The Khmu people in Nghe An worship the dead to pray for peace and luck.

A ceremony to pay respect to the Khmu people in Nghe An. Photo: Dao Tho

Pray for good luck

In Nghe An, the Khmu people live mostly in the districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong... with a total of about 40,000 people. In their spiritual beliefs, the Khmu people believe that each person has a soul. Just like the human body, the soul is sometimes weak, sometimes strong, sometimes hungry, sometimes full. Even the soul sometimes gets lost and cannot find its way back, or is even captured by spiritual forces. There are also cases where because of some unintentional wrongdoing, the soul gets angry and leaves or harms people.

In addition, the house, the kitchen, the rice plant, and even some parts of the human body have their own soul. Because of this concept, the soul covers almost every aspect of human life.

The person who suggests the homeowner to hold a soul ceremony in the Khmu community is usually a shaman. After encountering some misfortune, people come to ask and the shaman will "predict" that the soul is lost or sick and needs to be called back to eat and dress well so that the living person can be healthy. In the case of holding a soul ceremony for someone who is about to go far away or has been away from home for a long time and is returning, or someone who has just lost a relative, people do not necessarily ask the shaman, they just need to choose a good day of the month.

According to the beliefs of many ethnic minority communities in Nghe An, including the Khmu, whenever a soul encounters an accident or leaves in anger, the human body or business will not be favorable. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a ceremony to call the soul (hoong van) and keep the soul (hang van), these two ceremonies are collectively called worshiping the soul.

Offering food to the dead is a healthy spiritual activity with the meaning of praying for luck and health. The Khmu people hold offerings when someone in the family is sick for a long time and cannot recover; someone recovers after a serious illness; a relative passes away or someone who has been away for a long time returns... There are also rare cases when someone accidentally breaks into the "ghost house" kitchen, a taboo place for the Khmu people, and sometimes they will have to offer food to the dead because they will be fined by the homeowner.

Rituals in the ceremony are performed by a shaman. Photo: Dao Tho; Technique: Huu Quan

Call and keep the spirit to protect yourself and your family

A normal soul worshiping ceremony has two parts: calling the soul and keeping the soul. The shaman collects the clothes of those who need the ceremony in the family, carries them to the village entrance or a three-way intersection and prays to call the soul. The prayer asks where the soul is and what it is doing. If it is lost or angry, it should be ignored and come home to eat sticky rice and meat.

After that, the shaman returns home, while the homeowner sets out the offerings in the inner room of the house. This is also the center of the soul-keeping ceremony. The offerings usually include a chicken, sticky rice in a woven bamboo container called “ep” and wine. There is also a little rice. Wealthy families also set out silver ingots and cloth as offerings for the soul. This part is the soul-keeping ceremony.

The prayer in the spirit-keeping ceremony invites the spirit to eat meat and sticky rice and protect the human body as well as the family. While the shaman performs the ceremony, the family members sit next to the tray and whenever the shaman announces that the spirit is ready to receive the offerings, they raise the tray of food together to invite the spirit.

Photo: Dao Tho; Technique: Huu Quan

The Khmu people's soul-calling ceremony has many similarities with the Thai people's. In addition to using prayers in Thai, the concept of soul-calling is also quite similar. However, the Khmu people's soul-calling ceremony cannot be confused with other ethnic communities. While the Thai people tie black thread, the Khmu people tie white thread. While the shaman performs the ceremony, the people sitting around the offering tray also interact with the shaman. This is not present in the way the Thai community performs the soul-calling ceremony.