7/20/2017 4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?

W A T H ? Search this site

Table of Contents
Home
4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs
1 - Hmong Timeline
2 - 18 Hmong
Surnames/Clans
3 - General Vang, Pao
Top Ten Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs
4 - Hmong Traditional
Cultural Beliefs
5 - Hmong
Embroidery/Paj Ntaub
Citations
1.
Format & Organization Hmong traditionally believe animism and this is used widely in the Hmong religion. This is to believe
Justification that everything has a soul or spirit, every living being to natural objects. The Hmong also believe there is a
Rhetorical Explanation superior being that created all of these living beings; He is responsible for all of the living beings and the
Sitemap
spirits inherited in each being. The spiritual world coexist with the physical world which can influence
human life due to the multiple spirits that exist in this world [8].

2. Shamanism

Shamanism is the traditional belief of the Hmong. Shamanism consist of a Shaman, which are human
beings, that travel between the visible and the spirit worlds through ritual practices and conducted for
purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events [8]. The Hmong Shaman also known in
Hmong as, Txiv Neeb, is the traditional healer that cannot not be studied or passed on to one another but is
chosen from healing spirits call "Dab Neeb." These spirits chose their host by causing illnesses and
examples are intolerable foods, fatigue, weakness and more. Shamans are all different and hold a different
level of healing power and some specialize in certain fields of illness. Hmong Shamans are roughly capable

https://sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4 1/7
7/20/2017 4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?
of mending to most kinds of sickness. Shamans also diagnose and refer patients to other sources if they are
unable to cure the patient. Shamans to be able to go from the physical world to the spirit world, Shamans
needs the following: The gong "nruas," the rattle "txiab neeb," the buffalo horn "kuam," the rattle rings
"tswb neeb," the sword "riam neeb," a hat of red of black clothes, a bowl of holy (shaman) water, a bowl of
uncooked rice for incense base, a few dozen incense sticks, and a bowl of uncooked rice with eggs [4].

3. Human Souls

Hmong souls are differentiated from spirits and are the spiritual energy inside a person's body, believed
to live inside of the human body in the physical world. It is said people have 12 souls - the three major ones
are the reincarnation soul, the residing soul and the wandering soul. The reincarnation soul leaves the body
at death and is reborn in another being's body. The residing soul stays with the body as it break down and
becomes the ancestral spirit that descendants revere and pay homage to. The wandering soul leaves the
body during dreams or to play with other souls or spirits. If frightened, the wandering soul may be lost in
the spirit world. At death, the wandering soul leaves returns to the spirit world and continues to live life
there much as it did in the physical world [8].

4. Ancestral spirits

https://sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4 2/7
7/20/2017 4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?

Ancestral spirits play a role in their descendants. Each Hmong family has a group of ancestor spirits,
which belong to the father's of the husband's side of the family. From time to time the ancestor spirits are
in great need of certain things from the descendants' family to be used or spent in the spiritual world by
causing illness in a member of the family.To make appropriate diagnosis a shaman or diagnostician must
be called in and begin a ritual of animal sacrifice to be offer to the ancestor spirits [4]. If a request is fulfill,
they will protect the descendants from illness and natural disasters. Variations in rituals are found in the
practices among different clans and lineages and are passed down from generation to generation through
oral tradition [8]. About once a year around November is when the Hmong call in their ancestors to come
eat with the family and this is to pay respect and give thanks to their ancestors.

5. House Spirits

Hmong people used this paper money decorated with boats and smaller paper money that is cut into a
tangling design which are hung on the sides. There are chicken blood which are dabbed onto the paper
money and there are chicken feather plucked and stick onto the chicken blood. This is the house spirit alter
that Hmong people honor. It is said that there are six house spirits who plays important roll in the house in
guarding the individual person's souls and spirits and while fending off any outside spirits. The spirits of
the of fire or stove and the spirit of the kitchen, which is the middle floor, and it helps protect every
member of the entire family from harm or misfortune. The ancestor spirits live in the central pillar and
defends any evil against the households. The spirit of wealth and prosperity live in the middle back wall of
the house and protects the entire household with every member of the family. The spirit of the marital
bedroom lives in a gourd in the bedroom and the gourd needs to be kept clean and it protects and produce
the animal of the family [4].

6. Wild Spirits and Lost Souls

https://sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4 3/7
7/20/2017 4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?

