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<\/a>W<\/strong><\/span><\/em>hen one talks about Hmong, the topic of spirituality and shamanism easily comes to mind. In the West, the spirit is often referred to as the soul, and it is common for people to believe that every human being has a soul. Yet, the Hmong believe that each of us has either three or five souls (according to different opinions). Some Hmong believe that one soul occupies the head area, one the region of the torso, and one the lower body or the leg area. Other Hmong believe that a person has five souls; each of them named after an object in nature: reindeer, running bull, chicken, growing bamboo, and shadow.<\/span><\/p>\nIn any case, according to Hmong tradition, these souls usually act in harmony, produce a happy and healthy life for the human being. However, when one of these souls begins to exhibit a lack of harmony with the others, troubles would follow, and life may become unpleasant and difficult. Indeed, illness may be the result of this spiritual discord, and in extreme cases, it may lead to death. Thus, the harmony of a Hmong\u2019s souls is vital, and when this harmony is disarrayed or lost, it must be restored promptly and correctly.<\/p>\n
The Hmong believe that one or more souls may sometimes not only fall out of harmony with the others, but it may also decide to leave the body altogether and go elsewhere. This \u201csoul loss,\u201d or poob plig<\/em>, as it is called in the Hmong language, is a dire and serious situation that requires urgent measures to call the straying soul back. These activities are collectively known as \u201csoul calling,\u201d or hu plig<\/em>. The missing soul may have wandered away to someplace nearby, or it may have wandered far \u2013 even to the spirit world, a place similar to our world, but inhabited by spirits and other disembodied beings. In such a case, calling back the soul may be problematic.\u00a0<\/span>This soul calling, which sounds difficult if not unfathomable to some notwithstanding, is a fairly common ceremony among all Hmong at an early age. \u00a0It is usually performed by an elderly person, a Hmong shaman, or another variety of medical professional or healer. Although it is required when an individual falls ill, soul calling may be performed to prevent illness and promote good health as well. In addition, the ceremony is performed at auspicious occasions, the Hmong New Year celebration (for the entire family), three days after the birth of every new Hmong baby (for the infant), the third day after the wedding (the new couple), and may even for a family member who is about to undertake a long journey or who has just arrived home from such a journey<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider admin_label=”Divider” color=”#000000″ show_divider=”on” divider_style=”solid” divider_position=”top” hide_on_mobile=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”justified” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n A shaman is a spiritual healer. While it is more common for a man to become a shaman, both men and women may assume the role. Certainly, the shaman is one of the most important members of Hmong society, and there are several different categories of shaman. All of these, however, fall into two main types.<\/p>\n The first of these, the traditional Hmong shaman (neeb muag dawb<\/em>), is selected by circumstance, fate, or destiny. In fact, no one may become this sort of shaman simply by his or her own choice. On the contrary, it is the residents of the spirit world who will make the selection. For the most part, this is accomplished by rendering him (or her) ill and refusing to allow the person to get well until he or she agrees to become a shaman. If he or she does not oblige, the illness will continue an become more serious. Accordingly, the person realizes it is his or her destiny to become a shaman and thus will have no choice except to begin the apprenticeship and training. When a shaman performs healing ceremonies, he or she will always go into trance; a kind of mixture of sleep and wakefulness.<\/p>\n The second, and more recent, type of shaman (neeb muag dub<\/em>) assumes this career merely by desiring to do so. Such shamans, after their training is complete, can begin the work, which will not necessarily enter a trance state in order to perform their duties. Although it would seem that, in some sense, a shaman who has been selected by the spirits for his or her qualifications of temperament and character might be superior to the other variety, either of these two types of shaman can be expected to be capable of diagnosing and treating illness.<\/p>\n The Hmong shamans, thus, in their role of healer, are responsible for two things: first, the shaman must join the patient in the fight for life and health; and, second, the shaman must restore the wholeness of the patient\u2019s self by bringing back the patient\u2019s wandering soul or souls. The shamans thus take responsibility for their clan\u2019s physical and spiritual well-being as they serve as a bridge between this material world and the spiritual world.<\/p>\n It is clear, then, that the clan\u2019s shaman is a very important person. Yet, there is still more a shaman can do. The shaman may also perform other valuable functions both at weddings and at funerals. By custom, if a shaman engages in these ritual activities, he or she must have additional qualifications beyond those required for the performance of these rites, including singing, playing certain musical interludes, and performing specialized tasks at the funeral, which, have to be learned from an expert and experienced shaman mentor.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider admin_label=”Divider” color=”#000000″ show_divider=”on” divider_style=”solid” divider_position=”top” hide_on_mobile=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Cha, Dia, Mai Zong Vue, and Steve Carmen. Field Guide to Hmong Culture<\/em>. Madison, WI:\u00a0Madison Children Museum, 2004.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider admin_label=”Divider” color=”#000000″ show_divider=”off” divider_style=”solid” divider_position=”top” hide_on_mobile=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When one talks about Hmong, the topic of spirituality and shamanism easily comes to mind. In the West, the spirit is often referred to as the soul, and it is common for people to believe that every human being has a soul. Yet, the Hmong believe that each of us has either three or five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1490,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" When one talks about Hmong, the topic of spirituality and shamansm easily comes to mind. In the West, the spirit is often referred to as the soul, and, it is common for people to believe that every human being has a soul. Yet, the Hmong believe that each of us has either three or five souls (according to different opinions). Some Hmong believe that one soul occupies the head area, one the region of the torso, and one the leg area. Other Hmong believe that a person has five souls; each of them named after an object in nature: reindeer, running bull, chicken, growing bamboo, and shadow.