Cao Dai mediumship

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Ngô Văn Chiêu, Cao Quỳnh Cư, Cao Hoài Sang · 1925 · Saigon

What it is

Cao Dai mediumship is not a therapy. It is the spirit-writing (cơ bút; also called phò loan) through which, as the church holds, the founding revelations of a Vietnamese religion were received. Caodaists hold that from 1925 God, as Cao Đài (identified with the Jade Emperor), and other spirits spoke…

Format

• Schism: Hartney argues that "a general inability to manage séance" led to many separate Caodai groups after the late 1920s. He also argues that Tây Ninh authority shifted after 1945 from séance-granted authority towards the prophetic, charismatic authority of Phạm Công Tắc. Schisms followed Lê Văn…
• In the Tây Ninh account, only the Holy See's own mediums of the Hiệp Thiên Đài held authoritative séances. Since 1936 there have been no official séances elsewhere, and since 1975 none legally in Vietnam. Other denominations, including the esoteric Vô Vi line associated with the first disciple,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• escalating practice to escape distress. It is working when experiences become manageable.
• conflicts between clergy advice and safety. It is working when the client experiences care as joined up.
• curiosity that turns the client into an informant. It is working when the client sets the religious agenda.
• pressure on the client from relatives' spiritual explanations. It is working when the family supports attendance.
• reassurance-seeking from clergy or from the therapist. It is working when rituals fall and religious practice feels freer.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.