So, I've been really lazy about blog posts, mainly because I've had to do a lot more research type things than in previous weeks. Anyway, here are some pictures from some places I visited last week, including the famous Snake Temple!
Here we have the main altar of the Snake Temple. Dr. Lye had connections with the Hokkien Kongsi, which is the organization that governs most of the temples in Penang, so we got a personalized tour of sorts. The crazy thing about this temple, which is colloquially called Hock Hin Keong, is that there are live pit vipers throughout the temple and...well, their movement isn't really restricted at all. So, you end up finding snakes in unexpected places.
Like the walls....
And on potted plants.....but actually, there were a lot less snakes than I expected. Apparently, back in the day, the temple used to be situated in a pretty rural area so there were a lot more snakes in the surrounding swamp. But, as development increased, the snake population did too so most of the snakes in the temple were born in their "breeding pit" (which is basically just an undeveloped section of land). I only saw about probably 13 different snakes in the actual temple or so, but it was probably less. Also, all of the snakes in the temple now at least are pit vipers which are venomous. There were signs all over the temple that said things like "Don't let the pit vipes kiss your finger....it may be your last kiss." Though this warning was puzzling, it was pretty obvious you didn't want to mess with the snakes. I mean, just look at the mean mug on that guy.
I also learned that the Chinese go ALL OUT when it comes to incense. As this sign demonstrates, there are joss sticks (i.e. massive incense sticks) that are over four feet tall. I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple that are over 10 feet. That is a lot of incense and a lot of smoke. They're pretty impressive to see. Apparently, at the snake temple, they had to greatly limit the amount of incense offered in general because the smoke was killing off snakes :(. That actually made visiting the snake temple pretty nice as it was one of the few temples not totally filled with smoke and covered in dust (you almost always have to take off your shoes to enter the temples so all that dust can make your feet feel pretty nasty after a while)
And finally, a nice tourist-y picture of my outside the snake temple, in all of its glory.
So after the Snake Temple, we went to a couple of other temples until we arrived at Seng Ong Beow, or the City God Temple. Though the name City God Temple sounds more or less pretty innocent, this place is basically the temple of the underworld. And being the temple of the underworld temple, that means that the First and Second Uncles are going to be there. And they most assuredly were and their effigies were a LOT BIGGER than they had been anywhere else. Also, here they are offered real opium every morning and evening and they also have an entourage of "minions" who also have statues. These guys kind of resemble the minions who work for the bad guys in the Adam West Batman TV show, but are definitely way creepier...maybe because they're covered in dried opium and have deranged smiles....that might have something to do with it.
Also, the effigy of the Second Uncle was very different than it usually is. And as much as I shouldn't say it, it's also a lot more hilarious looking. This guy kind of looks like a Chinese Danny Devito and the fact he's wearing a bib doesn't help his cause. Aside from this, however, the reason he looks so different than usual is because this is how he was originally supposed to look as this is the oldest image of the Second Uncle in Penang (Seng Ong Beow is the oldest temple where the Uncles have been established). This brings up one of the main components of my research, which is determining why these guys are starting to appear all over Penang and how people's perceptions of them are changing with their increasing prevalence. 
So in order to learn more about how people's views are changing, I obviously have to talk to....well, people. The guy I'm interviewing in this picture is the Daoist priest in charge of Seng Ong Beow and he had lots of great information about the way people "traditionally" viewed the Uncles. However, I'm beginning to notice how the people I'm talking to at the newer temples generally view the Uncles as really great gods, claiming that they serve higher positions and esteem than the "traditional" viewpoint. It's interesting stuff and I'll add more about the trends I'm noticing, etc when I start working on the paper (which may very well occur back in the States)
So this same day (last Friday), we went out to lunch with this really well-known business guy Dr. Lye knows through various connections. This guy was clearly a big deal. He had an entourage and, from my understanding, was basically the Donald Trump of Penang. He also has two wives, so I'm pretty sure that makes him the closest thing I've seen to a bro since I've been here. I felt super epic eating noms with this guy and afterwards we went back to his epic house which can see the inside of above. We also had awesome snacks and coffee and I had a really interesting conversation with one of guys in the businessman's entourage. We talked about everything from the nature of religious practice and experience and the supernatural to global politics and what it's like growing up in America. So, overall, this was a pretty awesome day. I'll be putting up a couple posts up soon including one about my visit to the awesome butterfly farm and some more about spirit mediums and my research.
