Sketches 2020

Sometimes the Shaman will come back
and tell the parents that the ‘person’ who
took the spirit of their child or themselves
will not get it back and they will negotiate
with the afterlife, which can consist of
animal sacrificing. Once they negotiate
and the deal is accepted, therefore,
you’ll have to sacrifice the animal that
was agreed upon. As I mean ‘person’
I mean the demon in spiritual life. Once
the deal was set for whichever animal
was being sacrificed the next thing they
do is called ‘Ua Neeb Kob.’ Ua Neeb Kob
is when they take that animal to sacrifice.
The shaman must go back to the afterlife
and to repay the demon for the spirit to
come back to its owner.
Additionally, another ceremony that the
Shaman do is ‘Hu Plig.’ Hu Plig is kind
of a health-like ritual and calling the
soul back. The shaman performs the
health-like ritual for most family members
that are recovering from a sickness.
Hu Plig can be done for someone who
has been out of the country and for
someone who hasn’t gotten a Hu Plig
in a while. The process of a Hu Plig is
when the Shaman will visit the home of
the person who needs their soul to be
checked. At the front of the door, the
shaman will ring a gong while calling for
the lost soul and there will be a chicken
in a box next to the door, awaiting to be
sacrificed.
After thewling for the lost soul, the
chicken will be killed and served to the
guest of honor and the family of the home.
In conclusion, I think that this was
fascinating to me because growing
up in a Hmong family and believing in
Shamanism is something special. I also
believe that this can help other people
in the world to see what and who the
Hmong’s are. Like I said above, Hmong
is a rare nationality that many people
in the world hardly know of. I think that
explaining what us Hmong believe or do
will make others think that it’s just like
when others believe in other religions.
Shamanism is just another religion
added with other religions in this world.
Isabelle Lee
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