According to Hmong traditions, a person has several souls, usually four (4) and sometimes if one of their souls becomes separated from a person it can cause them to become ill or even death. They believe that the souls of the dead, live in the supernatural world and the spirits decide how long a person should live on earth. Many of these same spirits are also the souls of the Hmong people who are still waiting to be born and that these souls will reenter the earth. Hmongs believe that they have a twin spirit also known as a guardian angel. This spirit or guardian angel helps guides them in their life or events on earth. The Hmongs believe that the supernatural or spirit world cannot be seen by the human eye and in order to contact the supernatural or spirit world you would need to go through a shaman is a religious and medical leader. The traditional Hmong beliefs are those of the ancient religious beliefs.
The spirit world is understood to include ancestor spirits, house spirits and nature spirits. The Hmongs believe that the spirits lives in the natural universe and are known as “domestic”, “protective” and “wild” spirits. Some people believe that if you offend one of the “wild” spirits it can put a curse on the person causing illness and/or even death. These spirits affect everyone’s daily lives, for the good and for the bad. The spirits are believed to cause natural and supernatural phenomena to occur.
