len dong ceremony

Yesterday went to a len dong ceremony that went for four hours! it is devoted to the mother goddess and the person performing (it's really a series of rituals rather than spirit mediumship) embodies 21 different spirits from mandarins to women. It's very elaborate and complex accompanied by music and singing, and repetitive- first a red veil over the face to symbolise the spirit entering then a costume change, often a cigarette or two, then incense bowing to the altar and then dances- with fans, swords or other equipment. Followed by handing out of offerings to the audience of money and cans of beer, fruit or whatever. I found it hypnotic, and the woman performing Bac Rose was seventy years old and remarkable. All this thanks to Kirsten Endres whom is pictured here putting together the offerings
I will be on blog hiatus for three weeks whilst I'm in Australia- so merry christmas and happy new year to you all!

having christmas in melbourne

Well it's at the halfway point of my residency and I've been reflecting on what I've achieved so far. I have collected about ten short stories to put in a collection and have started the sequel to Vixen. I have met with authors and translators and anthropologists- have been to two conferences- an author reading and dinner- and will be going to a len dong ceremony this afternoon! (spirit mediumship ritual courtesy of Kirsten Endres). Personally the biggest gain for me has been discovering the sangha for foreigners in Hanoi- it has helped me spiritually and emotionally- being here without Alister has been difficult. I have been to many temples and pagodas, and seen gorgeous scenery. When I come back I hope to meet the author of Beyond the Red Mist, live above the bookworm bookshop and make more progress on the sequel. Scribe publishing are interested in my work in Vietnam so in the new year I will send them some material. The residency has definitely been worthwhile but i'm still relieved that I'm going home for three weeks- a break from Hanoi traffic and seeing Alister is required right about now!

shamans

I went to a shamanic hour at an antique shop courtesy of Friends of Vietnam Heritage. We got to sit and talk for an hour or more with the shaman from the San Diu people. Funnily enough his translator told us that he was not sure if ghosts existed or not. The rituals sounded very complicated and to be a shaman you have to study at least 50 books in Chinese. The shamanic work is done out of charity- they only get paid 50-100,000 dong for a ceremony that can go for a few days. I also met Kirsten Endres by accident- a german academic whom studies the len dong ceremony to the mother goddess. I had e mailed her previously to ask her for articles on spirit mediumship. She told me that only once or twice had she felt something special happening during these ceremonies she views them as a form of worship to the mother goddess rather than an actual manifestation of spirits. This opens up a line of questioning in my writing about spirit beliefs and ceremonies- and what happens if a medium actually communicates with spirits or believes she does. Perhaps I can write about the erosion of spirit beliefs in Vietnam- and what happens to the spirits then.

bazaars and mopeds

I've been shopping lately at two bazaars, a craftlink bazaar which donates money back to ethnic minorities and a charity bazaar run by the international women's club. I can't tell you what I've bought because they are presents for people- but needless to say they are very beautiful and relatively inexpensive. I saw some Vietnamese documentaries on illiteracy in the highlands and Ha Long Bay which made me think- I don't usually think about the children that try and sell you stuff at Ha Long there's 200 of them between 15-24 and they are all illiterate. Very sobering.
Last night after sangha practice (meditation class) I went with Tuan, Hannah and Nicholas to a restaurant serving traditional Vietnamese food. It was cheap- but not exactly to my taste. Scary experience riding the back of the moped when Hannah and Tuan carried on a conversation across two different mopeds- but I guess you have to trust sometime!
I felt refreshed after practice- I hadn't done it for a week and it really showed. More on that at the interbeing in Vietnam blog.

what I'd like to do

"You never learn how to write a novel," he said. "You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing." This is from Gene Wolfe and I got it from Neil Gaiman's website.
I think he's right. I have found that each novel length work I have written has had a different process. The last one that I completed "Digging up the bones" was done in segments because I was handing the work over to my supervisor Kathleen Fallon. I'm now struggling with the sequel to Vixen because the characters aren't talking to me the way they did during the writing of Vixen. I think they might be on strike or think that modernity is not very interesting. They find love more interesting and in particular falling in love. Kitty is also very lonely so I might write about that. Being a supernatural creature may not be a lot of fun nowadays if there aren't many of you around. So it might be that what I turn out is very different from what I pitched for the Asialink grant. There are types of books that I would like to write- one on Asian archetypes, another on Buddhist self discovery- but these will be a long time in coming.