Hilton Chen
Shaman
Being a physician I have always been fascinated with traditional healing rituals. While in Ha Giang I was lucky enough to encounter this Hmong shaman performing a spirit negotiation ceremony in a family home. The real life patient is the young woman wearing a hooded jacket seated against the wall to his left who had just been hospitalized with pneumonia. Here the shaman is wearing a ceremonial cloth mask and grasping a musical instrument somewhat similar to a tambourine. Holding the instrument he shakes and jerks his arms and legs up and down while uttering incantations and enters into a trance like state. The idea is that his soul leaves the body and journeys into the spirit world to communicate with spirits or ancestors, where he bargains for the patient's health and well-being.
Shaman
Being a physician I have always been fascinated with traditional healing rituals. While in Ha Giang I was lucky enough to encounter this Hmong shaman performing a spirit negotiation ceremony in a family home. The real life patient is the young woman wearing a hooded jacket seated against the wall to his left who had just been hospitalized with pneumonia. Here the shaman is wearing a ceremonial cloth mask and grasping a musical instrument somewhat similar to a tambourine. Holding the instrument he shakes and jerks his arms and legs up and down while uttering incantations and enters into a trance like state. The idea is that his soul leaves the body and journeys into the spirit world to communicate with spirits or ancestors, where he bargains for the patient's health and well-being.