Se soigner ou soigner les autres  ? Dimensions thérapeutiques d’un culte de possession vietnamien

Abstract

Spirits mediums of the Four Palaces have been taking part for a long time, along with other religious specialists, in the Vietnamese therapeutic area. They have helped, and still do despite historical upheavals, taking care of different kind of illnesses through rituals and, more generally, through spirits’ interventions. If healing is only one side of the worship, beside religious, political and territorial issues, it is one of the main issues addressed to the spirits. This paper investigates healing dimensions of the worship which are of two kinds : performing spirit possession in order to cure others or in order to cure themselves. Indeed, the disciples seek health, harmony in family life, success in business or education, by the spirits and their mediums. Moreover, as for other spirit possession cults, illness often lies at the origin of the process that leads to regular spirit possession. For that purpose, some mediums and some spirits have special healing powers. Lastly, this paper analyses some transformations of the mediums’ social role.

Keywords

• spirit possession
• illness
• spirits
• mediums
• Vietnam