Festival in the deep forest

(Baonghean) - Offering to the fields is an indispensable ritual for people who cultivate rice in the highlands. For the Khmu community in Ky Son and Tuong Duong, the offering to the fields takes place before the harvest season begins.

I have heard the elders in Bao Thang commune (Ky Son) tell about the custom of worshipping the fields. It is a strange and interesting ritual when the festival atmosphere takes place right in the fields. This is a day dedicated to the gods for people to show their respect and ask for their blessings and wishes for health and prosperity.

Prepare the altar

The stories of customs urged me to return to the village during the rice harvest season. Passing through Minh Thanh village, Luong Minh commune (Tuong Duong), I met a friend named Lo Van Na who told me that in the forest on Pu Mat mountain bordering Luong Minh commune and 3 communes of Ky Son district, Bao Thang, Chieu Luu and Muong Long, there would be a field worship ceremony the next day. The master of the ceremony was shaman Cut Van Huong from Cham Puong village, Luong Minh commune. This 70-year-old man would perform the ceremony for 5 families who farmed in Pu Mat. They lived in 2 communes, Luong Minh and Bao Thang. These areas were in 2 different districts but shared the same farming area.

To get to the place where the ceremony was held, we had to ask for help from the officials of Bao Thang commune. Vice Chairman Moong Van Loi and Mr. Lo Van Xoai, the commune’s cultural officer, enthusiastically accepted. At 6:30 a.m., we set off together.

Getting to the fields in Pu Mat Mountain was a difficult feat. The mountain slopes seemed to want to go up forever. The road led us through dozens of slopes, bamboo forests, reed forests and rice fields… After nearly 2 hours of climbing and descending the pass, I had to rely on the support of a stick to continue the journey.

While crossing the forest, Mr. Moong Van Loi explained to me the names of each hill and forest area. The grassy hill where we stopped to rest was called Cau Ta. In the past, during the war, the villagers concentrated on working on the same field, so it was very large. The field was planted with 900 kg of rice seeds, so it was called Cau Ta (900 kg). Passing Cau Ta hill, we came across a new field, the rice was almost ripe, waiting for the harvest day.

From the hut guarding the fields, I heard the sound of dogs barking. I was secretly happy because I thought I had arrived and was about to rest. However, the cultural officer of the commune said that we had to cross another hill to get there. Now the forests in Bao Thang have been planned to have upstream forests and forbidden forests to protect the water source. People are only allowed to clear their fields in certain areas. That is why people have to go far away to work on their fields. Mr. Loi shared: Those who have fields far away must leave the harvest in warehouses in the forest, and some people do not even carry it home. The fields are too far away, so the rice is only used for raising livestock or when they have to stay on the fields for a long time.

When our legs felt like they were about to leave our knees, we arrived at the hut where the ceremony was being held. The owner was Mr. Moong Van Binh from Cha Ca 1 village, Bao Thang commune. It was almost 9am. While waiting for the shaman who was on his way to the field, people prepared two offering platforms, one high and one lower. Both were made of bamboo and reed. On each platform, people tied 12 rings woven from reed and the plumpest rice grains hanging down on the offering rack. Four chickens were tied at the foot of the platform. Fabrics, clothes, skirts and headscarves were displayed on the platform. One of the group explained that they were not allowed to slaughter the chickens at this time because they had to wait for the permission of the gods.

The shaman invited the gods to eat rice.

The shaman arrived and the ceremony began. Shaman Cut Van Huong said that all the prayers of the Khmu people in Luong Minh commune, Bao Thang are in Thai. The 70-year-old shaman also did not understand why the prayers of the Khmu community were in Thai.

The shaman's prayer calls the spirits of banyan trees, big and small trees, bamboo roots, farmland spirits and the souls of people who died in the forest to come back to see the offerings of the living. After the prayer calls the spirits, the shaman holds a knife and taps on two prepared bamboo sticks. With these bamboo sticks, the shaman can understand the intentions of the gods by tapping them to make them bounce up and fall to the ground like tossing a lucky coin. Shaman Huong prays: "Since all the gods have returned, let both bamboo sticks be face up or both face down." After finishing, he taps the bamboo sticks to make the two bamboo sticks bounce up and fall down. It is not until the fifth time of tapping the bamboo sticks that the bamboo sticks are both face up twice in a row. This is a sign that the gods have all returned to attend the field worship ceremony.

The shaman continues the prayer telling about the offerings from the chicken, the wine jar to the skirt, the shirt... and invites the gods to see if they are satisfied or not? Men look at the rice wine, the wine, the tobacco grown on the fields, women come back to look at the skirt, shirt, embroidered scarf... The fat chicken is carefully raised for a whole year just for the day of offering to the fields. After each prayer talking about an offering, the shaman knocks on the bamboo stick to "ask" if the gods are satisfied or not? When all the offerings are accepted by the gods, then they are allowed to slaughter the chicken and cook sticky rice. People use the meat of 3 animals: mouse, squirrel and crab to prepare the dish "moọc". When the dishes are finished, everything is placed on the altar. The shaman prays to invite the gods to eat, to enjoy each delicious dish such as boiled chicken, "moọc".

The two bamboo cards were knocked again and then fell face down, confirming that the gods had finished eating. The shaman performed the “invitation to drink wine” prayer. After that, the gods were invited to receive offerings such as skirts, scarves, and clothes. When all the offerings had been received, the shaman performed the final ritual of sending the spirits back to their places. “Whoever comes from where, please return to that place to do the work of protecting the land, blessing the crops with good harvests, and the health of people and animals,” Mr. Huong’s prayer read.

When the gods had returned to their places, the fun of the farmers really began. The sacrificial food was laid out on wild banana leaves. Bamboo tubes were used as drinking cups. The tom song from the cultural officer's phone suddenly rang out, the volume turned up to the max. After the tom song came Lam Vong songs. When they were tipsy, without anyone telling them, everyone stood up and danced around the feast. The small hut suddenly became a stage and all the farmers were actors.

Shaman Cut Van Huong shared: In a farming season, there are two main ceremonies: celebrating new rice and worshiping the fields. The worshiping ceremony is to thank the gods who control the mountains and forests. As for us, those who are lucky enough to encounter a rare happy occasion, we have very special feelings. It is probably very difficult to find such a space when the festival atmosphere takes place right in the middle of the deep forest.

Article and photos:ACTIVE