How do Vietnamese and ethnic minority soul-calling and spirit-calling rituals work?
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.
Results for "wandering souls"
Worshipping the Wrongly Dead After War: How an Anthropologist Reads the Offering to Wandering Souls in Central Vietnam
Heonik Kwon's ethnography shows how offerings to wandering souls in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai help communities live with wartime memory.
Hungry Ghost Festival on the 15th Day of the 7th Lunar Month: The Meaning of the 'Absolution of the Dead' Ritual in Folk Belief
The Hungry Ghost Festival on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month blends Buddhist and Taoist roots, with offerings for wandering spirits.
Prayers for the 15th Day of the 7th Lunar Month: What the Three Texts Cover, Ritual Order, and What to Know
Rằm tháng 7 prayers include three texts for deities, ancestors, and wandering souls, with ritual order, offerings, and how to recite them.
Three Offering Trays on the 15th Day of the 7th Lunar Month: Offerings to Buddha, Ancestors, and Wandering Souls
The 15th day of the 7th lunar month has three offering trays: a vegetarian tray for Buddha, a full tray for ancestors, and one for wandering souls.
Offering to wandering souls: should the tray face outward or inward, and where should it be placed?
By folk custom, the cô hồn tray is set in the yard or before the gate, not indoors, and many homes turn it outward. Timing, regional trays, and taboos.
Which Day Is Best for the Rằm tháng 7 Offering and What Should You Note? A Full Guide Following Vietnamese Custom
Rằm tháng 7 is when families make offerings to the Buddha, deities, ancestors and wandering souls, with guidance on timing, the tray and what to avoid.
Hue Culture: Rituals, Mother Goddess Worship, and the Life of the Ancient Capital
Hue culture blends Nguyen dynasty court ritual with folk belief, Mother Goddess worship, and festivals like the Am Hon ceremony and Hue Nam Temple festival.
Where to Start When Setting Up a Liu Yao Hexagram: How the 64 Hexagrams Divide Into Eight Palaces, From the Pure Hexagram to the Fifth Generation, Wandering Soul and Returning Soul, What Element Each Palace Carries, and How Na Jia Assigns Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
The 64 hexagrams divide into eight palaces, from the pure hexagram through the fifth generation to Wandering Soul and Returning Soul.
Tống ôn, tống gió and Covid-19 Era Peace-Praying Ceremonies: Vietnamese Epidemic-Expelling Rituals and the Changes During the Pandemic
Tống ôn, tống gió is a Mekong Delta ritual that sends epidemics and misfortune away by river. It explores how Covid-19 changed these ceremonies.
Lam Chay Festival in Tam Vu, Tay Ninh: How Do the 15th and 16th of the First Lunar Month Unfold?
The Lam Chay Festival in Tam Vu, Tay Ninh runs on the 15th and 16th of the first lunar month, with rituals welcoming Ong Tieu and more.
Vu Lan Festival: The Season of Filial Piety and the Rose-Pinning Ceremony
Learn about the Buddhist origins of Vu Lan on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, the legend of Mục Kiền Liên, filial piety, and the rose-pinning ceremony.
What rites and customs are distinctive to funerals in Huế?
What is distinctive about funerals in Huế: the âm công bearers and their dress, the order of rites, and the city rule on how long a wake may last.
Lung Tung Festival (Going to the Field) of the Thai People
Explore the Lung Tung Festival of the Thai people in the Northwest: origins, the Nang Han ritual, agricultural significance, and festive activities.
What offerings does a new car blessing include and what is the traditional sequence?
A new car blessing usually has flowers, fruit, roast pork or chicken or a vegetarian tray, salt, rice, wine, tea and votive paper, set before the car.
What Does Vietnamese Folk Belief Encompass?
Vietnamese folk belief includes ancestor worship, deity worship, Mother Goddess religion, agricultural beliefs, and rituals of many ethnic groups.
The Ngái People: Where They Live, Their Language, Worship Customs and Main Festivals
The Ngái are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, with a very small population living scattered across Quảng Ninh, Hải Phòng, Bắc Giang, Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng.
What Makes Vietnamese Traditional Cuisine Distinctive Across Regions?
An overview of Vietnamese traditional cuisine by region: Tet dishes, ancestral trays, festivals, vegetarian food and local specialties, with cultural context.
H'Mông Beliefs and Festivals: Animism, Khèn Masters, and the Gầu Tào Festival
H'Mông (Mông) animist beliefs in highland Vietnam, where khèn masters guide souls in funeral rites and the Gầu Tào festival honours children.
How early 20th century Vietnamese consulted fortune tellers, picked auspicious days, and practiced mediumship: rereading Phan Ke Binh, Diguet, and Nguyen Van Huyen
Three early 20th century recorders found fortune telling, day selection and mediumship widespread in northern Vietnam, each seeing them differently.
