Laos: Iu-Mein Culture and Ceremonies :: Asia Asian

Laos Iu-Mein Culture and Ceremonies What is Iu-Mein? not many people have heard of the ethnicity Iu-Mein. It is a dialect from Laos. hotshot of the traditions that Iu-Meins have be ceremonies. Ceremonies are done with the sacrificing of a pig or yellowed. Certain people may call in it weird, and animal rights folks would call it animal cruelty, but in our finis, it is for healing and to pay our respects to our ancestors. The ceremonies are very sacred and are done by a shaman. A shaman in our cultivation is someone who can speak to liven up like a witch doctor. A pig or yellow-bellied is sacrificed depending on whether the ceremony performed is large or small. The shaman sets up the display board with incense, paper made with circle imprints (money for the hard liquor), and a tea set make full with blessed water. After the pig or chicken is cleaned, it is set on the table and the shaman starts chanting or calling down the spirit. With a chicken, the ce remony usually takes about thirty minutes to an hour with a pig, it can take an hour to an hour and a half. Ceremonies in the Iu-Mein culture are part of our lives. They are done as often as they are needed, but at least once a year. thither are different kinds of ceremonies done for healing when someone is sick, for good parcel for the year, weddings, and for death. Iu-Meins remember in both good and bad spirits. Whenever someone is sick, we believe it is due to a hungry spirit. Our ceremony with the pig or chicken is meant to please the spirit by feeding them, paying them by fervent paper money, and by giving them water. There are all kinds of spirits that can touch a person to make them sick, like parents, grandparents, or any relatives who have passed away. There is not much about Iu-Mein culture in our history books, but books have been written about the Iu-Mein people.