Unique ceremony of Thai shaman in Nghe An

Shaman Vi Minh Chau performs a ceremony to pass on his profession to his students. Photo: Huu Vi

Arriving at Hamlet 1, Nghia Duc Commune, Nghia Dan District (Nghe An) on February 28, 2019, we witnessed a rather strange spiritual ceremony. Mr. Loc Van Banh, a resident of this Thai hamlet, invited his teacher to perform a shamanic transmission ceremony.

The day before, Mr. Bang had invited his teacher to serve the party. The family also slaughtered pigs and chickens, prepared nearly ten tables of food to invite relatives on both sides to the party, to witness the end of the shaman Bang's apprenticeship.

At 60 years old, Mr. Bành has been studying shamanism for 3 years now. His “Pó khu” (teacher – Thai) is shaman Vi Minh Chau, 73 years old, from Nghia Hoi commune, Nghia Dan district. Since learning the profession, he has regularly attended his teacher’s ceremonies to learn. When he had mastered all the prayers and rituals of a real shaman, Mr. Bành was given the profession-transfer ceremony.

Mr. Loc Van Bang is Mr. Chau's 14th student. Photo: Huu Vi

Early in the morning, the ceremony began. Shaman Vi Minh Chau prepared a tray of offerings including betel, areca, rice, eggs, candle wax and 4 cups of wine. One cup of wine was to invite the spirit of his teacher to drink. The remaining cups were for the “po khù” of the person who taught him and the previous teachers. Mr. Bang was the 6th generation student and every time he practiced, he had to bring 5 cups for the teachers of the previous generation.

The offerings that shaman Chau brought "to heaven" to ask the gods to recognize his students. Photo: Xuan Thuy

Once that was done, Mr. Chau began his “trip to heaven” to ask the Thens (the names of the gods according to the Thai people’s beliefs) to recognize Mr. Bang as a shaman. According to the Thai people’s beliefs in Nghia Dan, only after being recognized by Thens can a shaman perform a ceremony.

According to this concept, if a practitioner only knows the lesson but has not been "certified" and still performs the ritual, it will easily lead to disasters caused by the "thens".

It is called going to heaven but in fact it is a prayer to visit the human world, through places such as Chin Gian Temple, Tri Le (Que Phong) then through Muong Ca Da (Thanh Hoa) and going up to Muong Troi and Muong Then. From the description of the shaman's prayer, viewers can have a picture rich in conventions about the human world as well as the spiritual world.

After arriving at Muong Then, the shaman met Po Then (God) and talked. After tossing a coin to ask if the Thens agreed, he and the other 9 Thens went down to celebrate and recognized the new shaman. From then on, Mr. Bang could perform ceremonies such as worshiping, exorcising evil spirits, and bringing the souls of the dead to Heaven...

The offerings the Then will bring back after identifying the new shaman. Photo: Xuan Thuy

At this time, another offering tray including chicken, whole pig, cloth, betel, areca, and wine is displayed for the Then to feast on and take to heaven.

After the ceremony, the teacher usually gives the student a magic scarf and a sword. Then a shaman altar will be placed next to the ancestral altar.

With this ritual, Mr. Vi Minh Chau has to sit and pray from early morning until about 3 pm. This is also a rare ritual because nowadays, there are not many people following this "profession". However, Mr. Chau shared that he has been a shaman for over 20 years and Mr. Bang is his 14th student.