Sharp eyes. The female medium is, indeed, channelling the Filial Son.

This temple, the Hall of Sevenfold Jade/七玉殿 is right in my neck of the woods, by the way. It is one of the few temples in Klang dedicated exclusively to the Hell deities, boasting Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the main hall, and a special air-conditioned, cave-like basement room where the Black and White Brothers and other lesser Hell beings reside.

You can visit them at 4, Jalan Cox, 41300 Klang; they hold consults on Saturday nights at 9:30 p.m or thereabouts. The temple is admittedly somewhat difficult to find, being off the beaten track; it is located down by the river bank near the Fairy Park funeral parlour, close to Wisma TLT and the old Pawagam Sri Intan.

That depends on whom you ask.

Wonder what happened within the span of five hours to make you change your mind.

Chinese folk religion/Shenism is exactly what it is.

'Sintua' (this is a Hokkien phrase; it is 'shen tan'/神坛 in Mandarin) is the term for the shrine-based worship commonly associated with the faith.

What are the rituals performed on the eighth night and ninth day of Chinese New Year?

Once upon a time, medieval-era Hokkiens, fleeing persecution (the persecutors are variously described as Mongols, Manchus, Japanese pirates or simply local bandits), prayed to the Heavenly Emperor (this is either the Jade Emperor or his boss, depending on whom you ask) for deliverance. He guided the fugitives into a vast field of sugar cane, where they securely hid. Their pursuers got hopelessly lost in their attempt to explore the field and gave up the search, thus allowing the Hokkiens to escape unharmed. This event took place over the eighth night and the ninth day of Chinese New Year.

From then on, people of Hokkien descent perform thanksgiving rituals to the Heavenly Emperor each New Year on the abovementioned dates. Sugar cane is an item prominently featured during these rites.

Try reading my post again.

The Jade Emperor is not the supreme leader, lol.

He is the CEO.

There are others whom he answers to - the board of directors.

The board of directors comprise the San Qing/三清, the Three Pure Ones.

They comprise the Great Primordial aka Yuan Shi Tian Jun/元始天尊, who created Heaven and Earth, the Lord of the Sacred Treasure aka Ling Bao Tian Jun/灵宝天尊, who created time, and Lord Lao Zi aka Tai Shang Lao Jun/太上老君, who expounded the Way to the people.

Their involvement with the world is now minimal, as they have largely relegated its management to the Jade Emperor and the other deities.

When some people refer to the Heavenly Emperor/天公, they mean the Great Primordial rather than the Jade Emperor.

Pictured below are (from left to right) Lord Lao Zi, the Great Primordial and the Lord of the Sacred Treasure.

Most of the gods are considered far beyond the cycle of death and rebirth.

Absolutely.

As far as the universe goes, the Earth is one of its youngest components.

Time did not begin with the creation of the Earth, nor will it end with the Earth's destruction.

There are people who believe that Lord Guan has become the Jade Emperor and depict him in statue form as such, yes.

However, these people are merely a small subset of die-hard Lord Guan devotees.

I don't subscribe to this belief, either, because if Lord Guan were Jade Emperor, there would be a lot less going wrong with the world.

I don't care if they judge or criticise. I can dish out as good as I can take. And any attention/publicity is good attention/publicity.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

Not necessarily.

A medium can sometimes be privy to more information than the average person, but their 'security clearances' have limits; there remain a lot of goings-on in the unseen realm that they are not privy to.

Hell, there are a lot of goings-on in the unseen realm that even certain GODS are not privy to, as they vary in rank, clearance and even spheres of influence.

For example, one of the resident Hell deities at my teacher's temple stated that he had never been to Heaven before, much less met the Jade Emperor, and did not expect this state of affairs to change anytime soon.

Zao Jun/灶君, the Kitchen God, is considered the lord of the household - this is a throwback to ancient times, where the hearth, the stove, the kitchen, was considered the central feature of every home, as it was from the stove that the family's sustenance was derived. He is considered the personification of the hearth. The importance of the kitchen has obviously changed in this day and age, thus explaining why he is less worshiped in recent times. Just because you do not worship the Kitchen God in your home does not mean that he is absent, however.

It is the Kitchen God's job to oversee goings-on amongst the family inhabiting the house he resides in, and report back to the Jade Emperor and/or the local spiritual authorities. This reporting he normally does just before each New Year.

Most legends state that the Kitchen God is a singular deity, but I think the notion of multiple Kitchen Gods or at least multiple aspects/clones of one original Kitchen God, is quite an attractive possibility.

