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Lễ cắt tiền duyên (rite to cut the karmic marriage bond)

Also called: Cắt duyên âm, Hóa giải duyên âm, Cắt giải tiền duyên

  • Cầu an, giải hạn (prayers for peace, rites to ward off misfortune)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

According to the belief of those who perform the rite, some people have difficulties in love because a bond from a previous life remains; the lễ cắt tiền duyên is performed by a thầy đồng (medium) or a thầy cúng (ritual master), using two substitute effigies and petition paper, and is usually combined within a hầu đồng (spirit mediumship ritual) session.

At a glance

When it is held
On the ngày vía (saint's feast day), the tiệc (festival) of a saint, or an auspicious day chosen by the master
For whom
The saints in the Tứ Phủ (Four Palaces) pantheon are invited to witness the rite (usually Quan Lớn Tuần Tranh, Ông Hoàng Mười); the spirit person is believed to still have a bond from a previous life

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

Region:

North

Hà Nội, Folk practice

Who makes the offering
The master performs the rite on behalf of the person requesting the cutting of tiền duyên

Central

Central Highlands, Lâm Đồng, Mother Goddess worship (Tứ Phủ)

When
On the ngày vía (saint's feast day), the tiệc (festival) of a saint, or an auspicious day in the month when many people register; the hầu đồng session usually begins around 13:30 to 14:00
Where the offerings are set
Bản điện (the main shrine hall), đền thờ Mẫu (Mother Goddess temple)
Who makes the offering
The thầy đồng (medium) (sometimes a pháp sư (sorcerer) or thầy cúng (ritual master)); the person having the tiền duyên cut attends the rite
OfferingQuantityVegetarian or notNotes
Fruit
Fruit, betel leaves and areca nutsVegetarian
Votive paper
Votive paper money
Substitute effigies of votive paper, inscribed with the name of the person whose tiền duyên is to be cut2Required. If the client is male, the effigy is female; if the client is female, the effigy is male
Objects
Petition paper (điệp âm, điệp dương)Required. Prepared by the master; the client only provides information
Other
Tơ hồng (red thread, the golden fibre of the tơ hồng plant) and trầu têm cánh phượng (betel leaf folded in the shape of a phoenix wing)Given by the thầy đồng to a person without a partner after the bond is cut

South

TP. Hồ Chí Minh, Folk practice

Where the offerings are set
The newspaper article describes a fortune-teller performing the rite for a client on the spot, in the area of Lăng Ông Bà Chiểu
Who makes the offering
The fortune-teller performs the rite for the client
OfferingQuantityNotes
Votive paper
A pair of white paper horses1 pairAccording to the article, the ritual practitioner suggested that clients buy extra items to offer to the yin spirits
Vàng mã (votive paper)

Steps of the rite

Northern Vietnam, Hà Nội, Folk practice

  1. The person requesting the rite kneels and bows following the master, sometimes for the whole day
  2. Repeating after the master a prayer about one page long
  3. According to the research article about Lâm Đồng, in the North the cutting of tiền duyên within a hầu đồng session is done at the incarnation of Quan Lớn Tuần Tranh

Central Highlands, Lâm Đồng, Mother Goddess worship (Tứ Phủ)

  1. The client registers in advance with the thầy đồng; usually the master prepares the offerings, the client pays a sum and comes at the appointed day and time
  2. Phát tấu (opening announcement): declaring the reason for the ceremony, inviting Phật (the Buddha), Đức Thánh Trần, Thánh Mẫu, and the saints of the Công đồng Tứ phủ (Four Palaces Council); presenting the name and age of the person on whose behalf the rite is held
  3. Offering rice to the Saints, inviting the sơn trang (mountain spirits) and the Quan (Lords); the thầy đồng reads the petition aloud
  4. Hầu đồng (spirit mediumship ritual): the Mother Goddess's giáng (descent) is performed first, then the Quan Lớn (Great Mandarins) incarnations
  5. When the incarnation for the cutting rite comes: the person having the tiền duyên cut carries the tray of petitions on their head, then the tray of offerings and the two effigies; the thầy đồng uses a thanh long đao (dragon sabre) or scissors to cut the hands of the two effigies
  6. Asking for the âm dương (yin-yang) divination blocks; if not yet granted, cutting continues and the blocks are asked again; once granted, the effigies and petition paper are burned
  7. At the incarnation of Ông Hoàng Mười, the se duyên (bond-tying) rite is performed: joining two red threads for a couple in love, or giving tơ hồng and trầu têm cánh phượng to a person without a partner

Southern Vietnam, TP. Hồ Chí Minh, Folk practice

  1. First a divination is done, then a cắt duyên âm (cutting the yin bond) offering is performed for the client; according to the ritual practitioner, it takes about 10 minutes

Where the sources differ

  • At which incarnation the bond is cut: according to the research article, in the North this is done at the incarnation of Quan Lớn Tuần Tranh (usually reaching the incarnation of Quan Đệ Ngũ); since 2004 some thầy đồng in Lâm Đồng do it at the incarnation of the saint they consider suited to their root (for example the incarnation of Cô Đôi).

Communities and regions

Sources

  • Cắt tiền duyên để... lấy vợ (vnexpress.net)
  • Bùi Thị Thoa, Cắt tiền duyên trong nghi lễ lên đồng của người Việt ở Lâm Đồng, Tạp chí Khoa học Xã hội số 9 (229) năm 2017 (vjol.info.vn)
  • Thập diện bói toán (sggp.org.vn)

Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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