Which Spiritual Practices Are Used In Medicine By The Hmong People?

Shamanic calling and training are crucial aspects of Hmong shamanism, where shamans are chosen by spirits through a process known as shamanic calling. Healing is a central aspect of Hmong Shamanism, and shamans play a crucial role in diagnosing and treating various ailments, both physical and spiritual. Animist Hmong elders reported the importance of Shamanistic rituals such as soul calling or spiritual offering, while Christian Hmong elders believed in the power of prayers.

A small hospital in California’s Central Valley is taking a unique approach to health care, allowing spiritual shamans to perform healing ceremonies on patients in conjunction with the hospital. Over the last 25 years, Hmong people have become more familiar with Western medicine and surgery. Some animists are guided by their dab tshuaj, helping spirits to give the right medicine to cure people. Herbalists have altars called dab tshuaj, which are altars inside their homes, next to the hospital. Certain elements of Hmong healing ceremonies, like the use of gongs and finger bells, require the hospital’s permission.

Shamanism is an individual who travels between the visible and the spirit worlds through ritual practices that are conducted for. Despite 25 years of Hmong acculturation in the United States and conversion to Christianity, Hmong shamanism maintains its traditional role in health and healing. The Hmong people believe in traditional medical practices, including animistic folk healing and the healing power of shamans. They use herbal medicine to help cure illness, guided by their dab tshuaj, helping spirits to give the right medicine to cure people.

Hmong rituals include birth, marriage, death, and healing. Food plays a very important role in Shamanistic rituals, and many Hmong who see physicians also rely on shamans for restoring health and balance. Among Christian Hmong, prayer is also used to seek healing.

How rare is Hmong?

As stated in the Wikipedia entry, there are approximately five million ethnically Hmong people globally, with three million residing in China as a recognized “Miao” minority. This figure is in comparison to the 1. 3 billion Chinese, 127 million Japanese, and 75 million Korean populations.

Who is the goddess in Hmong?

The Hmong people adhere to a belief system wherein Kaying is identified as the Chinese Goddess of Mercy Guanyin. This deity was imported from Mahayana Buddhism and continues to be revered for her roles as the “Bestower of Children,” “Guardian Angel,” and “Conductor of the Dead Children.”

What is a taboo in Hmong culture?

In Hmong culture, it is considered unacceptable for a woman to become pregnant before marriage. In the event that a woman becomes pregnant outside of wedlock, her family requests that the father assume the responsibility of marrying their daughter.

What is the spirituality of the Hmong people?

The Hmong people practice a combination of animism and ancestor worship, which has significant implications for their perception of health and illness. Their cosmology is divided into yaj ceeb (the seen world of the living) and yeeb ceeb (the unseen world of spirits, including ancestral spirits). Within yaj ceeb, the animistic belief is that all natural objects have a spirit, which can have positive or negative influences. Upon birth, a human being is released into the yaj ceeb by its spiritual parents. Humans are believed to have multiple souls, with three primary souls generally agreed upon.

What traditions do Hmong people have?

The contemporary Hmong people do not subscribe to a single belief system, but they maintain traditional spiritual practices such as shamanism and ancestor veneration. These beliefs are combined with their beliefs related to health and illness. In traditional Hmong spiritual practices, the physical well-being of a person is not separated from their spiritual health, as the spiritual realm is highly influential. Everything possesses a spirit, both animate and inanimate objects.

There is a delicate balance between these two worlds, and the spirits of deceased ancestors are thought to influence the welfare and health of the living. Individuals perform rituals such as offering food, spirit money, pouring libation, and burning incense to appease the spirits and earn their favor.

The male head of the household performs rituals in honor of ancestral spirits for individual benefits, usually during Hmong New Year celebrations. They call upon the spirits of the house to protect the house. Each person has 12 parts of the soul, which must remain in harmony for health. Some parts have specific roles, with one part being reincarnated or joining a living relative or descendant after death, while the main part returns to the home of the ancestors into the spirit world and stays near the grave of the deceased.

Shamans perform soul-calling ceremonies (hu plig) when the soul has been frightened away within the community to entice the soul home with chanting and offerings of food. Rituals are usually performed to restore the health of an individual or family and call one’s wandering spirit back home.

