From the Medium to the Agent: Authority and Agency in Khandro Dechen Wangmo’s Prophetic Text

Through reading and translating "Prophecies and Pure Perceptions" (ལུང་བསྟན་དང་ཉམས་མྱོང་དག་སྣང་།), found in vol. 149 of the Bon Katen spanning 52 pages, by Khandro Dechen Wangmo (1868-1935?), a female Bonpo treasure revealer from Kham Nyarong, located in the current Ganzi prefecture of Sichuan Province, China, I analyze the functions of this text and the ways in which she claims authority and agency through specific literary strategies. These strategies include the juxtaposition between the Dakinis' immediate recognition of her and Khandro Dechen Wangmo's "feigned ignorance," which allows her to claim a certain authority, along with her transition from being a medium receiving prophecy from various dakinis and siddhis to the agent who gives prophecy to others. This paper also discusses writing prophecy in the face of violence committed by political and social upheaval at the time to cope with and process the misfortunes that change has brought.