Through God’s Left Eye by Paul La Farge discusses the idea of Caodaism. He speculates the idea of communicating to ghosts and how it has shaped Caodaism religion and impacted on society – particularly the Vietnamese who carry and invented this religion. It started out with the wildfire news of the two sisters, Kate and Margaret Fox, ages ten and eight, who heard a noise in the attic and started to communicate to the ghosts through the act of tapping – one knock for yes and two knocks for no. With that start, it traveled all across the globe and there was a new sensation of communication – the communication with spirits. It finally hit Vietnam in also becoming a new sensation of communicating. What was interesting with Vietnam was that they were able to communicate with many famous dead such as a past emperor, Joan of Arc, and Victor Hugo. Not only that, they were given the foreshadowing of the first Caucasian Caodaism follower that proved to be true. With this new way of communicating that was introduced across the globe to Vietnam, came into development a new belief that trusted the guidance of spirits. Thus, Caodaism came into existent.
This idea of Caodaism is interesting because it was through the communication to spirits that a new religion was born. With the guidance of historic figures that communicate with the living, the people of Vietnam have come to trust the advice and knowledge given. This subject circulates the idea of one of the many possibilities of what could be beyond our world if taken the time and effort to discover it. In some way it connects to the Rosalind William’s interview in discussing what could beyond our understanding or what we believe that exists.
This type of media of communication across the globe (assuming that the Fox sisters were on newspapers everywhere and the story traveled by radio or mouth of word) has great ability to influence people to come to believe differently in terms of religion, such as Caodaism with the Vietnamese, with great consequences in shaping people’s lifestyle and thoughts. Through this article, the discussion seems to overlay the possibility the existence of spirits and the question of another world. It makes me question that if there is indeed a way to communicate with the dead, is there no hell or heaven? For if Joan of Arc was indeed communicating with the Vietnamese, why would her spirit be wandering the Earth, giving support in their time of French colonism? I’ve heard of spirits ‘stuck’ on Earth because they’ve ‘unfinished business,’ but with what I read in La Farge’s article, anything can really be possible of what really waits for our souls after death.
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Jean, another smart, helpful read. Good summarizing here - better even than in your first response. It testifies to a fine tuned sensitivity, perception and the capacity for a good, deft written responses. I also like the skilled connecting you do between the articles, from this to the interview you read for part one.
It is understandable that both of these articles would influence you toward the metaphysical - considering spirits and afterlife. And maybe I am secular to a fault, but how do these issues relate to more, er, grounded situations? Or how do they relate to issues of communicating, or issues of occupying space? How do they connect to art making, or media making, or any kind of making.
Or, what do you think Cabinet is up to? Why circulate articles like these? There is a kind of "cabinet of curiosities" on display here. Why do you think they do that? (What do you think of Cabinet so far?)
Again, good reading here - throughout. I guess I'd like to see different connections - but that may not even be possible. This wasn't asked for specifically in the assignment, but can you connect any of the ideas here to any of the ideas around artmaking that may surface in class or in discussion?
Carl
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