Baby, souls, name and health: Traditional customs for a newborn infant among the Hmong in Melbourne
Author(s):
Rice, Pranee Liamputtong
Format:
Journal article
Publisher:
2000.
Language:
English
Abstract:
Discusses childrearing beliefs and practices in Hmong culture, with a particular focus on issues related to souls and ceremonies for a newborn infant. A thematic analysis was based on ethnographic interviews and participant observations conducted with 27 Hmong women who migrated to Australia. The Hmong believe that each living body has 3 souls. For a newborn infant, the 1st soul enters the body when conceived in the mother's womb. The 2nd soul enters when the baby has just emerged from the mother's body and taken its first breath. The 3rd soul, however, is called on the 3rd morning after birth. The Hmong believe that if all 3 souls are secured in the infant's body, he or she will be healthy and hence thrive well. A soul calling ceremony on the 3rd morning after birth is thus essential in Hmong culture. All the mothers interviewed had a soul calling and naming ceremony, and all related that the rituals were essential for the survival of their newborn infants. For Hmong society to survive, the Hmong feel they must strongly adhere to their cultural beliefs and practices related to a newborn infant. This ties the Hmong with not only their family and society at large, but also the supernatural world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)