Afraid to Give Up Ghosts

Los Angeles Times - July 18, 2006

Anthropology Professor Steven Sangren comments on the belief in ghosts in Taiwan.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-ghosts18jul18,1,4447552.story?page=1&ctrack=1&cset=true

To quote:

Fifty-four-year-old Liang, who declined to give her first name, is here to connect with her mother's ghost, who keeps visiting her during the night asking for money. Liang says that when she offered her jewelry, the ghost said she wanted only cash.

Parapsychologist Hsu Tzu-he fixes Liang with an intense stare and informs her that jewelry is indeed no good down there. Mom's spirit is trapped in a ghost channel unable to transcend to the next world, she adds during the 15-minute, $15 session.

With a few prayers and a proper funeral ceremony, however, Mom can be elevated out of purgatory. Hsu hands Liang a tissue as tears of anxiety and relief course down her face.

But there's more. Liang's dead father has been reborn and is now a 1-year-old Japanese boy, Hsu adds, occasionally glancing at a computer screen with rows of numbers.