Tia Walker

Tina Katsanos
LBST 2102: Global and Intercultural Connections

4 April 2017 Spiritual Beliefs of the Hmong

There are many interconnected aspects of indigenous religions that make them similar
despite the geographical location of the people who practice them. In some of the more popular
religions of todays society, the aforementioned aspects are, although less acknowledged, still
present. In this essay, the basis of a belief of spiritual powers will be observed through the rituals
of the Hmong. This understanding will help explain some of the seemingly taboo aspects of
indigenous religion that still exist in some modern religions.

The Hmong ethnicity originated in the mountains south of China. Today, the Hmong
reside in China and accounts for a large part of the populations of Laos and Thailand. The
Hmong can also be found in countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam. According to Christine
Wilson Owens, the shamanic practices of the Hmong are similar to those of the indigenous
people of Siberia. This has lead people to believe that the Hmong also inhabited Siberia very
early on in the start of the civilization.

The practices of the shaman are very important to many indigenous societies. But,
without the belief in spirits, the shaman would have no place in these religions. Through an
altered state of consciousness, also known as a trance, the shaman has the ability to communicate
with deities and spirits. The shaman must be trained in order to perform their rituals and usually
uses natural psychedelic substances in order to go into the trance that allows them to contact
spirits and deities. It is believed that shamans have the ability to heal people by finding their lost
soul and can sometimes even manipulate the unseen spirit realm. The ritual during which a
shaman searches for a lost soul is called soul calling. Because the Hmong believe that there is a
relationship between all spirits, in most shamanic rituals, the sacrifice of an animal is believed to
protect the souls of those involved in the ritual. According to PBS, chickens and other small
animals can be sacrificed during the various rituals and ceremonies. Certain rituals may even
require the sacrifice of cows or pigs in order to please the spirits.

The Hmong believe that each person, within themselves, has 12 souls. According to
Christine Wilson Owens, the different spirits can have the ability to do different things. In a way,
each of the 12 souls of the Hmong incorporates the different kinds of afterlife beliefs that are
present in the modern religions. To the Hmong, one of the most important souls is the one that
leaves the body once one has died, to which homage is paid by the living members of the family
through ritual acts. There are a lot of ritual ceremonies that are practiced in order to specifically
keep the ancestral spirits happy. Sacrificing animals for these ceremonies is also common. The
Hmong sometimes cook very large meals for their ceremonies as an offering to their ancestral
spirits. This reminds me of the day of the dead rituals, during which families will visit the grave
sites of loved ones and leave them things like bread and soda. Once the soda is flat and the bread
has gone stale, it is said that the spirit of the refreshments has been consumed by the spirits of
their deceased loved ones. Another one of the major Hmong souls within a person is one that is
reborn into the body of another member of the family after someone has passed away. This is
analogous to the belief of reincarnation which is a trait that Hinduism and Buddhism are known
for. The belief in the soul that is said to continue to roam the spirit world after death, which is
different from the ancestral soul, is similar to the way that many Christians view life after death
but without the notion that the spirit world is a kind of paradise or hell. Instead, the hellish realm,
known as the spirit realm, is where the lost spirits can sometimes be found. And the more
heavenly described realm, the upper realm, is where spirits go to await their permission to
reincarnate. There is a God that is believed to be found in the upper realm, but, according to Kirk
Lee, the Hmong do not worship this God the in the same way they worship ancestral spirits. The
home of the Hmong is said to represent those two realms as well as the Earth realm, where living
beings exist. The home is the microcosms of the Hmong. The term microcosm refers to a small
space that a person feels reflects a larger, and sometimes less attainable, such as the universe.

John Esposito explains the belief that human beings can have more than one soul.
According to him, this is true for indigenous religions with Chinese roots. Although in this case
animism is used to describe the polytheistic nature of the Hmong religion, the belief in angels,
supernatural entities and demons in the monotheistic world religions is also considered animistic.
The Hmong believe that animals and plants also possess spirits, similar to the way that Native
Americans do. Furthermore, Like the pipe which Native Americans believe contains a spirit too,
the Hmong believe that inanimate objects can have spirits. An example of this kind of animism is
the belief that ones house has spirits within it that can be different depending on what room
theyre in. Christine Wilson Owens explains this further by saying that House spirits are
believed to inhabit each corner of a Hmong house. Each part of the house is also believed to have
its own spirit, including the stove, and the doors. The altar is assumed to be the place in the
house to which ancestors return. Spirits of nature include mountains, trees, streams, valleys,
caves, ponds, and winds. (Hmong Cultural Center, 2000).

Although the Hmong believe in spirits in some of the same ways as the more common
world religions, refraining from participating in any of the rituals is highly frowned upon by the
Hmong. This specifically became a problem when the Hmong arrived in America. The loud
singing and chanting during the rituals and the animal sacrificing was discouraged in America.
Nevertheless, American Hmong have been able to adapt some of the more Christian beliefs to
supplement the practices of their native people that they are not able to take part in in America.
Animism can often seem like a taboo kind of belief system in modern society. However, the
belief in spirits in general is regarded as animistic. The difference between indigenous and more
modern religions is the monotheistic and polytheistic properties. One common thing that can be
found across most religions is the presence of a religious specialist. In the case of the Hmong, the
shaman is the religious specialist. Other common religious specialists include storytellers,
prophets, priests, mediums, elders and diviners. The religious practices and beliefs of the Hmong
are so extensive, that through studying them, one can begin to understand the origins of practices
found in many other societies.
 Works cited Esposito

John L., Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd Lewis. World religions today. 5th ed. New York:
Oxford U Press, 2017. Print.

Lee, Kirk. "Rituals, Roles, and Responsibilites Included in a Hmong Funeral: A Guide
For Teachers to Better Understand the Process Their Hmong Students Experience in a Time of
Family Loss ." (2000): n. pag. Web. 6 Apr. 2017.

Wilson Owens, Christine, and Long Veu. "Hmong Cultural Profile." Hmong Cultural
Profile EthnoMed. Ed. Dao Moua. N.p., 1 May 2007. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

"Hmong Rituals." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2017.