• By Lin Ji-sheng 林基興

Every year during the seventh month of the lunar calendar, fortune tellers are known to repeat various assertions, such as that the ghosts would be let out from the gates of hell at 11 pm each night and that the Earth’s magnetic field would become disturbed throughout this lunar month. Who knows how many people allow their lives to be manipulated by such ideas about Ghost Month?

The late Charles Fu (傅偉勳) was a professor in the Department of Religion at Temple University in Philadelphia and author of a book titled Dignity in Death and Dignity in Life (死亡的尊嚴與生命的尊嚴).

In his book, he recalled how his mother often described frightening scenes from the Buddhist version of hell when he was a young child. Fu wrote that these stories often gave him nightmares in which demons chased him through attics and corridors, and that when his dreams reached the point where he could not escape, he would wake up.

It makes one wonder whether divination experts realize how many minds are harmed by their baseless assertions.

Divination experts’ careless words can impact the fate of vegetable and fruit farmers. The word for “pineapple” in the Hoklo language (commonly known as Taiwanese) sounds like another word meaning “bounty.” Consequently, fortune tellers assert that pineapples are unlucky during Ghost Month because they might attract ghosts, even though they bring good luck and prosperity at other times. Ghost Month affects other kinds of business activity, with fewer shops open and less construction taking place during this period.

If ghosts are said to be present, deities must be called upon for protection, and this can lead to three kinds of serious consequences.

Wherever there is the belief in “supernatural forces,” there will also be trickery. Charlatans exploit the situation with ruses like “cleansing the body of evil” and “detoxification by intercourse.” They deprive their gullible believers of money, and the social consequences can be tragic.

Superstitious ceremonies, such as the annual Wang Ye boat-burning festival that is supposed to help benevolent gods carry plagues away, cause air pollution and contribute to global warming. In some cases, chickens and ducks are burned alive in the burning boat as sacrifices. Furthermore, huge piles of “ghost money” go up in flames, polluting the air and creating garbage.

There is also the issue of wasting electricity. Temples in Taiwan sell items such as “fortune lamps,” “career lamps” and “Wenchang (文昌) lamps,” (supposedly to help with studies and exams), and all of these are an important source of income for these places. Taipei’s Longshan Temple (龍山寺) allows worshipers to light such lamps, and these people place chairs with their names on them in concentric lines around the temple’s wall. Some even pay touts to line up for them. Longshan Temple has charged different prices for different sizes of lamps, and people buy the big lamps in the belief that only these would achieve the desired effect. Most temples charge a different price for lamps depending on where they are placed, since the closer a lamp is to the gods, the more blessings it is said to bring. Other kinds of lamps, such as those for soothing the resentment of aborted babies, show how creative some Taiwanese can be.

A psychiatrist at the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei says that during every Ghost Month, there has been a big increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for their fear of ghosts. Vivid media reports about ghostly occurrences also contribute to spread fear. When Taiwan finally ignores the superstitions of fortune tellers, not only would these fears dissipate, it might also cut down on pollution and waste.

Lin Ji-sheng is a university professor.

Translated by Julian Clegg