Part 2: The New Year Begins with Thunder
After a half-century of interruption, in recent years, the New Year's Thunder Ceremony has been regularly organized by the O Du people in the village. The recognition of this ritual as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage has revived the unique cultural features of this small ethnic group, which were once thought to have been forgotten.
Content:Tien Hung - My Ha;Technique: Nam Phong • September 1, 2025
After a half-century of interruption, in recent years, the New Year's Thunder Ceremony has been regularly organized by the O Du people in the village. The recognition of this ritual as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage has revived the unique cultural features of this small ethnic group, which were once thought to have been forgotten.
In Van Mon village, Mr. Lo Van Tinh (78 years old) is not only the "archive of O Du history," a respected figure in the village, but he is also the shaman – the person who organizes the rituals in the village. Mr. Tinh says that no one among the O Du people remembers exactly when the ritual of welcoming the first thunderclap originated. They only remember that it is their most important and biggest ritual of the year.
After 50 years without holding the ceremony, Mr. Tinh is one of the few O Du people who still clearly remembers the details of this ritual. “Our Thunderclap Welcome Ceremony is similar to the Lunar New Year in the lowlands. It’s the biggest festival of the year,” Mr. Tinh said, adding that the Thunderclap Welcome Ceremony, in the O Du language, means “Cham phtrong,” associated with the worship of the thunder god. The O Du people believe that when the first thunderclap appears, a new year begins, and they then hold a ceremony to welcome the first thunderclap to express their reverence and gratitude to the gods and ancestors, and to pray for a year of favorable weather and good fortune.
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The O Du people, in the past, could be said to have a life dependent on thunder. All important matters, big or small, within the family, the clan, and even community affairs, began with the sound of thunder. Thunder meant the arrival of a new year. Thunder meant the beginning of a new planting season. The O Du people calculated the year starting from the day of the first thunderclap.
“According to the current calendar, usually around November, the thunder will stop, signaling the end of the year. After a few months without thunder, around February, sometimes as late as March, the first thunder will appear. When the first thunder is heard, the shaman will inform the community and then begin choosing an auspicious day to hold the ceremony. Usually, it's the day after the first thunder appears,” Mr. Tinh said.
Before relocating to Van Mon for resettlement, the first rituals of the New Year's thunder-welcoming ceremony were held at Mr. Tinh's grandfather's house in Xop Pot village (formerly Kim Da commune), lasting for several days. In recent years, with the revival of this ceremony, it has been condensed into just two days, with many ceremonial activities taking place at the shaman's house, in individual families, and at the community center in Van Mon village.
The ceremony begins with the shaman of the O Du people striking gongs to announce the event to the entire community. Everyone then brings their everyday items to the stream to wash them, symbolizing the cleansing of bad luck from the past year and the purification of objects in preparation for the offerings to their ancestors and deities. Afterwards, everyone returns home to prepare traditional dishes for the offerings, getting ready for the ritual ceremony.
According to the beliefs of the O Du ethnic group, the shaman holds a very important position and has a great influence on the spiritual life of the village, and is considered a messenger of the gods. Therefore, the ceremony to welcome the thunder is always held at the shaman's house first, and then other families in the village participate. To prepare for the ceremony, the shaman wakes up early in the morning to prepare his attire and necessary items. The shaman's attire usually consists of a set of coarse cloth clothing, a bronze gong, and two rattan tables for preparing the offerings. Some families in the village also prepare delicious food to bring to the shaman's house to contribute to the offerings to the gods.
“Rituals at the shaman's house usually take place in the late afternoon with customs such as worshipping ancestors inside the house, worshipping the thunder god outside, performing rituals, and tying threads around the wrists of family members. In addition to the above rituals, the shaman also performs other ceremonies such as the ceremony of conferring the shamanic profession. However, nowadays, due to the lack of apprentices, this ritual is no longer performed and is facing the risk of being lost,” said Mr. Lo Van Cuong (62 years old, Vang Mon village), adding that the ritual of welcoming the first thunder of the year is an opportunity for the O Du people to remember their ancestors, thank the deities, and pray for a peaceful year. This is the most important ritual of the year, so every family is enthusiastic about it.
According to Mr. Cuong, to prepare for the ritual of welcoming the thunder at home, family members prepare the necessary items and offerings well in advance. The offerings mainly consist of products the family produces themselves, or catch and gather from nature, closely related to their lives. The home ceremony is usually organized by the head of the family; if the family can afford it, they may invite a shaman to perform the ceremony. The ceremony concludes with a ritual of tying threads around the wrists of all family members, hoping that the gods and ancestors will bless the family with a healthy new year, free from illness and disease, and with the strength to work in the fields, fish, hunt, etc.
In addition to the main ceremonies mentioned above, depending on the family's circumstances and needs, there may be other rituals such as: The ceremony to send the soul of the deceased to their ancestors: If a family member dies before the thunder, the ceremony to send the soul to the afterlife is only performed after the thunder has sounded; The ceremony of officially introducing a newborn child to the clan and naming the child: Families with a newborn baby during the year wait until this occasion to perform the ceremony of introducing the child to the clan and naming the child.
The community's ritual of welcoming the first thunder of the year is the most important and largest-scale ceremony, demonstrating community cohesion and communal living. Previously, the O Du people would choose a sufficiently large open space in the village or by the stream to hold the ceremony. Currently, in Van Mon village, Nga My commune, the government has invested in building a community center, so the annual festival is held there. When an auspicious day is chosen, the village organizes a communal thunder-welcoming ceremony for the entire community. According to the O Du people's belief, only outdoor ceremonies can best communicate with the spirits, allowing the spirits to hear their prayers more clearly and bless them with a peaceful and healthy new year.
Previously, the O Du people did not organize processions but only performed rituals to worship the spirits in the festival grounds. Now, to meet the needs of the community, they have added a procession. The procession is quite simple, mainly consisting of O Du people from various places and people from neighboring ethnic groups. As the procession moves, they chant "O" in unison, extending the sound to invite the gods and ancestors to attend the New Year celebration. After the ceremony, the villagers and visitors eat and drink together and participate in folk games and cultural performances. During the Cham Phtrong New Year of the O Du people, the atmosphere is lively with the cheerful sounds of characteristic musical instruments such as the tung tinh lute made from bamboo. Throughout the ceremony, the O Du people and visitors immerse themselves in the music and fun, gathering in groups to walk around the ceremonial trays and using bamboo tubes to strike the ground, creating sounds like thunder. In addition, the O Du people also use pointed sticks to tap the ground, symbolizing the act of poking holes to plant seeds, with the hope of a bountiful harvest in the new year…
Mr. Lo Kham Kha, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nga My commune, believes that the O Du people's thunder-welcoming ceremony is a typical cultural heritage that needs to be preserved and protected along with the destiny of an ethnic minority group. "Therefore, including this ritual in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list is very worthy and necessary so that the ritual can be given attention, restored, preserved, and its value promoted, alongside the preservation of the customs and traditions of Vietnam's smallest ethnic minority group," Mr. Kha said.
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