Shamanism is a religion centered on a belief in good and evil spirits who can only be influenced by shamans. Male or female, these shamans are people who have been chosen by the ancestral and spontaneous spirits. They are known to act as the bridge between the spirit world and the living world. For centuries, this religion has been practiced by the Asian, European, and African shamans. In these societies, shamanism is practiced differently due to different culture, traditions, and background. Therefore, the focus of this paper will be on Hmong Shamanism.
Hmong shamans are believed to be chosen by the spirits, usually after a serious or prolonged illness. The illness would be diagnosed by another shaman as an initiatory illness and confrontation with death, which was caused by the spirits. Both men and women can be summoned in this way by the spirits to be shamans. After recovery from the illness, the newly-called shaman begins a period of study with a master shaman, which may last two or three years, during which time he or she learns the chants, techniques, and procedures of shamanic rites, as well as the names and natures of all spirits that can bring fortune or suffering to people. Because the tradition is passed orally, there is no uniform technique or ritual; rather, it varies within a general framework according to the practice of each master and apprentice (Lee, Mai X).
According to the Hmong belief, spirits reside in the sky, and the shaman can climb a ladder to the heavens on his magical horse and contact the spirits there. Sometimes illness is caused by one's soul climbing the steps to the sky, and the shaman must climb after it, locate, it and bring it back to the body in order to effect a cure. During the ritual, the shaman sits in front of an alter astride a wooden bench, which becomes his or her horse. He wears a cloth over his head, called the mask. The mask is a disguise into the spirit world and acts as a blockage from the real world so that concentration may be acquired more easily, and as the shaman chants and enters a trance, he or she begins to shake and may stand on the bench or move, mimicking the process of climbing to heaven.
