How to talk to the dead explained by a Chinese spirit medium in Hong Kong
- Ahead of the Hungry Ghost Festival, we talk to a self-proclaimed medium who says he channels Buddha and other deities to contact spirits
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Hungry Ghost Festival: what do you do if you bump into a 'spiritual friend' in Hong Kong?
Scary-looking people who burn candles and Chinese runes, throw rice to feed hungry ghosts, and ask ghosts to possess them: these are some of the images of Chinese mediums popularised by Hong Kong films such as 1993’s Thou Shalt Not Swear.
“It’s really not like in the films,” says Lawrence Leung, a self-proclaimed medium who says he can contact spirits.
“There are a lot of ways to communicate with the dead and how you do it depends on how your sixth sense for the afterlife develops through training. As a medium, I don’t directly contact ghosts or dead people, I actually channel Buddha and other deities more.
“Like, now it’s the seventh month of the lunar calendar” – when, according to Chinese tradition, the gates of hell open and spirits roam the human plane – “and people might want to get in touch with their loved ones who have passed away.
“There are a lot of factors as to whether we can get in touch with spirits in the afterlife. If they’ve reincarnated or are in hell, then we can’t.
