith in the Mother Goddesses. She invokes the Mother
according to the following ideas: 1) “Ask anything that might be given,” and 2) “Make any
petition that might be bestowed.” In her fight to build Quảng Cung Palace near the church in
a Catholic village, she sometimes had to use her “miraculous powers.” She explained, “At
first it was hard work. They said that I was sharp- tongued and horrible. Later they became
afraid, because before, at the Mother Goddess’s Palace, there had been some people walking
around, taking home some objects from the temple. As a consequence they were punished.
And then everyone was afraid to take away candles, bronze objects, bricks, or other objects
dedicated to the worship of the Mother.” She used the “right” of the Mother Goddess to use
miraculous powers in many other activities, as long as she achieved what she wanted. Mrs.
Vinh takes care of both property and ritual management and visits the people in Phủ Nấp
Palace. She believes strongly in spirituality, claiming to receive more blessings and support
from the spirits as a result. She serves the Mother and prays not for her own benefit, but for
the sake of the Mother Goddess worship itself.Mrs. Vinh’s religious agency is strong and at
times even drastic. Many times she has said, “I decided to do what I can do. One thing is that
if I need 48. A yin illness is an illness caused by supernatural forces. Western medical
doctors diagnose the causes of yang illness, whereas diviners or mediums diagnose yin
illness. In Vietnamese culture, the indications of yin illness vary. It can be an unexplainable
change in character—insanity, unusual behavior, knotting of the hair—or what is known as

15. a “false illness” (ốm giả vờ) in which the patient is not able to be diagnosed with any known
illness, but does not feel well over a long period of time. In essence the classification
includes anything said to be caused by a supernatural force that can be cured only through a
ritual, see, Nguyẽn Thị Hi`ên, “Yin Illness: Its Diagnosis and Healing within Lên Đồng (Spirit
Possession) Rituals of the Việt,” Asian Ethnology, no. 2 (2010): 305–22.
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020274something, then late at night, at about eleven, I
go to the hall dedicated to the Mother, and I pray to her about what I want to do for her. For
example, I want to organize a boat procession on the Đáy River during the traditional
festival. I have to ask the Mother to enable me to do it. For so many years now, I have been
praying like that.”49 Her faith and her strength are based on the Mother, who reciprocates
with health and fulfillment of her desires.As a spirit medium, Mrs. Huyền was not as
expressive as Mrs. Ngân. Never-theless, she had many followers and new spirit mediums
coming to her, including some well- known movie stars. The most important tasks for Mrs.
Huyền are those related to external relations in a family that manages the Tiên Hương
Palace in the Phủ Dầy Complex. She is in charge of a consider-able amount of work, ranging
from receiving guests to the construction and organization of big events, such as the
traditional festival at Tiên Hương Palace or spirit possession ritual exchanges abroad. These
are not simple tasks. In fact, they usually fall on the shoulders of a man. Additionally,
construction work requires a lot of effort and entails a considerable amount of complicated
administrative procedures. Obtaining permission is very difficult. Presently, there are items
that need to be repaired inside of the temple. There are also some ongoing restoration
projects at the site. In order to carry out a resto-ration project, one must request and gain
permission from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for every step, from design to
construction. Mrs. Huyền often says that “whatever the work, everything will be good once
it is assigned [to her].”Each of these women, possessing her own destiny, character, and
personal background, serves the Mother Goddess religion in her own way. All action is
devoted to the Mother and everything is given over to the faith. Each of them has her own
form of power or agency, and seeks to practice her faith while simultaneously serving the
Mother. They are the children of the Mother, with their faith under the Mother’s protection.
Mrs. Ngân maintains a spacious temple, offering blessings for many people suffering from
the spirit calling, which is, in fact, the same destiny with which she herself was born.
Mrs.Vinh believes in the motto of making merit and serving Mother Goddesses’ Palaces,
while Mrs. Huyền works hard as a member of her family tasked with the care of the Thiên
Hương Palace; she also fights for the legitimacy of the Mother Goddess religion. Being born
into a powerful spirit medium family has empow-ered her to inherit the family business as
the caretaker of the most important and central Palace dedicated to the Mother Goddesses.
These three spirit mediums have their own destinies; all are strong and powerful mediums,
and 49. Mrs. Vinh, in discussion with the author, June 2017.
nguyê~n childRen of the MotheR goddesses275all are blessed by the Mother Goddesses.
Their exercise of agency is strongly tied to their unwavering spiritual conviction. Their
service to their religion as well as their political activism on behalf of the Mother Goddesses
has revealed and molded their forceful personalities that allowed them to overcome trou-
bles and hardship.Recently, Vietnamese women have been struggling to be promoted at

