Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Mother Goddess: The Vietnamese Ceremony of Fire

Mother Goddess: The Vietnamese Ceremony of Fire

Chesley, Paul

Hardcover

General Eastern ReligionsGeneral PhotographyPhotographers

Publisher Price: $60.00

PREORDER - Expected ship date December 1, 2026

ISBN10: 1966515871
ISBN13: 9781966515876
Publisher: Goff Books
Published: Dec 1 2026
Pages: 160
Language: English
Mother Goddess worship took shape in the 16th century as an alternative to Confucian ideals that cast women in passive, subordinate roles. In this religion, female deities and their spirit mediums stand at the center of vivid ceremonies filled with fire, music, trance, and offerings. Women needed a symbol and found it in the goddess Lieu Hanh, who represents their desire for freedom, independence, and happiness.

The narrative would follow selected mediums and their communities in several regions, from the birthplace of the religion in Nam Dinh to urban temples in Hanoi and beyond. Through long nights of ceremony and the everyday presence of the religion in local life, we see how this faith gives women and their families a way to negotiate power, identity, and hope in a rapidly changing country.

Modernization, urbanization, and social media are reshaping the practice. Once associated mainly with farmers and working class families, Mother Goddess worship now attracts civil servants and high-level officials. The religion is being revived, regulated, and commercialized at the same time, which makes this an ideal moment to document what endures, what transforms, and what may be lost.

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