What is the role of a shaman in Hmong Medicine?

Hmong Shamanism has four types of healers: shamans, herbalists, “magical” healers, and other healers. Shamans heal illnesses and diseases through trances, performing rituals like ua ne eb and khi tes. They are chosen by the healing spirits, who come to people to determine their status.

Herbalists, called kws tshuaj, use herbal medicine to cure illnesses, guided by their dab tshuaj helping spirits. They have altars called dab tshuaj, located next to the main household altar.

Magical healers, known as Kws khawv koob, rely on the spirit helpers called dab khawv koob to chant rituals using water, metal, and incense sticks. They can cure various ailments, including burns, broken bones, vomiting, babies’ chronic nocturnal crying, rash, and children’s fright.

In summary, Hmong Shamanism has various types of healers, including shamans, herbalists, and “magical” healers. Each type has its unique healing methods and abilities, and it is essential to understand and practice these practices to effectively heal people.

Do Hmong people practice shamanism?

Shamanism, a practice widely recognized among the Hmong people, has been practiced for generations as a means of healing and maintaining the well-being of the community.

What are healing rituals?

Ceremony is a crucial aspect of traditional Native healing, as it promotes wellness by reflecting Native conceptions of Spirit, Creator, and the Universe. These ceremonies can include prayer, chants, drumming, songs, stories, and the use of sacred objects. They are often held in sacred places, such as Medicine Lodges, and are conducted by Native healers and spiritual facilitators. Non-Natives can only participate by invitation. In contrast, Native powwows are social and cultural events that feature Native dancing, singing, drumming, regalia, and food, with all people welcome at most powwows.

Do Hmong believe in God?

Hmong religion is based on animism, believing in spiritual essences and multiple gods. Ancestral spirits reside in various places and can cause illness, bad dreams, suffering, and good fortune. These spirits are contacted through a shaman, a spiritual leader and healer. People are believed to have twelve souls, and maladies arise from disturbances to these souls. This has led to conflict with Western medicine, but healthcare in Minnesota has become more accommodating of Hmong beliefs.

A significant proportion of Hmong in Minnesota are Christian, having converted under pressure from churches and religious organizations. However, these converts may clash with Hmong practicing traditional animistic religion, especially when occupying the same family. Conflict can also be generational, as younger Hmong Americans clash with elders over religion and cultural issues. Despite this, there is often overlap and a unique blend of religious practices.

What do Hmong people believe about health and illness?

Shamanism is a significant belief system in the Hmong culture, where diseases are believed to be caused by departed ancestral spirits or souls of those who have suffered an illness. This belief suggests that illness may result from the separation of body and soul, rather than a biological process. The Hmong also believe that the wish for the soul to leave the body it occupies is another concept related to the disease process.

The Hmong believe that western medicine is not the best treatment option for illnesses, and they can be treated by a traditional healer called the shaman. The shaman is responsible for duties similar to that of a psychologist, doctor, and minister. If a shaman’s ritual of soul-calling fails to bring back the soul to the sick individual, the person’s condition might worsen or even lead to death.

Hmong families often struggle with understanding disease transmission through microorganisms and may refuse western medicine-based treatments. Home remedies and herbal treatments are still widely used among the Hmong community. However, the importance of biomedicine is known among Hmong communities, but traditional diagnosis and herbal or spiritual treatments are usually given the first preference.

The Hmong community has higher rates of infection-related cancers, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma, gastric cancer, hepatic cancer, and cervical cancer. These cancers are more prevalent among the Hmong than other ethnicities, such as lung, breast, and colorectal cancers. Hepatitis B-linked liver cancer disproportionately affects Hmong Americans, with a six-fold higher incidence rate than non-Hispanic whites.

Hmong women have three to four times higher cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates than Asians/Pacific Islanders and non-Hispanic white women. Poor access to health services makes the Hmong more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage.

What is the Hmong healing ritual?

Shamans utilize a variety of techniques to facilitate healing, including the offering of sustenance or animal sacrifices to spiritual entities. In Hmong culture, the souls of sacrificial animals are believed to be connected to human souls. Consequently, a shaman may utilize the soul of an animal to provide support or protection for the soul of their patient.