For additional information:
Karen Fjelstad and Nguyen Thi Hien Spirits Without Borders: Vietnamese Spirit Mediums in a Transnational Age. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2011
Barley Norton Songs for the Spirits: Music and Mediums in Modern Vietnam. Chicago: University of Illinois Press 2009.
The ladies incarnate the ethnic minorities who live in the highlands of Vietnam. They come from the Palace of the Mountains and Forests, and the Lady in Green has her temple in Lang Son province in northern Vietnam. She is identified as belonging to the Nùng people, but the various costumes worn by mediums who incarnate her vary widely and interpret her ethnic costume in many creative ways. All of them wear heavy silver jewelry, embroidered headdresses, and dance to lively, rhythmic music. Members of the audience usually clap as they dance and for the Sixth Lady they may even get up to join in. Audience participation is much higher with these more relaxed, playful and even raucous spirits. The medium incarnating the Sixth Lady chews betel nut to feel the fresh, invigorating taste of rural life.