Lo infinitamente pequeño

Some m edium s have an 'a p titu d e for fo rtu n e telling1 (can soi) a n d an 'a p titu d e to cure illnesses' (can chtfa benh), w hereas o thers do not. M edium s who tell fo rtu n es m ay be re fe rre d to as dong boi ('fo rtu n e-tellin g m ed iu m '). No special term was com m on fo r 'healing' m edium s, b u t occasionally th e term dong boi chO’a ('fo rtu n e telling a n d healing m edium ') was u s e d .10 The ability to tell fo rtu n es a n d cure illnesses is not, therefore, a n ecessary p re re q u isite for becom ing a m edium . In fact, m uch of the fo rtu n e telling a n d healing done by m edium s is n o t carried o u t during l§n dong rituals: sessions are h eld w ith disciples outside o f len dong rituals especially on th e first a n d the fiftee n th o f the lu n a r m onth.

Fortune-telling sessions h eld by m edium s th a t I a tte n d e d w ere b ased on palm a n d 'face' (tifbng mat) reading, w ith some use o f astro lo g y .11 Typically, m edium s ask the d ate of b irth an d hom e town of th eir disciple, th e n

exam ine th e ir palm a n d ap p earan ce, before describing th e ir c h a ra c te r a n d health, a n d w h at w ould tra n sp ire in th eir work a n d love life. To give one exam ple o f a fortu n e-tellin g session, a 25-year-old woman, called Phu’dng, was to ld by a fortune-telling m edium th a t she would have 'obstacles' (can trd) in h e r love a n d w ork life.12 Concerning work, th e m ed iu m said th a t

Phu’ang w orked in the fields, b u t w anted to do som ething different;

concerning m arriage, th e m edium 's advice was th a t she w ould m a rry th e th ird or fo u rth p erso n th a t she loved, th a t she should n o t m a rry som ebody from h e r sam e village, a n d th a t h e r h u sb an d w ould be bigger a n d m ore h an dso m e th a n her. The m edium said th a t Phiicmg would only have h ap p in ess in m arriage if she perfo rm ed a rite know n as cat tien duyen ('cu ttin g off from th e love fate o f a previous life'). This rite is b ased o n the

10 As outlined at the beginning o f this chapter, m any people are initiated as m edium s in order to cure persistent illnesses that seem to be incurable by m edicine. However, on ly som e m edium s take on the role o f curing other people's illnesses.

11 The fortune-telling and healing practices o f mediums, outside o f len dong, overlap with the practices o f diviners (thay boi). The techniques em ployed by diviners include: phrenological fortune telling, palmistry, reading horoscopes (tCi vi) and casting

divining sticks (xin the). For a detailed account o f fortune-telling practices see Toan Anh (1992b ).

idea th a t m atters o f love are p red estin ed an d a consequence o f a previous life, so th e only way to deal w ith c u rre n t problem s in life is to d istan ce o n eself from th e love en tan g lem en ts o f o n e's form er lives.13

The cat tien duyen rite, w hich m ay be carried o u t du rin g len dong, involves th e disciple kneeling in fro n t o f the a lta r w ith a scarf d ra p e d over h is /h e r h ead a n d a large tra y (mam) placed on th e top of the scarf.14 Votive objects such as p etitio n s (scO, p a p er shoes, fans, ric e 15 an d salt are p laced o n th e tray, a n d th e n divided by th e m edium into two separate 'yin' (am) a n d 'yang' (d u o n g ) offerings. The piece of p a p e r on w hich the votive objects are

p laced is th e n cu t in h a lf a n d the yin a n d yang offerings are w ra p p ed u p in th e sheets o f p ap er. The yin offerings are b u rn t for th e 'yin' s p irit w orld (coi am); th e yang pile is 'received' (nhan) by th e h u m an w orld (tran gian). One m edium d escrib ed th e cat tien duy§n rite as follows:

The sep a ra tio n o f votive objects enables th e 'yin' people (ngUcfi am) [i.e. th e deceased] a n d the living (ngubi ta) to enjoy gifts (hubng loc). The yin will re tu rn to the yin a n d the yang will re tu rn to th e yang, th e n th e living will be able to love who they wish a n d get m arried . A fter cat tien duyen, th e yin no longer follows an d h a u n ts (am theo) the liv in g .

It is th ro u g h th e sep a ra tio n of yin an d yang, then, th a t a 'b reak ' is m ade w ith th e difficulties in love of previous lives.

D uring healing sessions, the m edium first discusses th e illness w ith the disciple, a n d th e n diagnoses w h ether the com plaint is d ue to th e 'soul' (tarn linh) o f th e p erso n o r can only be cu red by hospital tre a tm e n t.16 In eith e r case, the m ed ium usually encourages th e disciple to receive h o sp ital treatm en t, b u t if an illness is diagnosed as 'belonging to th e soul' (thuoc ve tarn linh) it m ay be c u re d by an invocation. In the words of one 'healing' m edium :

13 In Vietnam ese the term duyen refers to a person's fate, usually with the connotation o f a person's 'fate in love', and nhan duyen, which m ight be translated as 'destined love match', refers m ore specifically to the 'destined' partnership between two people. 14 The use o f the scarf and large tray, placed on the head, is similar to the initiation rite described at the beginning o f this chapter, doi bat hUdng ('placing bowls o f incen se on the head').

15 One male m edium m aintained that organic products such as rice should be cooked before being 'issued' (cap) to the 'yin' spirit world, whereas rice for the 'yang' hum an world should be uncooked. However, when he carried out the cat tien duyen rite, only uncooked rice was used.

16 Some m edium s used the term benh am, 'yin illness', to describe illnesses that were designated as being caused by the spirits.

For exam ple, if som ebody has a chest p ain I will 'look a t' (nhln) th e ir soul (tarn linh) .... If th e cause of th e illness is du e to th e ir fate (so) ... o r if the illness is d ue to evil spirits (ma ta), th en it can be c u re d by a n invocation (khan) to th e spirits .... I tell [disciples] to go to th e ho sp ital first, b u t I will also 'call ou t' (keu) to help them use th e sp irits' m edicine (thuoc thanh).

Invocations to th e sp irits usually last a few m inutes a n d are m u tte re d in fro n t of an a lta r w hile votive objects - such as those used d u rin g cat tien duyen - are 'p re se n te d ' (dang) to th e spirits. Invocations usually include: the nam e an d ad d ress o f the disciple; th e nam e o f th e temple; th e date; the illness afflicting th e disciple; an d a list o f spirits th a t are resp ectfully im p lo red to show th e m e th o d for curing th e illness. A fter th e inv o catio n some m edium s tell disciples to b u rn a p etitio n (sc?) to th e spirits - w ritten in C hinese o r Sino-V ietnam ese ch aracters - th a t lists the nam e o f th e afflicted disciple, th e date, th e location a n d a req u est for th e spirits h e lp .17 Once b u rn t, th e ashes of th e p etitio n are m ixed w ith w ater a n d dru n k ; this is the 'sp irits' m edicine' re fe rre d to in th e q u o te above. 'Incense w ater' (n u de thai), consisting of a little incense ash m ixed w ith w ater, is also given to disciples to d rin k in o rd e r to help cure illness. M ediums m ay give incense w ater to disciples d u rin g healing sessions o r du rin g len dong. Disciples usu ally ask for incense w ater d u rin g len dong w hen th e m edium is possessed by the T h ird Lady, because the T h ird Lady is well know n for h e r ability to cure illn esses.