<\/span><\/p> In any case, according to Hmong tradition these souls, acting in harmony, produce a happy, healthy life. However, when even one of these souls begins to exhibit a lack of harmony with the others, trouble follows and life may become unpleasant and unhappy. Indeed, illness may be the result, and even,in extreme cases, death. Thus, we can see that the harmony of a Hmong\u2019s souls is very important, and when this harmony is lost it must be restored quickly.<\/p> Calling the Soul<\/b><\/p> In fact, the Hmong believe that one or more souls may sometimes not only fall out of harmony with the others, it may even decide to leave the body altogether and go elsewhere. This \u201csoul loss,\u201d or poob plig, as it is called in the Hmong language, is a serious situation and requires measures to call the straying soul back. These measures are collectively known as \u201csoul calling,\u201d or hu plig. The missing soul may have wandered away to someplace nearby, or it may have wandered far \u2013 even to the spirit world, a place similar to our world, but inhabited by spirits and other disembodied beings. In such a case, calling back the soul may be a problem. <\/span><\/p> This soul calling, although it sounds very difficult, is, in fact, a fairly common ceremony with which all Hmong become familiar at an early age. Although required when an individual falls ill, soul calling may also be performed to prevent illness and promote good health; a soul calling is performed three days<\/p> after the birth of every new Hmong baby. In addition, at the time of the Hmong New Year celebration, a soul calling ceremony is performed for the entire family. A soul calling ceremony will be held for a newlywed couple on the third day after their union, and may even be performed for a family member who is about to undertake a long journey or who has just arrived home from such a journey. When a Hmong is ill, however, or has fallen, or merely become frightened, a soul calling ceremony is most often performed. For that matter, in any instance in which it is felt the individual may have lost one or more of his souls (sometimes even without knowing it!) a soul calling ceremony will be performed. This ceremony may be performed by any individual who is not shy and knows the method; however, it is usually performed by an elderly person, by a Hmong shaman, or by another variety of medical professional or healer.<\/span><\/p> Back From Where?<\/b><\/p> Yet, wherever the wandering spirit has gone, it is never very far away in the usual way we understand the word far. Although we could walk for many days, or even months, and never arrive there, the Hmong believe that the spirit world is nearby for that rare individual, the Hmong shaman, who can see it. This shaman lives with us in this world, which is called by the Hmong the yaj ceeb, while still being able, in certain circumstances, to see into the\u00a0<\/span>spirit world, or yeeb ceeb. As the result of our own experience and our classes in school, we all know a great deal about this world in which we live, the yaj ceeb. But what about the spirit world, or yeeb ceeb; what do we know about that? <\/span><\/p> Most of what we know about the yeeb ceeb comes to us from the insights, experiences, and visions of the Hmong shamans down through the centuries. The Hmong believe that the spirit world is the home of those who once lived here on earth, but who, after growing very old \u2013 or, in some cases, after a severe illness or accident, or due to war \u2013 departed to live in a world made only of pure energy, or light, or spirit. These departed ones are referred to as spirits, or, in the Hmong language, as dab, and in their world they live in the company both of other spirits who arrived in the same manner and of spirits who never lived on earth, and who are much greater and more powerful than they. Sometimes referred to as Great Spirits, or gods, these others have been given the task of watching over the welfare of those who, like ourselves, live on earth.<\/p> The Shaman\u00a0<\/b>(Tus Ua Neeb)<\/b><\/p> A shaman is a spiritual healer. While it is most common for a man to become such a shaman, both men and women may do so. Certainly, the shaman is one of the most important members of Hmong society, and there are several different categories of shaman. All of these, however, fall into two main types.<\/span><\/p> The first of these, the traditional Hmong shaman (neeb muag dawb), is selected by circumstance, fate, or destiny. In fact, no one may become this sort of shaman simply by choosing to do so. On the contrary, it is the residents of the spirit world who will make the selection. For the most part, this is accomplished by rendering him ill and refusing to allow him to get well until he agrees to become a shaman. In this way, he realizes it is his destiny to become a shaman, and he will have no choice except to begin his apprenticeship and training. If he does not, his illness will continue on and on. When a shaman so selected and so coerced performs healing ceremonies, he will always go into trance; a kind of mixture of sleep and wakefulness. <\/span>The second, and more recent, type of shaman (neeb muag dub) assumes this career merely by desiring to do so. Such a shaman, after his training is complete and he has begun his work, will not necessarily enter a trance state in order to perform his duties. Although it would seem that, in some sense, a shaman who has been selected by the spirits for his qualifications of temperament and character might be superior to the other variety, either of these two types of shaman can be expected to be capable of diagnosing and treating illness. More Work for the Shaman (Tus Ua Neeb)<\/b><\/p> It is clear, then, that the clan\u2019s shaman is a very important person. But there is still more he can do. The shaman may also perform many valuable functions both at weddings and at funerals. By custom, if a shaman engages in these ritual activities, he must have additional qualifications beyond those required for the performance of other rites. All of these qualifications \u2013 singing, playing certain musical interludes, performing specialized tasks at the funeral, and so on \u2013 have to be learned from an expert. <\/span><\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-644","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":767,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/644\/revisions\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/hmg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The Hmong shaman, thus, in his role of healer, is responsible for two things: first, he must join the patient in the fight for life and health; and, second, he must restore the wholeness of the patient\u2019s self by bringing back the patient\u2019s wandering soul or souls. The shaman thus takes responsibility for his clan\u2019s physical and spiritual well-being as he serves as a bridge between this material world and the spiritual world. <\/span><\/p>