Cybernetic deities

Abstract

In Chapter 4 , Lim observes the Nine Emperor Gods Festival as practised in Singapore and makes several connections between Taoist technology, such as the use of the Eight Trigrams, and computer technology. This combined technology determines spatial configurations, predicts divinations and guides movements during processions. Since 2010, he has been studying this festival and participated in the processions. Walking with the worshippers and taking the free chartered bus to a beach in Northwest Singapore where the gods are invited from the sea, he witnesses a performance of what he calls ‘cybernetic spirituality.’ The spirituality of the Nine Emperor Gods can be described as dispersed yet connected, as the deities are believed to be contained in various vessels – human mediums and objects such as tablets and palanquins – and at different locations simultaneously. Today’s digital media such as smartphones, tablets and social network platforms have made the festival more complex as devotees document, reproduce and disseminate information, images and spiritual acts online. This digitalising of spiritual acts allows the Emperor Gods to travel, multiply and manifest in more forms and at a faster speed. This extends the Taoist understanding of spirit possession and mediumship, implicit in the Eight Trigrams – a system of symbols and processes that represent the fundamental principles and elements of the universe. The gods are made available not only in spirit and in body but also in the virtual as well.