Nguyn Th Hin

Vietnam Institute of Culture and Art Studies

Yin Illness
Its Diagnosis and Healing within
Ln ng (Spirit Possession) Rituals of the Vit

This paper looks at a small dimension of the vast belief system of the Vit by
exploring yin illness (bnh m) and a resort of its healing by examining an
aspect of ln ng ritual as therapy. The spiritual healing of ln ng is seen
as the good work of spirit mediums who save themselves, their families, and
their patients from personal suffering and yin illness. Yin illness can be caused
by a variety of cultural patterns of meaning such as sacrilege, ghost possession, or mediumship. Analyzing the causes and the cures of the yin illness,
this article implies the deep sense of obligation many Vit people feel toward
tending their dead and ancestors and serving the spirits of the Mother Goddess religion (o Mu). Thus, the illness and healing are set within relationships between the living and the dead and between the adherents and the
spirits, and are embodied in the folk belief system of the Vit.

keywords: Spirit possession ritualyin and yang illnesshealing

exorcism

Asian Ethnology Volume 67, Number 2 2008, 305321

Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture