Yes, there is a small consortium of local craftsmen who make them.

It's a dying art form, but they are doing their best to bravely keep it alive into the new millennium.

You're not a banana if you are able to speak Cantonese.

A banana denotes somebody who cannot speak Chinese in any shape or form.

I'm Hokkien myself; I don't understand a word of Cantonese.

Is that what the Taoists are preaching, or something of the sort?

That the San Qing manifested the Jade Emperor?

Folk religion states in no uncertain terms that he was a human disciple of Yuan Shi Tian Jun, the leader of the San Qing, who cultivated himself over a period of several millennia in order to attain sufficient worthiness for the role.


My understanding is that Guan Yin doesn't have male or female forms; she is a woman through and through.

And it is Avalokitesvara, the genderless Bodhisattva from whom she originates, that has multiple forms both male and female.

Today is the Kitchen God's birthday.

Tibetan Buddhism is kinda outside the focus of this thread...

None of those are Taoist deities...

Sharia law forbids that.

But keramat worship and other forms of what is deemed 'idolatry' and 'heresy' still do occur on the sly.

A less than ideal situation, although ancestral spirits can still keep going courtesy of the afterlife's welfare system.

They can receive offerings confiscated from other spirits who are deemed undeserving.

The Hell bank notes originated from the desire among incense paper manufacturers to modernise old fashioned paper money.

The large figures reflect them accommodating devotees' desires to have their deceased loved ones prosper.

In actual fact, Hell bank notes are not universally regarded as legal tender by Hell deities.

The monetary value and denominations of currency on the other side are also closely regulated, down to every dollar and cent.

Inflation is therefore not an issue.

They look pretty and smell fragrant.

That's right.

Have a lovely Mid-Autumn Festival, all.

When someone asks 'is such-and-such deity real or just a legend', my usual answer is 'that depends on whom you ask'.

Chinese folk religion does revere two stellar deities known as the Solar Lord and Lunar Lady, who are personifications of the sun and moon and regarded by some as analogous to Chang-Er and Hou-Yi.

I have yet to see them possess mediums, however.

Djinns are powerful entities.

I would not expect a human sorcerer to be able to deal with them unless he or she had powerful spiritual backers.

1. The money is primarily used to pay for one's accommodation.

2. Those who die THAT prematurely will be taken to a special sanctuary to recover from their ordeal until they are ready; this usually means remaining there until they reach the age at which they were originally meant to reach before expiring naturally. Such an experience, being taken before your time so early, is highly traumatic, and only souls of a certain age are allowed to go through the standard processing.

3. By default, yes. But the art of protecting a residual self image can be perfected.

4. If you were crippled at the time of your death, you typically stay that way as a ghost, unless you can transcend that somehow. This can be achieved by someone performing salvation rituals for you, being healed by a deity, etc.

The Jalan Ampang temple to the Nine Emperors would be a good place to start.

Ring them up and ask; it's not hard.

Death at such a young age is NEVER normal.

Unexpected/unforseen circumstances are always to blame.

The deities you have named are VERY even tempered and kind, although they should still be treated with respect despite their statues being unconsecrated.

Approach your local temple or sintua and ask them if they provide 'sending off' services for discarded statues.

The correct method of disposal is to burn them, but there are certain protocols involved and this is not something a lay worshipper can do on their own.

I saw the footage earlier today.

It was only a matter of time before one of these idiots killed himself performing such foolish stunts, really.