Dang-Ki healing: An embodied relational healing practice in Singapore.
Boon-ooi Lee, Laurence J Kirmayer
Transcultural psychiatry December 1, 2020 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1177/1363461519858448 via PubMed
Summary
Dang-ki healing in Singapore involves a human medium, or dang-ki, being possessed by a deity to assist clients. This process not only helps clients feel supported but also allows dang-kis to transform their personal distress through spirit possession. The practice emphasizes embodying cultural ideals and acquiring spiritual knowledge through rituals. The healing dynamics reflect a collective approach, contrasting with individualistic Western psychotherapy, highlighting the interconnectedness of practitioners, clients, and deities.
Study at a glance
| Design | ethnographic study |
|---|---|
| Population | dang-kis and their clients in the context of Chinese spirit mediumship |
| Key finding | Dang-ki healing facilitates mutual transformation for practitioners and clients through the interdependent process of spirit possession. |
Abstract
This article explores the processes of transformation of the self in dang-ki healing, a form of Chinese spirit mediumship in Singapore, drawing on more than a decade of ethnographic research. In dang-ki healing, it is believed that a deity possesses a human, who is called a dang-ki, to help clients (i.e., devotees). Through the dang-ki, clients can interact with powerful deities in ways that help them feel hopeful and supported. The dang-kis themselves may also benefit therapeutically from their participation as mediums. Many dang-kis suffer from personal conflicts and distress before becoming a medium and they express and transform their distress through the idiom of spirit possession. Since deities represent traits and moral values promoted in Chinese culture, possession by a deity allows the dang-ki to embody an ideal self and to acquire spiritual knowledge by engaging in ritual practices involving cleansing, self-mortification, stereotyped movements, and altered consciousness. At the same time, junior possessing deities must undergo training under the guidance of senior deities to achieve a higher level of spiritual existence by helping clients through the dang-ki's body. Thus, in dang-ki healing, practitioners, clients and possessing deities are transformed in parallel ways. The dynamics of this reciprocal and interdependent healing process differ from the individualistic approaches in Western psychotherapy and shed light on the links between healing processes, cultural ontologies, and concepts of personhood.