Week 2 - Diane Tran

Reading Pa Lor's story gave me a better understanding of what shamans do. Shamans travel to the spirit world. They work with the spirit or soul. Shamans heal illness at the soul level and gain knowledge and insight from working with spirits. Pa Lor was Christian because her brother converted the family once they resettle in the United States. At the age of 21, she realized that she has shaman spirits and destined to become a shaman. She had the calling to become a shaman. She could hear voices and see spirits. She has helpers that help her throughout the spirit world to solve problems. She says that spirits are seen when they want to be seen.

A shaman came into class today to speak about being a shaman. She explained the differences between the soul and the spirit. The soul is what is inside the body in the present world, while the spirit is what has left the body. I thought it was interesting to learn about shamans because I did not really know what they do. In addition, I thought it was amazing to learn that the Hmong culture practices this tradition. It gave me another perspective on learning about another ethnicity's culture since I do not really know much about Hmongs. I also thought it was interesting where Hmong people do not donate organs or blood because it might affect the reincarnation of the spirit. This practice reminds me of Buddhism in a way because we also believe in souls, spirits, and reincarnation. We believe that all nature and humans have souls and spirits. When one passes away, the spirit is supposed to reincarnate.