5 replies to this topic

[Freddy1]

Does anyone know the name of the divination practice using Chinese characters written on a piece of paper and an upside turn cup. Your suppose to have several people put their index finger on the cup and move ot around in circles until it comes over a character; so it can to give you messages from spirits.

It sorta like a "Ouija board"
http://en.wikipedia....i/Ouija#History

Edited by General_Zhaoyun, 01 December 2008 - 11:35 AM.

[General_Zhaoyun]

Does anyone know the name of the divination practice using Chinese characters written on a piece of paper and an upside turn cup. Your suppose to have several people put their index finger on the cup and move ot around in circles until it comes over a character; so it can to give you messages from spirits.

It sorta like a "Ouija board"
http://en.wikipedia....i/Ouija#History

The chinese term for this kind of divination game is called "Wan Die Xian 玩碟仙" (literally "playing with cup spirits"). I've seen people "playing" it in Taiwan when I was a kid, but did not play it. And in fact, I count myself lucky not to play it as it is considered by experts to be a 'dangerous' game.

From religious point of view, this is a form of practising 'mediumship' (known as "Fuji 扶乩"). It involves inviting spirits/ghosts to possess themselves onto certain objects such as pen, cups etc and using the method of 'moving cups' or 'writing on paper' to resolve the divination questions asked by the player. After the ritual is over, you will need to thank the god or ghosts. There is a common chinese saying, "inviting spirits are easy, but sending away spirits are not easy". If the player does not know how to properly send the spirits away, it can be quite dangerous. The spirits might even be possessed onto a person's body as forms of trance. There were reports of possession of spirits resulting in a high school girl committing suicide, after the girl plays the game. So be careful!



BEWARE: This divination game can be dangerous. There are other forms of divination which are safe, but not this one.

Academic Source: http://www.ihp.sinic...in/playgame.PDF

Edited by General_Zhaoyun, 02 December 2008 - 11:19 PM.

[DeanW]

Interesting for some reason I can't pull up the source though.

[Freddy1]

BEWARE: This divination game can be dangerous. There are other forms of divination which are safe, but not this one.

Thanks GZ for the source and for the warning.
They pretty much say the same thing about the "Ouija" or Talking Board in the West as being dangerous.
They say some people who have used it get haunted by spirits.

[Pattie]

Thanks GZ for the source and for the warning.
They pretty much say the same thing about the "Ouija" or Talking Board in the West as being dangerous.
They say some people who have used it get haunted by spirits.

Don't summon what you can't banish is the best maxim here. Ouija boards are well known for catching and keeping. I've known several people with planchettes knocking around in their game closets.

[Freddy1]

Don't summon what you can't banish is the best maxim here. Ouija boards are well known for catching and keeping. I've known several people with planchettes knocking around in their game closets.

I'm just curious have you (or anyone else) heard of using a candle flame to burn underneath the cups befor using the "Wan Die Xian"? Someone told me this but I'm not sure why this is done???