Dang-Kihealing: An embodied relational healing practice in Singapore

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.

Making of a crisis: The political and clinical implications of psychology’s globalization.

“…We suggest that we do not have to take recourse to Psychological discourse to understand and thus imprison the orphan and the refugee. We have other options such as submitting to and learning from indigenous discourses, as Kopua (2019) has done in her work with the Ma ¯ori and so have Lee and Kirmayer (2020) in Singapore. We have the option of listening to service users about what works for them instead of forcing our meaning systems on them, as The Hearing Voices and the Open Dialogue movement done for voicehearers.…”

Journeying Through Different Mythic Worlds

“…Dang-ki Healing Dang-ki healing is commonly practiced in the Chinese communities in Singapore (Chan, 2006;Graham, 2020;Lee & Kirmayer, 2020). It is believed that a deity can possess a human (i.e., dang-ki) to offer direct help to supplicants.…”

“…The deity normally addresses these issues through moral advice, talismans, rituals, herbal medicine, and acupuncture. The 5 For a pictorial representation of this seating arrangement, see Figure 3 in Lee and Kirmayer (2020). Nonetheless, dang-ki healing is typically performed in the presence of temple assistants and other devotees.…”

“Other psychotherapies”: Healing interactions across time, geography, and culture

“…This connects to a number of pieces in this thematic issue that explore the varying dimensions of the therapeutic encounter. Lee and Kirmayer's (2020) article, for example, examines the connections between healing processes, cultural ontologies, and notions of personhood. Drawing on a specific form of Chinese spirit mediumship, dang-ki healing, practiced in a specific place, Lee and Kirmayer open up the multiple spaces of the practice, including healer, client, and community, that transcend traditional boundaries.…”

“…Several of the articles in this issue that examine diverse cultural manifestations of “Other Psychotherapies” underscore the challenge of understanding mechanisms and outcomes. Lee and Kirmayer (2020) explore how dang-ki , healing a form of Chinese spirit mediumship practiced in Singapore, is used as a transformative practice that benefits the practitioner (medium), the client (devotee), and the community more broadly. Contrasts are drawn between the interdependent healing impact of dang-ki and the more individualistic focus of Western psychotherapies.…”