Religion & Culture

The religion of the Hmong people is Shamanism. Shamanism is a religious system in which a shaman serves as a medium between the spirit and physical worlds. The shaman helps communicate with spirits, including the spirits of dead ancestors. The spirits are believed to cause natural and supernatural phenomena to occur. Among traditional Hmong following the group’s ancient religious beliefs, the spirit world is understood to include ancestor spirits, house spirits and nature spirits. If spirits become offended by a lack of attention or by improper actions in a Hmong family or community, the souls may cause illness or catastrophe to befall an individual. In order to correct this, sacrificing of animals like chickens, pigs and cows would be necessary to protect them away from the evil spirits and bring in good luck. These sacrificing are normally done at New Years, weddings, spiritual callings, and funerals.