Here is a statue of the Kitchen God, plus an example of how his image is placed near the region of the stove.





Now for the 'bed deities'.

Chuang Gong/床公 and his wife Chuang Mu/床母 are domestic deities who specialise in the protection of the home's children aged 12 and below. Their domain is the bed or beds where the children sleep.



The couple have always been fairly obscure deities, mainly prayed to by rural and country folk, and only once a month - on the last night of the month, to be exact. But you can worship them if you are so inclined, particularly if you have young children whom would like them to watch over. It is nice to remind obscure deities that they are remembered.

All you need for this procedure is a 'huat kueh' brown sugar steamed cake, three sticks of incense, a cup of tea, a small bowl of vegetarian food (rice and vegetables will do), two red candles and three stacks of gold incense paper.

On the night in question (8 p.m. and onwards), place the items on a large tray and put the tray on the child's bed. Light the candles and stick them into each side of the huat kueh; then light the incense sticks, kneel before the bed and make your prayer; you must specify the child's name, date and time of birth for this.

Then stick the incense into the huat kueh, between the candles, and let the offerings stand for as long as it takes for the incense and candles to burn out. In the meanwhile, remove the gold paper from the tray and burn it outdoors. Once the incense and candles have burnt out, you're done - you may take everything away.

This rule is based on decency, as the bedroom is where one changes their clothes and engages in sexual or other intimate activity.

However, this should not be taken to mean that one cannot sleep near or before an altar, nor should it be taken to mean that a former bedroom, now unused as such, cannot be converted into a prayer room.

Praying to the Kitchen God at home need not involve anything fancy-schmancy. A small printed picture of him, or even a piece of paper bearing his title/name, pasted on the wall near your stove, will do just fine. This will have to be blessed before installation, however.

As per the sintua tradition, ritual items related to worship of any particular god have to be blessed by the selfsame god when he manifests via a medium. A god who outranks him or is otherwise given the authority to act on his behalf can also bless the items. It is not common for Hell deities to bless items related to Heavenly gods, nor is it common for Heavenly gods to bless Hell-related items. The general rule of thumb is Heavenly deities for Heavenly items, and Hell deities for Hell items.

As the Kitchen God is not a god that mediums channel, any other Heavenly god should be able to help you bless the items that you will use to worship him. Consult whichever reputable temples or sintuas that might be present in your area.

Incense or candles, while traditional, are not an absolute must for worship. What matters more than anything else is that you possess deep faith and a virtuous heart, which will more than suffice. Simply placing offerings before the Kitchen God's picture will be fine.

I have never before heard of a '马路将军'.

Ma Zhu the sea goddess (see below) is the traditional patron of travelers, although she is primarily associated with sea travel or travel across water.

Alternatively, you may install in your vehicle a statue of whichever deity you regard as your special patron, as a protective item. A talisman issued by them will also do just fine.

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

These are not the Five Ghosts, JunJun. Not at all.

The Wu Lu Cai Shen/五路财神 or Five Directional Gods of Wealth ('路' in this context refers to 'direction' or 'path', not a literal 'road' or 'highway') are a five-man Wealth God team, who correspond to the five cardinal directions, in a manner similar to the Five Camp Commanders. Their leader is Marshal Zhao the Military Wealth God, who is the Northern Commander of the Five Camp Commanders - I have spoken about him earlier in this thread.

Below is a picture of the Five Directional Gods of Wealth, with Marshal Zhao at the top right holding his sword aloft.



The Wu Gui/五鬼 or Five Ghosties, whom I very briefly touched upon earlier, are a group of impish undead creatures who, although commonly associated with Zhong Kui the Demon-Stalker, serve as errand boys and runners for most Hell deities who are senior in rank to them, including the Black and White Brothers, Ox-Head and Horse-Face. There are multiple squads of Five Ghosts, thus creating a massive army to do Hell's bidding.

The Five Ghosts can be found in two varieties; the warrior type (first picture below) and the worker/civilian type (second picture below). They are correspondingly geared towards different types of duties, military and civil.

Sharp eyes.

The golden headband is not a tool unique to Guan Yin subduing the Monkey King, no. Similar binding items can be found throughout myths and legends in which the gods subdued formerly evil or chaotic creatures, and converted them to the cause of good.

The Five Ghosts serve the Hell deities alone, Joey. They have zero involvement with the Heavenly side of things. Heavenly gods have their own, non-undead/non-ghostly helpers.

That being said, you have the right idea; they are assistants both soldierly and clerical, who also do things like shine their masters' shoes and make their tea.