Traditional treatment for sick H’Mong children

VietNamNet – H’Mong people in northern Lao Cai Province have a traditional way to treat sick children: hanging Vong Via (The bangle of soul) on their necks, arms and ears.

If an H’Mong child is sick for a long time, his family will invite a sorcerer to come to the house to worship Ba Mu (The goddess believed to give shape to and protect babies), and host a ceremony to hang Vong Via on the child.

For the ceremony, the family will prepare three bamboo hoops. Family members will place one hoop at the gate, one inside the house, and one next to the altar.

A worshiping meal including three pairs of chopsticks; three cups of wine; three cups of water; one boiled chicken; and one box of salt, is placed at the right angle of the house.

A middle-age person who have healthy children will be invited to hold the child during the ceremony. When the sorcerer starts his work, the child and the invited personwill stand on the white cloth, outside the door.
Firstly, the sorcerer will invite an ancestor of the child’s family to come and witness his ceremony. Then he will invite his masters to come and ask them to let him help the child.

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The ceremony will begin with a roll of the gong; this is the sorcerer inviting ghost soldiers. After the gong call, the sorcerer drinks wine and dances round the house. Sometimes, he howlsand stabs his sword into the ground, killing bad ghosts. After doing this several times, he will go to the door and stab toward outside - meaning that the bad ghost had left the house.

The child will be brought into the first bamboo hoop. Sorcerer will stab behind him, as to cut the link to the bad ghost. He then takes some alcohol from the altar and pours it onto the child to clean his soul of the bad ghost. The child will then be brought to the second bamboo hoop.
After the sorcerer screams, ghosts will run away.The child will be immediately brought to the third hoop and be wore with Vong Via on his neck, wrist and ear, meaning that he is already enclosed from bad ghosts.
After the ceremony, the family will treat the sorcerer and his assistant to a meal and present him a cock and a bottle of alcohol. The child will wear Vong Via his entire life. He must not purposefully take it off. He would be attacked by bad ghosts again.
(Source: Vietnamtourism)