The mystery of the bamboo card that 'connects' the spiritual world of the Thai shaman in Nghe An

“Contact” with the supernatural

Like many other shamans, Shaman Cut Thanh Hai, who lives in Pha Khao village, Pha Danh commune, Ky Son district, always carries a pair of bamboo cards when performing ceremonies. He may bring those bamboo cards from home, or he may cut bamboo to make them when he arrives at the ceremony location because it is extremely simple.

Shaman Cut Thanh Hai performs a ceremony to worship the fields. Photo: Huu Vi

A bamboo or rattan tube is split in half and carefully shaved. It can also be split and shortened but the green skin is not scraped off to distinguish the two different sides, like when a coin is facing up or down. This bamboo stick is related to the spiritual practice of shamans but is different in nature from fortune telling.

No matter what the ritual, shamans must worship the gods. But mortals never see the gods. Shamans are also mortals, so there is no exception, which means they cannot see the gods either. Therefore, the signal from the bamboo card helps them communicate with supernatural beings.

According to the beliefs of ethnic minority communities, the spiritual world has countless gods and spirits. The shaman often begins the ceremony by calling the names of the gods related to the ceremony.

To “check” whether all the gods have arrived, the shaman knocks two bamboo cards on a prepared piece of wood, tossing them up and down. If one card lands heads and the other tails, all the gods have arrived. If they are both heads or tails, they are not yet.

“People use phones to call each other. But we use this to call gods,” Mr. Thanh Hai picked up the bamboo card and spoke metaphorically.

Signals from the bamboo card

Two bamboo cards lying face up, showing that the gods were not satisfied. Photo: Huu Vi

Bamboo cards are often used by Thai and Khmu shamans in spiritual practices. The concept of use as well as the “signals” from bamboo cards are not very different. This is understandable because these two communities are quite close in cultural exchange.

However, bamboo cards are not the only "means of communication" for shamans with the spiritual world. Many shamans also use a bundle of chopsticks to perform rituals to "interrogate" house ghosts, forest ghosts, mountain ghosts or gods. Among them is Mr. Luong Xeo Coong, resident of Keo Luc 1 village, Pha Danh commune, Ky Son district.

Shaman Luong Xeo Coong with a bundle of chopsticks passed down from his late teacher. Photo: Huu Vi

During a chance meeting, Mr. Luong Xeo Coong showed us a tube of chopsticks passed down from his late teacher. The small chopsticks that were never used to pick up food were now shiny.

Mr. Coong, who is 85 years old this year, said he has been using these chopsticks for about half a century. Every time he performs a ceremony, the shaman Coong takes a number of chopsticks and pulls them out of the bundle. If the number of chopsticks is odd, it means the gods agree, if the number is even, it means they do not agree.

The chopsticks have been used by the shaman for more than half a century of practice. Photo: Huu Vi

Some shamans in Con Cuong district use copper-plated coins to toss on a plate during rituals. Despite this slight change, the concept of “signals” from tools such as bamboo cards or coins has not changed.

The Thai people in Con Cuong still call the act of tossing coins or tapping bamboo sticks “thìm lé”. Whether it is a bamboo stick, coin or chopstick, these are all ways for shamans to communicate with the spiritual world.