Beliefs and Festivals of the Thái People in Northwest Vietnam: Xên Bản Xên Mường and Hạn Khuống
The Thái of Vietnam's Northwest follow animist beliefs with guardian spirits and hold the Xên Bản Xên Mường rites and Hạn Khuống festival.
Nguyen Trai (1380-1442): World Cultural Celebrity and His Years at Con Son
Nguyen Trai, world cultural celebrity, was the soul of the resistance against the Ming and spent years at Con Son writing and reflecting on benevolent rule.
What Is the Year-Opening Bud-Picking Custom and Why Has It Shifted to Receiving Lộc?
Year-opening bud picking is the Vietnamese custom of taking a small green branch from a temple for luck. Today many ask for lộc or buy salt instead.
Ghost Month, the 7th Lunar Month: Folk Taboos and Buddhist Perspectives
Ghost Month in the 7th lunar month: its origins, common folk taboos, and the Buddhist view of Vu Lan as a season of gratitude and filial piety.
The Self Line and the Response Line in Six-Line Divination: Who Is You, Who Is the Other, and Why Their Positions Shape the Whole Reading
The Self Line marks the querent, the Response Line marks the other party in Liu Yao. Their positions decide how the whole hexagram is assigned and read.
Cúng Đất in Huế: Which Months, What the Three Offering Trays Hold and Why the Land Deity Is Thanked
Cúng đất in Huế is held in the second and eighth lunar months, with three offering trays to thank the land deity and remember the former Chăm owners.
Tay Ethnic Group: Where They Live, Their Language, Worship Customs, and Main Festivals
The Tay are Vietnam's largest ethnic minority. They live in northeastern valleys, speak a Tay-Thai language, worship ancestors, and hold long tong festivals.
What Is Giỗ Hậu: How Do People Without Sons Buy Hậu in the Clan, Village, or Pagoda to Be Offered Ancestor Rituals After Death?
Giỗ hậu is the custom of people without heirs giving money or land to their clan, village, or pagoda to be offered ancestor rituals after death.
The Useful Spirit in Liu Yao: Which Line to Read for Which Question, and Why Some Matters Should Not Be Cast
The Useful Spirit in Liu Yao is the line for the subject asked about, chosen per question type. Some matters, though, should not be cast.
Folk Taboos for Groundbreaking, House Construction, and Housewarming
Vietnamese folk taboos for groundbreaking, construction and housewarming cover dates, directions and rituals, rooted in yin-yang and five elements.
Folk taboos when opening a business: What you need to know
Vietnamese folk taboos for opening a business include choosing auspicious dates, avoiding the ghost month and holding opening rituals.
Ancestor Worship of Vietnamese People: Origins, Norms, and What Has Changed
Ancestor worship is a long-standing Vietnamese custom, a moral standard, and a key part of spiritual life, with altars, death anniversaries, and Tet rituals.
The Tho People: Where They Live, Their Language, Worship Customs and Main Festivals
The Tho people speak a Viet Muong language and live mainly in western Nghe An and Thanh Hoa, with their own worship of spirits, ancestors and midwife deities.
Why do worship customs differ across regions and ethnic groups in Vietnam?
Vietnamese worship customs vary by region and ethnicity through environment, migration, and cultural exchange, not through one practice being more correct.
Nghinh Ong Song Doc Festival - The Largest Sea Festival in Ca Mau
Nghinh Ong Song Doc Festival is the largest sea festival in Ca Mau, held each second lunar month with a sacred whale procession and fishermen's whale worship.
Feng Shui for the Main Door: Principles for Auspicious Arrangement
Explore feng shui principles for the main door: position, direction, colors, objects, and remedies to attract vital energy and prosperity to your home.
The 15th Day of the Tenth Lunar Month - Tet Ha Nguyen: The Rice Harvest Thanksgiving Festival Few Still Remember
Tet Ha Nguyen on the 15th day of the tenth lunar month is one of Vietnam's four major traditional festivals, a time to thank heaven and earth.
Red River Delta Culture: Village Life, Communal Houses, Pagodas and Worship Traditions in the Northern Delta
Red River Delta culture centres on village life, communal houses, pagodas, village gates and worship. A close look at Duong Lam, Phu Luu and Phuc Xa.
Death Anniversaries in Central Vietnam: the Hue-Style Tray and the Joint 7th-Month Giỗ in Quảng Nam
How is a death anniversary kept in Central Vietnam? The tiên thường and chính kỵ rites, the joint 7th-month giỗ in Quảng Nam, and Hue dishes on the tray.
Which ethnic groups in Vietnam celebrate their own New Year separately from Tet Nguyen Dan?
Which peoples in Vietnam keep their own New Year apart from Tết Nguyên Đán? The Mông, Hà Nhì, Khmer, Chăm and others, as reported in the press.
