Closing Spiritual Gates

A spiritual gate is anything that connects you to the spiritual side. Spiritual doors can be objects, rituals, conjurings, and so much more. It is an important step in a shaman's trance and ritual to hide their own spirit + soul when returning and making their way back. In fact, it is important for every spiritual healer to know how to close their spiritual door. We call this, "zais roj, zais hneev." When a shaman comes down from their trance, they must close every door they passed through and hide their spirit and their shaman guides. Each shaman does this differently from one another. To close the door, some shamans will say,

"peb tuaj ces, qhib rooj dav li fos

peb rov ces, kaw rooj ntom li ntub tseg

peb tuaj ces, tua duab huab,

pev rov ces, rov qab ntuj ntshuab

tuaj ces, tua duab iab oo

rov ces, rov lawm ntuj txoog

peb tuaj ces, tuaj hnub no

rov ces, rov lawm nag hmo"

"peb ib cag nees yuav tuaj tsis txog lawm os

Ob cag, peb cag nees ces yuav tuaj tsis txog"

The reason we close spiritual doorways is to prevent any spirits or souls from the worldly realm from entering the spirit realm, and vise versa. Shamans also do this to prevent dark entities from following them home. Leaving a spiritual door open can result in a deceased soul attaching itself to you, a possession, spiritual oppression, haunting, and more. Ensuring we close the doorway is a crucial and required step and cannot/should not be skipped.

Almost all Hmong shamans use a candle to light their way during a trance, but we also use candle when doing a reading or divination. I was instructed by my master to never blow out the candle, but instead to physically put it out by taking our index finger and thumb and pressing on the flame. You'd be surprised at how easy it actually is. You can either dip your finger in water or simply lick the tips of your index finger and thumb and put it out. This officially closes the communication channel and doorway between this world and the others. When a candle is blown out, it actually does not close the doorway. You want the smoke and the flames to completely go out. Blowing the candle would leave the smoke, which leaves a trace/trail.

Opening spiritual doors and gates can also happen during things like opening chakras, energy healing rituals, using a Ouija board, psychic readings, tarot readings, spiritual and religious prayers, astral projections, and even some forms of meditations. In fact, opening spiritual doorways are easier than it actually seems, but leaving it open can cause havoc to your life and those around you. What I find is that people in spiritual work are more prone to spirits and entities because of the closing and opening of spiritual gates. People who live with spiritual workers, like my partner and I living together, will tend to experience more spiritual experiences too because of this reason.

So, how many spiritual gates are there? How many realms do shamans enter? There is no way to answer this question because the answer is infinite. We have access to spiritual doors during dreams, during deep meditations, group prayer settings like churches or temples, and of course during shamanic trance and rituals. As a Hmong shaman, rituals consist of going through different realms to relieve the person of their sickness. It is our job to open these doorways and retrieve their souls. Each realm has its own guardian. Each realm has its own purpose.

Now, spiritual doors are also open during traditional funeral rites. The "Txiv Taw Kev" is the person who leads the spirit of the deceased back to the motherland and to the afterlife through their chant and song. At the end of the "taw kev," the Txiv Taw Kev must close the spiritual door to ensure the deceased, and others, do not follow them home or cause havoc to the living. At the end of the ritual, the Txiv Taw Kev will remind the deceased that their job was to guide them to the motherland and the afterlife, and they must not hold onto their spirit. They'll use a split bamboo, about 5 - 6 inches in length, similar to a shaman's divination horn, to communicate with the deceased. The split bamboo is tossed lightly onto the floor. Depending on how the bamboo lands, once the deceased peacefully agrees to go without trouble, the spiritual door is closed. An elder must hu plig (soul call) the Txiv Taw Kev with an egg, bowl of rice, and joss stick.

If you engage in certain activities that open the spiritual doorway, it is important to know how to close a spiritual door or gateway. If you are a spiritual worker, whether you're a shaman or psychic, reiki healer, energy healer, etc, remember that if you open a doorway, you must always close your spiritual door after every session.

TFL Hmong Shaman