The mountain's shadow and reflection in the river : Vietnamese supernaturalism in the Mekong Delta

Abstract

This study aims to provide an overview of Vietnamese supernaturalism in the Mekong delta through an examination of four different realms. They are: the village communal house, or dình., the Buddhist-Daoist private temple, or chùa, mediumistic practices, and the practice of self-cultivation, among whose outstanding proponents were the Daoists (Ông Dao). These four realms '' permeated with two major southern Vietnamese concerns: an abiding interest in alternate states of consciousness, and the way in which people appropriate meanings and rituals to effectively resist, negotiate or assert social power as part of the protean art of daily survival. A central objective of this study is to represent the differing local perspectives of southern proponents and practitioners of supernaturalism. To that end, I have consulted such sources as oral histories, popular literature, and trance writings, revealing a richness and diversity in materials so far neglected or undervalued. An appreciation of the above-mentioned aspects of supernaturalism, which include spiritual responses to personal crises, healing and social action. and which have been hitherto considered as pertaining to marginality and idiosyncrasy, can only complement the historiography of national consolidation, of local resistance to and exploitation by the centre.