16. work, respected, and treated as equal to men. While there are many Vietnam-ese women
who see themselves as feminists, their struggle for equality is not over. Jayne Werner has
argued that while the communist revolution promised equality, since Renovation there has
been an entrenchment of male power. There are many strong, assertive, and brave
Vietnamese women who struggle against the patriarchal traditions of both Confucianism
and the masculinist vision of Communism; nevertheless, there are now very few powerful
women in the communist party or in government ministries.50 As Phạm Quỳnh Phương
argues, professional women frustrated by the glass ceiling turn to spirit posses-sion to
enjoy the experience of being in power.51 However, their mediumship enables them to
express their agency in various social spaces beyond the ritual sphere. Female spirit
mediums, in particular, not only exhibit their power during ritual performances, but also
demonstrate bravery in their lives, advo-cacy, and social communications.CONCLUSIONThis
article has addressed the agency of self- empowered spirit mediums who have struggled for
their religious practices, maintaining the Lên Đồng spirit possession rituals. I have
illustrated the expression of self and agency through a look at the life stories and fates of
three female master spirit mediums. They are not “peripheral,” vulnerable persons who
look for rituals as a source of empowerment, as is claimed in classic literature on the
subject. On the con-trary, these master mediums are strong, empowered women in their
spiritual, familial, and social lives, who work not only for their own interest, but for their
families, communities, and disciples of the Mother Goddesses. In some respects, it is
possible to conceptualize these women as shamans, because of their empowerment and
strong and active characteristics. The agency of these female mediums is expressed both in
the context of the ritual and in everyday life, albeit to varying degrees, depending on the
specific circum-stances of each medium.50. See, Jayne Werner, Gender, Household, State:
Doi Moi in Viet Nam (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002).51. Phạm, “Empowerment and
Innovation among Saint Trần’s Female Mediums.”
Magic, Ritual, and WitchcRaft fall 2020276In an effort to analyze their activities using a
Cultural Studies approach that focuses on agency, I highlight the fact that, although they are
all children of the Mother Goddesses, they each have a distinct destiny. All three women
believed they were destined to be spirit mediums and explained that the Mother Goddesses
granted them particular abilities to complete the spirits’ tasks, such as enabling them to
lead initiation rituals, pray on behalf of new spirit mediums and followers, and serve the
spirits by performing the Lên Đồng rituals and taking care of the pantheon. It is important
to note that Mrs. Ngân empathizes especially with people who share, in common with her,
the misfortunes of a heavy destiny, and tries to help them. For Mrs. Vinh, her efforts have
focused on restoring or rebuilding temples dedicated to the wor-ship of the Mother
Goddesses, which she regards as the original religion of the Vietnamese people. Mrs. Huyền
has been authorized to take care of the Tiên Hương Palace at the Phủ Dầy Complex and
involves herself in advocat-ing for the legitimacy of the Mother Goddess religion.I hope I
have demonstrated that expressions of the self varied widely based on the characteristics,
capacities, and thinking of each spirit medium. Their empowerment in the contexts of the
rituals and daily life suggests a large degree of diversity in practices and forms of agency
that may become evident through the study of shamans and spirit mediums. Particular

17. systems of belief and culture are expressed in different ways depending on the personal,
social, and political agency of shamans and spirit mediums. Their lives as spirit medi-ums
are, on the one hand, grounded in the context of personal circumstance. On the other hand,
spirit mediums and followers of the Mother Goddesses share a common belief in love and
kindness of the Mother Goddesses and work tirelessly to protect and preserve associated
spiritual practices. That is to say that Viet Nam is a country of many strong women who
share a need to struggle against a system that does not usually grant them much agency.
The three women described in this study have certainly managed to have an impact on
society, and their roles as spirit mediums have facilitated their empowerment.
1 SEASIAN135 Weekly Response Guidelines BI-WEEKLY RESPONSES: Responses to
assigned reading will be due before class every Tuesday & Thursday. Your response should
be 250-350 words in length, but aside from that, the format is quite open-ended. Basically, I
want you to show that you’ve done those readings and thought about them. This is a very
useful exercise in preparing for our class discussions, but also in learning to read academic
articles and summarize their content. In your response I want you to at least include the
following: • 2-3 sentences in which you try to summarize the author’s main point(s), and
perhaps thinking about key words or concepts that you noticed • Your reaction to the
reading, which could include what surprised you, what confused you, what you disagreed
with, what was left out. • Perhaps some comparative comments: comparing what you read
to what you know about other religions or this religious tradition in other places; perhaps
comparison with things we’ve already read or learned in this class. • Some questions that
you are left with about the reading or the topic that you wish you had more information
about. Creative Alternative: If you’d like, consider a more creative approach, at least for
some of your response papers. Based on what you’ve read, perhaps try to imagine yourself
as one of the people the author is writing about. Then, rather than seeing it from the
researcher’s perspective, think about how the person being examined might feel about this
topic and channel the voice of that person. For example, in week 1, there is an article by
Janet Hoskins about religious practices of people on the island of Sumba. You could try to
imagine yourself as one of the Sumbanese folk practitioners who is trying to present their
religious practices in ways that make sense to the visiting researcher. This might not be
easy to do, but I’d welcome anyone’s attempt at taking this approach.