A HONG KONG SPIRIT-MEDIUM TEMPLE
17
capable of influencing for good or ill the course of events on the earthly plane. To bridge the gap between supernatural whim and purpose communication is essential. Numerous methods have been devised for achieving that purpose, including some designed to enable man to determine in kind or quality the interaction between mortals and immortals, i.e. magic. Although seldom the most frequently employed or the most culturally approved, spirit-mediumship is a method of communication with the divine that is found in all of the world's major culture areas. A precise understanding of that particular phenomenon necessitates our distinguishing between it and a related but by no means identical phenomenon, that of mere "spirit possession".
Firth offers a statement of the relationship as well as critical differences between each of the above states in the following:
Spirit possession is a form of trance in which behavioral actions of a person are interpreted as evidence of a control of his behavior by a spirit normally external to him. Spirit-mediumship is normally a form of possession in which the person is conceived as serving as an intermediary between spirits and men. The accent here is on communication: the action and words of the medium must be translatable, which differentiates them from mere spirit possession or madness.1
While in trance the medium's normal consciousness and ordinary behavioral patterns are seemingly suspended, thus anything that he may say or do in such a state is attributed by believers to the possessing deity. In this paper we shall not be concerned with the ontological validity of spirit possession and mediumship nor the psychological reality of the trance state. Our assumption is that spirit possession and mediumship constitute indisputable cultural realities when accepted by devotees and practitioners as an effective means of communication with deities.
One may argue that the historically dominant position of Christianity, a religious tradition favoring a more indirect, sacramental mode of divine communication has relegated mediumship in the West to a heterodox, peripheral position. In China, however, the fact that no particular religion allied with a singular method of divine communication was able to win lasting institutional dominance has allowed the persistence of a wider variety of religious techniques for bridging the gap between man and the spirits.
A HONG KONG SPRIT-MEDIUM TEMPLE
17
capable of influencing for good or ill the course of events on the carthly plane. To bridge the gap between supernatural whim and purpose communication is essential. Numerous methods have been devised for achieving that purpose, including some designed to enable man to determine in kind or quality the interaction between mortals and immortals, i.e. magic. Although seldom the most frequently employed or the most culturally approved, spirit-medium- ship is a method of communication with the divine that is found in all of the world's major culture areas. A precise understanding of that particular phenomenon necessitates our distinguishing be- tween it and a related but by no means identical phenomenon, that of mere "spirit possession”.
Firth offers a statement of the relationship as well as critical differences between each of the above states in the following:
Spirit possession is a form of trance in which behavioral actions of a person are interpreted as evidence of a control of his beha- vior by a spirit normally external to him. Spirit-mediumship is normally a form of possession in which the person is conceived as serving as an intermediary between spirits and men. The accent here is on communication: the action and words of the medium must be translatable, which differentiates them from mere spirit possession or madness.1
While in trance the medium's normal consciousness and ordinary behavioral patterns are seemingly suspended, thus anything that he may say or do in such a state is attributed by believers to the pos- sessing deity. In this paper we shall not be concerned with the ontological validity of spirit possession and mediumship nor the psychological reality of the trance state. Our assumption is that spirit possession and mediumship constitute indisputable cultural realities when accepted by devotees and practitioners as an effective means of communication with deities.
One may argue that the historically dominant position of Chris- tianity, a religious tradition favoring a more indirect, sacramental mode of divine communication has relegated mediumship in the West to a heterodox, peripheral position. In China, however, the fact that no particular religion allied with a singular method of divine communication was able to win lasting institutional do- minance has allowed the persistence of a wider variety of religious techniques for bridging the gap between man and the spirits.
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