Here we have the main altar of the Snake Temple. Dr. Lye had connections with the Hokkien Kongsi, which is the organization that governs most of the temples in Penang, so we got a personalized tour of sorts. The crazy thing about this temple, which is colloquially called Hock Hin Keong, is that there are live pit vipers throughout the temple and...well, their movement isn't really restricted at all. So, you end up finding snakes in unexpected places.
Like the walls....
And on potted plants.....but actually, there were a lot less snakes than I expected. Apparently, back in the day, the temple used to be situated in a pretty rural area so there were a lot more snakes in the surrounding swamp. But, as development increased, the snake population did too so most of the snakes in the temple were born in their "breeding pit" (which is basically just an undeveloped section of land). I only saw about probably 13 different snakes in the actual temple or so, but it was probably less. Also, all of the snakes in the temple now at least are pit vipers which are venomous. There were signs all over the temple that said things like "Don't let the pit vipes kiss your finger....it may be your last kiss." Though this warning was puzzling, it was pretty obvious you didn't want to mess with the snakes. I mean, just look at the mean mug on that guy.
I also learned that the Chinese go ALL OUT when it comes to incense. As this sign demonstrates, there are joss sticks (i.e. massive incense sticks) that are over four feet tall. I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple that are over 10 feet. That is a lot of incense and a lot of smoke. They're pretty impressive to see. Apparently, at the snake temple, they had to greatly limit the amount of incense offered in general because the smoke was killing off snakes :(. That actually made visiting the snake temple pretty nice as it was one of the few temples not totally filled with smoke and covered in dust (you almost always have to take off your shoes to enter the temples so all that dust can make your feet feel pretty nasty after a while)
And finally, a nice tourist-y picture of my outside the snake temple, in all of its glory.
So after the Snake Temple, we went to a couple of other temples until we arrived at Seng Ong Beow, or the City God Temple. Though the name City God Temple sounds more or less pretty innocent, this place is basically the temple of the underworld. And being the temple of the underworld temple, that means that the First and Second Uncles are going to be there. And they most assuredly were and their effigies were a LOT BIGGER than they had been anywhere else. Also, here they are offered real opium every morning and evening and they also have an entourage of "minions" who also have statues. These guys kind of resemble the minions who work for the bad guys in the Adam West Batman TV show, but are definitely way creepier...maybe because they're covered in dried opium and have deranged smiles....that might have something to do with it.
Also, the effigy of the Second Uncle was very different than it usually is. And as much as I shouldn't say it, it's also a lot more hilarious looking. This guy kind of looks like a Chinese Danny Devito and the fact he's wearing a bib doesn't help his cause. Aside from this, however, the reason he looks so different than usual is because this is how he was originally supposed to look as this is the oldest image of the Second Uncle in Penang (Seng Ong Beow is the oldest temple where the Uncles have been established). This brings up one of the main components of my research, which is determining why these guys are starting to appear all over Penang and how people's perceptions of them are changing with their increasing prevalence. 
So in order to learn more about how people's views are changing, I obviously have to talk to....well, people. The guy I'm interviewing in this picture is the Daoist priest in charge of Seng Ong Beow and he had lots of great information about the way people "traditionally" viewed the Uncles. However, I'm beginning to notice how the people I'm talking to at the newer temples generally view the Uncles as really great gods, claiming that they serve higher positions and esteem than the "traditional" viewpoint. It's interesting stuff and I'll add more about the trends I'm noticing, etc when I start working on the paper (which may very well occur back in the States)
So this same day (last Friday), we went out to lunch with this really well-known business guy Dr. Lye knows through various connections. This guy was clearly a big deal. He had an entourage and, from my understanding, was basically the Donald Trump of Penang. He also has two wives, so I'm pretty sure that makes him the closest thing I've seen to a bro since I've been here. I felt super epic eating noms with this guy and afterwards we went back to his epic house which can see the inside of above. We also had awesome snacks and coffee and I had a really interesting conversation with one of guys in the businessman's entourage. We talked about everything from the nature of religious practice and experience and the supernatural to global politics and what it's like growing up in America. So, overall, this was a pretty awesome day. I'll be putting up a couple posts up soon including one about my visit to the awesome butterfly farm and some more about spirit mediums and my research.
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