The Way of the Matriarch. Shamanism, Spiritism and Images of Women Worshipped as Goddesses in Northern Vietnam

Abstract

"I aim to talk about the folk shamanistic practices of the Đạo Mẫu, the oldest form of spiritual practice in northern Vietnam. The paper also aims to discuss the religion in relation with the archetype of the Great Mother as understood by Erich Neumann. The ancient beliefs associated with the goddess Mẫu have served multiple historical purposes: from worshipping female warrior heroines that led armies against Chinese invaders in the 1st Century AD, considered to be incarnations of the Mother Goddess in difficult times, to allowing an avenue of empowerment for the women mediums that practiced shamanism and spiritism in the face of different actors trying to implement their belief systems and ideologies in the country."