The truth about curing diseases with "holy" water in Dien Lam (Dien Chau)

(Baonghean.vn) -Solving all human misfortunes, curing all diseases with just “holy water”… So is it true that miracles sometimes do not occur in any country or any realm? Based on information sent to Nghe An Newspaper via hotline about a superstitious phenomenon, we went to Nam Lam, Dien Lam Commune (Dien Chau) to meet “Saint” Dung to determine the truth.

We went to the house of “Saint” - Mrs. NTDung in Nam Lam area, Dien Lam commune but could not “meet” her two or three times. We decided to stay and wait, and listened to the people here tell many very real stories about the “sainthood” process of “Saint” D.

Mrs. NTDung is a farmer with dirty hands and feet. She used to buy scrap metal to earn extra income to cover her frugal daily life. Then she got sick with some poor family diseases. To earn money to cure her illness, she thought of learning the art of spirit possession. She never expected Mrs. Dung to be so gifted in spirit possession. Many people from far away came to burn incense at the communal house in Nam Lam, suddenly believing in her spirit possession and fortune telling, whispering false things to each other.

Rumors have turned Mrs. Dung into a “Saint”. According to local people, the most interesting thing is that she cures diseases with “holy water”… scooped up from the well! The well water is then put into small bottles, then “magically” transformed into “holy water” by her. Since becoming a “saint”, Mrs. Dung’s family has become much more prosperous. However, there is a funny story: the “saint’s” son had diarrhea, the “saint” also let the family drink the “holy water”, luckily someone took him to the hospital in time to save his life…

Mrs. Be is telling fortunes for customers.



Mrs. Be's bottles of "holy water" for healing

Ms. Tran Thi H, from Hamlet 8 Bac Lam of Dien Lam, went to see a fortune teller and was told by Mrs. Dung that there was a demon in the house and that she had to make offerings to chase it away. Hearing this, she did not believe it and did not do as Mrs. Dung said. A few days before, her husband fell ill, so Ms. H had to go see the "saint" to check her fortune. Mrs. Dung said that because she did not make offerings to chase away the demon, now it was following her, and that she needed to make offerings to ward off the bad luck immediately. At this time, Ms. H was confused and reluctantly prepared the offerings as instructed. However, after the offerings, her husband's illness got worse...

There are many people who are diagnosed by “Saint” Dung and are required to have their bad luck lifted to get rid of their illnesses and bad luck. In addition to practicing at home, Ms. Dung also goes to the homeowner’s house to perform the ceremony. The cost of each time the bad luck is lifted varies depending on the circumstances and case of each person. For farmers with dirty hands and feet, it is from 400,000 to 500,000 VND, while for “rich people”, it is from 5 to 7 million VND. As in the case of Ms. H mentioned above, after giving the “optional” offering, Saint Dung seemed to think it was too little and criticized her without hesitation.

By the time the “saint” returned, her yard was already packed with guests. Most of her guests were farmers and merchants, looking at the “saint” with reverent eyes. There were also a few girls who looked like students, she flatly refused: We don’t read love fortunes, go somewhere else.

She began the work of “removing the curse” for a person. Sitting “serving the saint”, besides the homeowner, there was also a relative of hers sitting to help ask questions. At this time, “saint Dung” looked shabby with a brown, tattered man’s shirt, just like a “spirited person”. When she read the homeowner’s name, she rolled on the mat and laughed loudly, her voice suddenly became shrill like a child’s, her arms and legs waving in the air.

- I broke everything, I broke it all.
- How long have you been following this guy?
- New, I saw him going somewhere, so I followed. I stood at the base of the rice tree.
- That's it, now give me your clothes and don't follow the mortal!
- Is it right for me?
- Have..
- Ha ha, I'm the only one making trouble, tonight I'll burn down the house...

This is a "conversation" between the "saint" and the homeowner that we heard.

The interesting thing is that in Dien Lam, besides Mrs. Dung, there is also Mrs. Be, originally from Dien Lam, who has been living in Da Nang for a long time, and now temporarily resides here to practice fortune telling and also cure diseases with "holy" water. She also uses "magic" mineral water to cure diseases, each bottle costs 50,000 VND. Ms. Nguyen Thi H, who lives in Hamlet 9, Nam Lam, has an 8-month-old child suffering from Agent Orange. Hearing rumors about Mrs. Be's healing skills, she took the trouble to go to Dien Truong, Dien Chau (where Mrs. Be moved to practice) to ask her to cure her child.

Mrs. Be said she would cure Ms. H's child for 4 million 9 hundred thousand dong. The family was in a difficult situation, so when she heard the amount of money, she was surprised and worried about where to get the money; then she boldly explained her situation to her and asked to reduce the amount and she agreed to the price of 9 hundred thousand (?). When she had her fortune told, she said that her child had acute bronchitis, not Agent Orange, and needed to be taken down for immediate treatment. Ms. H came home to take her child down, but before she could do anything, she was told to buy 29 more bottles of purified water from downstairs and pray for them, then drink them for 21 days to be cured. Listening to the "saint's" prediction, when she got home, Ms. H and her child drank the bottles of "holy" water, but after less than a week of drinking, both mother and child had to be hospitalized due to stomachache and diarrhea....

The practice of the two so-called “saints” in Dien Lam caused disorder in the village. Mr. Thai Doan Tam - Head of Dien Lam Commune Police said: “Through the work of grasping the situation and public opinion, the Commune Police coordinated with the Commune Culture Department to ban the practice of Ms. Dung and Ms. Be since the end of 2012.

As for Ms. Dung, the commune police stationed people for a month in front of the gate to analyze and persuade customers not to enter, but then when there was no police force to stop her, she continued to practice. The commune government also imposed an administrative penalty, so now she rarely stays at home but instead drives her car to the customers' houses to practice.

As for Ms. Be, she was administratively punished by the district police in mid-April 2013. She promised not to practice in Dien Lam anymore and to return to Da Nang. However, she continued to practice here and moved constantly to avoid police surveillance.

We approached to see the treatment but it was very difficult to directly talk to the two "saints" in Dien Lam. However, what we heard and saw while staying here showed that Mrs. Dung and Mrs. Be practiced superstition, if not stopped promptly and thoroughly, it would cause many serious consequences in terms of disrupting social security and possibly endangering people's lives.

According to our research, many people in Dien Lam who know about these two women are very upset. First of all, the authorities of Dien Lam commune, Dien Chau district need to collect information and evidence to take measures to handle the two superstitious practitioners mentioned above and prevent this phenomenon in the locality in the long term.

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