Mai Xiong - Week 10

It's interesting to learn about institutional religion (or secularization) and the decline of traditional religions and practices (York 2010). This reminded me of a Hmong shaman guest speaker whom I had the chance to sit in and listen to. The speaker was a shaman and a medical doctor; he also talked about the institutionalization of shaman, specifically Hmong shaman. It's difficult because as people in the community develop their careers and become occupied with full-time jobs, shamanism and its cultural ways can become difficult. For example, the number of people who attend a shaman ceremony can lessen or look for people to help the shaman can be a challenge. The shaman alone can't perform a ua neeb without helpers.

I wanted to share a photo I took at UC Davis, because I think we're all bees contributing to something. :)