There is a myth in this area of Vietnam that goes a little like this. There once lived a dragon and a fairy who had 100 children. There were fifty sons and fifty daughters. The sons went to the sea and the daughters went to the forest. Each daughter had a temple. The temple I visited today is believed to be one of these daughter temples.
In order to get to the temple we had to climb a large flight of stairs through a bamboo forest. Once we got to the top we were invited into the temple to join in the worship services. There were two temple rooms where many people were sitting cross-legged and praying. In one of the rooms there was a person completely covered in a red blanket. He had some books (probably some form of sacred text) on his head and he was swaying back and forth. I say "he" when actually I could not tell if the person was a "he" or a "she" since he or she was covered from head to toe in a blanket. The worshippers were swaying back and forth with the blanketed figure. A man was reading something out of a book and occasionally the worshippers would chant in response.
I have since learned that he/she is a member of a select group of people who locals believe can "talk to the dead." These select individuals meditate all day and go into a "trance" for two or three days. During the trance these "channelers" can talk to the ancestors and impart great wisdom to the members of the temple.
I felt a little out of place at this worship service, but the worshippers appeared to be very accepting of my presence or at least to tolerate my short visit. Later, I made the mistake of taking a picture of one of the shrines. Immediately after snapping the shot, I heard some women scolding me in Vietnamese. Whoops! I didn’t know one was not supposed to photograph the temple. You live and you learn. I’ll be sure to ask next time.
In order to get to the temple we had to climb a large flight of stairs through a bamboo forest. Once we got to the top we were invited into the temple to join in the worship services. There were two temple rooms where many people were sitting cross-legged and praying. In one of the rooms there was a person completely covered in a red blanket. He had some books (probably some form of sacred text) on his head and he was swaying back and forth. I say "he" when actually I could not tell if the person was a "he" or a "she" since he or she was covered from head to toe in a blanket. The worshippers were swaying back and forth with the blanketed figure. A man was reading something out of a book and occasionally the worshippers would chant in response.
I have since learned that he/she is a member of a select group of people who locals believe can "talk to the dead." These select individuals meditate all day and go into a "trance" for two or three days. During the trance these "channelers" can talk to the ancestors and impart great wisdom to the members of the temple.
I felt a little out of place at this worship service, but the worshippers appeared to be very accepting of my presence or at least to tolerate my short visit. Later, I made the mistake of taking a picture of one of the shrines. Immediately after snapping the shot, I heard some women scolding me in Vietnamese. Whoops! I didn’t know one was not supposed to photograph the temple. You live and you learn. I’ll be sure to ask next time.
2 comments:
do you believe that those people can really talk to the dead?
To tell you the truth, I'm not completely sure what I believe. I suppose all that matters is that they believe it.
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