The Basket Deity that loves Mooncake

• Main Author: Chai, Elena Gregoria Chin Fern
• Format: Newspaper Cutting
• Language: English
• Published: New Sarawak Tribune 2021
• Subjects: GN Anthropology
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/36347/1/index.html; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/36347/; https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/the-basket-deity-that-loves-mooncake/

Across the border in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, the Mooncake Festival is often associated with the seance of the Basket Deity or Coi Lam Sin in the Hakka dialect. Coi Lam means ‘vegetable basket’ while Sin means ‘deity’.The seance of the Basket Deity is popular among non-Chinese; hence, the name Datok Bakol. The seance or divination usually takes place at two locations. The seance involving a deity is held within the confines of Chinese tokong (temples) or in front of open altars while the one that involves a spirit can be held anywhere. The former involves the summoning of a deity into a ‘basket’ while the latter involves the invocation of spirits to communicate through the basket. It is like a spirit possession but in a basket. For those who know the European Oujia board, it is a method of communication with the supernatural world.