Lễ cầu tài, cầu lộc (ceremony to pray for wealth and fortune)

  • Cầu an, giải hạn (prayers for peace, rites to ward off misfortune)
  • 6 prayer texts
  • Offerings and steps

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Xin lộc, Xin lộc buôn bán, Cầu tài lộc đầu năm

By custom, at the beginning of the year and when starting a business, traders prepare offerings to pray for good sales, and pray at the Tam Bảo altar, before the deities of the place of business, or before the ancestors. In the Mekong Delta, pilgrims go to Bà Chúa Xứ shrine at núi Sam to pray for peace and safety and for good fortune.

When
Đầu năm; mùng một, ngày rằm; mùa vía Bà Chúa Xứ ở An Giang
For whom
Tam Bảo; thần linh bản cảnh, Chúa Đất, Thần Tài; gia tiên; Bà Chúa Xứ (miền Tây Nam Bộ)

Prayer text for peace and safety (for wealth and good fortune) at the Tam Bảo altar

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Buddhist

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

2 more blanks

How it differs from the common version

The phatgiao.org.vn version of the same book template: it does not have the line "Con lạy chín phương trời" but opens with "Đệ tử con thành tâm kính lạy Mười phương chư Phật"; the line giving one's name comes after the line of reverence; the prayer is printed as "mạnh khỏe, bình an,…" instead of a blank with suggestions; it does not have the phrases "phát lộc phát tài", "an khang thịnh vượng"; the invocation line reads "(3 lần, 3 lạy)".

The common version: Văn khấn (prayer text) for wealth, fortune, and peace at the Tam Bảo altar

Other texts for Lễ cầu tài, cầu lộc (ceremony to pray for wealth and fortune)

Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of the rite.

Offerings and how the rite is done

As commonly practised and recorded by the sources. Each family and each region may do it differently.

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

When
At the beginning of the year and when one needs to pray for business
Where the offerings are set
At the shop, at home; at the beginning of the year, at the pagoda or temple (đền)
Who makes the offering
Người buôn bán, gia chủ

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Mâm ngũ quả (five-fruit tray)5 loại trái cây
Nước lọc, trà, rượu
Cakes and candies
Nhang (incense)
Vase of flowers (yellow chrysanthemums, đồng tiền flowers)
Boiled chickenOptional. the source notes it is not mandatory

Steps

  1. Arrange the offerings
  2. Lighting incense, reading the prayer text to ask for good fortune

Things to avoid

  • Offerings at the pagoda are only vegetarian; meat offerings are made only at temples (đền) of the Saints

Mekong Delta, An Giang, núi Sam, Châu Đốc, Mother Goddess worship (Tứ Phủ)

When
The season of the Bà Chúa Xứ festival at núi Sam (late in the fourth lunar month) and when going on pilgrimage
Where the offerings are set
Bà Chúa Xứ shrine at the foot of núi Sam
Who makes the offering
Khách hành hương

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Incense and lamps, betel leaves and areca nuts, fruit
Bông, gạo, muối
Roast pigarranged in a separate area in the shrine

Steps

  1. Writing one's name, age, and prayers for peace, good fortune, and wealth on paper
  2. First make offerings to the nine generations and seven ancestors, then to the Lady, then to the earth deities and Thổ Địa (according to the guide's words in the report)
  3. Asking for the Lady's blessing (pre-wrapped votive paper) to bring home

The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Sources

  • Văn khấn khi đi lễ chùa đầu năm chuẩn nhất (phatgiao.org.vn)
  • Top 5 bài khấn xin lộc buôn bán dễ nhớ và chuẩn nhất (voh.com.vn)
  • Lễ cầu an và cầu tài lộc đầu năm mới (baophapluat.vn)
  • Nạn 'cò cúng' mùa vía Bà (vnexpress.net)
  • Khám phá An Giang trong mùa lễ hội vía Bà Chúa Xứ núi Sam (mytour.vn)

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

More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.