Hmong believe that there is spirit everywhere and in everything. To define wild spirits, wild spirits are
spirits that dwell in trees, rocks, streams, and other places of nature [9]. Calls and offerings are made to
these spirits to provide protection in any major undertaking or agricultural work and trade. Hmong people
believes that crops, domestic animals, silver, gold, and money also have souls; and if people can attract
these souls to come live with them then they will prosper [9]. Due to these belief, Hmong people tend to
offer a lot of paper money to nature spirits of the site that they live in or plan to do something with, so they
will not interfere with the spirits living in the area and so they will prosper with their crop or business.
There are nature spirits that controls their properties like hills, mountains, trees, rivers, caves, animals, and
its kingdom. Nature spirits do not harm humans unless it is offended, can cause illness to the offender or
even the family members. There are also evil spirits and they are believed to live everywhere, especially in
uninhabited areas such as forests and jungles. When these evil spirits get offended they will attack the
perpetrator and cause acute pain, violent pain, sickness and death. When this does happen, powerful
Hmong Shaman, Tamed Spirit Masters can deal with these problems, and treatments are usually fighting
off the evil spirits, instead of appeasing it with ritual and sacrifice. Hmong believe that each person has
twelve souls - three major souls and nine shadow souls-united in the body. The more souls lost and the
longer they are lost, the sicker the person will be. The souls can be lost in any way from fear, depression,
trauma, kidnapped by evil spirits, a long trip, and simply getting lost. Calling the soul back ranges from
different ceremonies in complexity to simple soul callers [4]. As you can see, hu plig is where a shaman,
with his spirit healers, along with a gong and a buffalo horn, he will call back the lost soul.

7. Tamed Spirit Masters

https://sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4 4/7
7/20/2017 4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?

In Hmong it is called Txiv Khawv Koob, and this is also known as Black Magic. These spirit masters are
able to tame such spirits that help them to do anything possible. There are two kind of spirit masters, the
good and the bad. To start off with the good spirit master, they are more of healers to the people. These
spirit healers have similar powers in removing foreign objects from the body that cause illness, stop blood
flow from a fresh cut or wound or nose bleeding, healing broken bones, fire burn, speeding up labor and
delivery, and removing various aches and pains [4]. One downfall is these good spirit healers are not able to
fend off attacks from tamed evil spirits, cannot insert foreign objects into victims, nor posses the power to
cause illness in others with spirits. They are only able to cure one another.
The Tamed Evil-Spirit Master can cause illness as well as cure the illness and undo anyone that is under
attack by other Tamed Evil-Spirit Masters. This spirit master can remove and insert objects from and into a
person's body. The foreign objects cause various types of acute pains and illnesses and eventually death.
The tamed evil-spirit masters are feared by the Hmong society so they keep their skills a secret [4].

8. Gender Role

The gender roles in the Hmong culture has a big uneven gap of respect. Traditional Hmong culture,
Hmong women are put lower than Hmong men. Men have a higher status in public because they are the
head of the family and they take care of household events, making important decisions with the clan,
performing rituals, and calling the names of ancestors during occasions like New Year, weddings,

https://sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4 5/7
7/20/2017 4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?
christening, new harvest, family feast, invoking the dead and more. The women tend to stay home but they
are the leader at home, performing all tasks that needs to be done like: cooking, cleaning, raising children,
and not going to school but work at home. The women are hardworking and are the leaders at home [8].

9. Life and Death Cycle

When an person dies, the bodies is traditionally kept inside the house for five to ten days. The body must be
kept in the house until relatives and the deceased's family arrive. The funeral of a person traditionally last five
days including speeches, drumming, hours-long chants to guide spirits home to heaven, and ritualized crying
a way of declaring love for the person [8]. Back in the days there are a lot of things that was done that is now
different in America. The Hmong also believes that it is important to return back to the deceases's hometown,
from where he/she belong so they can reincarnate. Hmong believe that each person carries a visa from God,
and this is like a time card that determines the length of a person's stay on Earth. Deaths are usually meant
that their visa has expired. To restore a person's visa, a shaman have to perform ritual of trance or
incarnation, make negotiations to extend or renew the visa, and offer animal sacrifices, restore supplies and
goods by the family members [4].

10. Karma

Karma is a strong belief in the Hmong culture. Which is why we believe we should always do good deeds
to receive good deeds in life. Karma is strongly believed all across Asia but Hmong believes that souls
return to earth each time after time, and life on earth is designated by luck, and by karma. It is said that
people born with birth defects, mental retardation, handicaps, and chronic illnesses are often regarded as
paying for sins committed in past lives [4].

https://sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4 6/7
7/20/2017 4 - Hmong Traditional Cultural Beliefs - Who Are The Hmong?

Report Abuse | Powered By Google Sites

https://sites.google.com/site/whoarethehmongs/4 7/7