Mother Goddess : The Vietnamese Ceremony of Fire

Mother Goddess worship took shape in the 16th century as an alternative to Confucian ideals that cast women in passive, subordinate roles. In this religion, female deities and their spirit mediums stand at the centre of vivid ceremonies filled with fire, music, trance, and offerings. Women needed a symbol and found it in the goddess Lieu Hanh, who represents their desire for freedom, independence, and happiness.

The narrative would follow selected mediums and their communities in several regions, from the birthplace of the religion in Nam Dinh to urban temples in Hanoi and beyond. Through long nights of ceremony and the everyday presence of the religion in local life, we see how this faith gives women and their families a way to negotiate power, identity, and hope in a rapidly changing country. Modernisation, urbanisation, and social media are reshaping the practice. Once associated mainly with farmers and working class families, Mother Goddess worship now attracts civil servants and high-level officials. The religion is being revived, regulated, and commercialised at the same time, which makes this an ideal moment to document what endures, what transforms, and what may be lost.