Oral
History Project 
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Shamanism
By: Jessi Ryan,
Viengneesee Thao, and Carol Chow Shamanism is a religion dealing with the interaction between the spirit world and the world around us. It has no hard set of rules and is attached to no particular culture. Today shamanism is a religion widely respected and practiced by the Hmong, both in Laos and the United States. This religion has its traditional beliefs, rituals, and a changing role in society today. To begin with, according to shamanism, everything is alive and related. Those who practice shamanism believe that a web of power connects all things and relates them to one another. Animism, another basic belief of shamanism, states that everything, including inanimate objects like rocks and soil, has a spirit. An individual’s spirit has an aura that can extend to others. This aura changes with a person’s feelings. When a person is happy it gives off higher vibrations, but when a person is sad it gives off lower vibrations. The spirits of the earth exist in the Middle World, and other spirits exist in different worlds. The dead reside in the Lower World, or underworld, and the future is contained in the Upper World. Shamans are traditional healers, chosen by spirits, who diagnose and treat spiritual illnesses, which affect both the mental and physical health of people. In order to heal, a shaman must travel between the worlds to talk to the spirits and find the spiritual causes of a person’s disease. By going to the underworld a shaman can find lost information, find out about disease, or talk to ancestors. In visiting the spirits of the Middle World a shaman can solve everyday problems. Since shamans can easily become lost between the different worlds, they usually travel with a spirit guide or the Tree of Life, a map of the worlds, to direct them. The tree has its roots in the underworld, its trunk in the Middle World, and its branches in the Upper World. Each world has its place, and none is more important than another. In short, shamanism deals with the balance and relations between the spirits of all things. Shamans participate in many rituals and ceremonies based on these beliefs. They perform these ceremonies for births, deaths, coming of age, marriage, full moons, new moons, equinoxes, solstices, preparation for a journey, before healings, and to celebrate other important events. Along with performing ceremonies for the community, shamans also must journey into the spirit worlds. Drums help the shaman leave at the beginning of a journey and come back in the end. Rattles help bring the spirits to a certain place. Shamans must always remember to greet the spirits at the beginning of a journey and carefully tell them what answers they seek. During the journey the shaman must search for even the most subtle signs pointing to the answers being sought. The answers may not come immediately, but they will come in time. In the end the shaman must thank the spirits. Often shamans take journeys to help the sick, though they can also go to solve other everyday problems. When shamans journey to heal, they try to rid a person of evil spirits. If this happens the person will feel well again. Shamanism involves both religion and medicine, and those who practice it see no distinction between religious and health-related matters. Shamanism has been passed down ever since the Hmong culture began, and it is still widely practiced today. In a survey among Hmong high school students most of them either believed in or respected the religion greatly. “Shamanism to me is a great part of our culture because it is a type of sacred ritual,” stated Pakder Yang, a sophomore at D.C. Everest. “It has been part of our culture for generations.” Other feelings towards shamanism include this statement of Alicia Xiong, also a sophomore at D. C. Everest, “Shamanism is a gift that’s presented to you, from the spiritual world. My feelings towards the Shaman religion are that it takes a lot of hard work. I’ve been to a shaman ritual once, and it interests me because of all the actions that are performed.” First off at a shaman ritual one will see the shaman jumping up and down, with a black cloth over his/her face. The shaman will be in a trance and chanting, and it will seem as if he/she’s talking to someone who isn’t really there. Then a gong which sounds like a drum will be heard in the background. In the later part of the ritual the shaman will throw two pairs of horns on the ground, and depending on how they land, the shaman can tell if the ritual will help or not. As you can see, the shaman ritual does take a lot of hard work and is still present in Hmong culture today. In conclusion, shamanism still greatly influences the Hmong today, even those who now live in the United States and are surrounded by other cultures. The role of shamanism is changing, but the religion still includes the same beliefs and rituals that have existed for centuries. Those who practice shamanism believe in the spirits both in the world around us and in the other worlds. They believe in the importance of balance and cooperation in the relations between all things. Shamans still perform ceremonies and rituals for the community, both for celebrations and for healing. As seen by the feedback from the survey of Hmong students at D. C. Everest Senior High, this religion and form of healing still is extremely important to many Hmong today. Bibliography Putnam, Elizabeth. “Shamans vital in Hmong healing.” Wausau Daily Herald 13 Jul 2003. “Shamanism.” 1999. Yahoo. Online. 13 May 2004. http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wyldkat/shmnindex.htm “Shamanism.” Yahoo. Online. 13 May 2004. http://www.altreligion.about.com/library/faqs/bl_shamanism.htm “Shamanism- General Overview- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).” Yahoo. Online. 13 May 2004. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/shamanism/overview/ |
