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The worship of the Mother Goddess (Đạo Mẫu) is an ancient and deeply Vietnamese form of folk belief. When speaking of this tradition, one immediately thinks of the veneration of supreme female deities, honored as Thánh Mẫu (Holy Mothers) or Quốc Mẫu ...

Vietnam’s Mother Goddess Worship (Đạo Mẫu) was inscribed by UNESCO in December 2016 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. When speaking of this tradition, one cannot fail to mention the ritual of lên đồng (spirit possession), a unique, myst...

Hầu đồng is a ritual in Vietnamese folk belief that is quite widespread, yet its essence remains mysterious and not fully understood. Because of this, many who are unfamiliar with it may dismiss it as superstition or extravagance. But what is its tru...

Hầu đồng is an important ritual in the worship of the Mother Goddesses of the Four Palaces (Tín ngưỡng thờ Mẫu Tam Tứ phủ). In essence, it is considered a ritual of communication with deities and spirits from the other world through spirit mediums (c...

Attending a hầu đồng session is like exploring a living museum, where layers of colors and symbols emerge through the incarnations of deities descending into the bodies of mediums—expressed via ritual songs (hát văn), music, dance movements, and espe...

Hát Chầu Văn originated in the Red River Delta of Northern Vietnam. According to Professor Ngô Đức Thịnh – Member of the National Council for Cultural Heritage – the most prosperous period of the Chầu Văn ritual was from the late 19th century to the ...

Introduction The ritual practice of lên đồng—also known as hầu bóng or đồng bóng—is a prominent feature of the Vietnamese Đạo Mẫu (Mother Goddess worship) and Tứ phủ (Four Palaces) belief system. It represents a distinctive form of folk spirituality,...

Spiritual mediumship (hầu đồng)—also known as lên đồng or hầu bóng—is a distinctive ritual of the Mother Goddess Worship (Đạo Mẫu) of the Three Palaces (Tam phủ) and Four Palaces (Tứ phủ), an ancient belief system of Vietnam’s agricultural communitie...

Part 1- HƯƠNG NGHĨA TEMPLE Hương Nghĩa Temple is located at No. 13 Đào Duy Từ Street, Hàng Buồm Ward, Hoàn Kiếm District, Hanoi. In the past, this area was known as Hương Bài Hamlet (which later merged with Kiên Nghĩa Hamlet to form Hương Nghĩa Hamle...

This article aims to explore the deeper meaning of the 36 spirit possession rites (giá hầu) in the Vietnamese Mother Goddess belief through an analysis of their origins, classifications, symbolism, ritual functions, and socio-cultural impacts. I. Int...