Southern Khmer weddings feature the betel palm flower cutting ceremony that formalizes the union and the hand-tying ritual, a sacred moment binding two souls.
Tết flowers and plants: peach, apricot blossom, kumquat, chrysanthemum, marigold and gerbera. Where each comes from, how to choose it and what it means.
Folk taboos for offerings on the Full Moon and the first day of the lunar month, from choosing fruit and flowers to the incense burner and a reverent mindset.
Explore the traditional conical hat villages of Hue, the meticulous craft of the poem hat, and the cultural value of the conical hat in Vietnamese life.
A guide to preparing New Year's Eve offerings, arranging the outdoor and indoor trays by Vietnamese custom, with safety notes and regional differences.
Year-end tạ đất rites are usually held outdoors in the yard, indoors only in cramped homes; offerings vary by region, with no fixed number of chè bowls.
Soul-calling rites after illness, a fall, fright or a long journey: who performs them, the offerings, how the calling is done, and how ethnic groups differ.
Outdoor and indoor New Year's Eve offerings differ in who is invited, where the rite is held and the prayer text. Each region has its own symbolic dishes.
Many families burn a little votive paper after the year-end offering; the hóa vàng send-off comes on Tet days 3 to 7. The tray can go indoors or outdoors.
Thanh Minh is when descendants clean ancestral graves and offer rituals. This guide covers offerings, step-by-step procedures, prayers, and safety notes.
Southern and northern Tết Eve worship differ in the outdoor Heaven altar, the indoor tray and offerings, with origins, meaning and how to prepare each.
Northern Vietnamese Tet worship runs from seeing off the Kitchen Gods on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month to welcoming ancestors and the vang ma burning rite.
Cham weddings in Southern Vietnam follow Islam through proposal and days of ceremony, with matchmakers, betel offerings, bride price and Quran recitation.
Tet rites in southern Vietnam: welcoming the ancestors on the 30th, giao thừa offerings outdoors and indoors, Tết nhà on the third, farewell on the fourth.
The rite on the afternoon of the 30th of Tet invites ancestors home for the New Year. North, Central and South differ mainly in the feast and the fruit tray.
Giỗ thường (cát kỵ) yearly rites need no full feast like giỗ đầu or giỗ hết. Core offerings: hương đèn, trầu cau, rượu trà, a bowl of upside-down rice.
How to set out Ram thang Gieng (first full moon) offering trays at home: how many trays, vegetarian or savory dishes, order of offering, layout and taboos.
Dinh Thầy Thím Festival runs from the 14th to the 16th of the Ninth Lunar Month with spirit welcoming, cộ bánh offerings, Thỉnh sanh, and Tiền hiền rites.
Basic feng shui principles for indoor plants: choosing species, placement by bagua, the five elements, and keeping plants healthy to sustain positive energy.