Hmong Fertility Ritual

January 14, 2023, I put on a Hmong baby carrier and asked the fertility mother goddess to unleash spirit babies unto a husband and wife who have been patiently awaiting for the arrival of their children. We must plead our case, fix the fertility bridge, retrieve the baby spirits, and lead them to their new mom and dad. This was the fertility ritual or also known as the Ua Neeb Laug Ntsuj Tub Ntsuj Ntxhais.

Fertility rituals are requested for a various of reasons. It is to enhance and activate fertility for a married couple who have had challenges conceiving, carrying a fetus to full term, and/or experience difficulty getting pregnant. People who have only sons, or only daughters, can also request fertility rituals to fix their fertility bridge. We call fertility bridge "choj tub choj ntxhais."

Someone recently asked, "why it is that women and couples experience fertility issues, especially when there's no "medical" reasons?" There are a variety of reasons why someone would experience fertility challenges. For the record, I'm not a woman and I hope to never speak on behalf of anyone or take their voice and struggles away from them. I'm also not a parent and so I don't know the struggles and challenges of trying to become a parent. I will always, always uplift parenthood and for women and all individuals to have body autonomy and take ownership of their own body. They have a choice and I never want to take that away from them.

With that being said, from a spiritual point of view, the first reason is that their fertility bridge (choj tub choj ntxhais) is broken, uneven, or not directly bridging to their home. Sometimes if a fertility bridge doesn't come into or directly reach the home, it means baby spirits are coming but not landing in the right spot. They're outside. Or at the wrong home. The physical body is formed through conception and available for the baby spirit to come to, but since the fertility bridge isn't connecting them to the right place, they never make it to their physical form. So what happens when this occurs is that although a person can get pregnant, they experience a miscarriage.

Another reason is that there is a malevolent entity causing infertility, miscarriages, and still births. This is a more extreme case but it does happen. This was also more common back in the day of our parents and grandparents generation. We call this entity "Dab noj hnub noj hli. Dab noj tub noj ki." This translates to "the devil that eats the moon, the sun, our sons, and our daughters." Other malevolent spirits like dragon spirits can also cause a miscarriage. Elders advise pregnant individuals to stay away from large bodies of water and to avoid swimming in it, crossing over bridges, or engage in fishing.

Another reason could be that baby spirits are depressed or disappointed in their own parents and therefore don't want to "come down" or want to "find" other parents. This can be the case for couples who argue or fight a lot. Couples who say hurtful things to each other can also prevent baby spirits from coming to them. Their reasoning is that "if my parents don't love each other, why would I want them to be my parents?"

So, what happens during the fertility ritual? This ritual typically is for more experienced shamans, as there may be tougher "spiritual negotiations" that can occur and unforeseen situations. The shaman must wear a Hmong baby carrier provided by the couple. The shaman must retrieve baby spirits/souls back to the couple in order for them to receive and conceive children. The shaman does this by going to the "Fertility Goddess" or "Mother Goddess." In Hmong, we call her "Niam Nkauj Kab Yeeb" and also often include her partner "Txiv Nraug Kab Tshuaj." Some shamans leave out her partner when chanting or summoning. The shaman must diagnose what the issue is and must ask the Fertility Goddess to help the couple conceive and have children. If Mother Goddess has a plea or a case against the couple for whatever reason, she and the shaman must negotiate and come to an understanding. Once she agrees to release baby spirits, the shaman must open the baby carrier and carry baby spirits on his back.

The shaman must also fix the "choj tub choj ntxhais" or the bridge that connects the baby spirits to their parents to ensure safe and successful travel. After doing so, the shaman must also travel to another realm to go retrieve the "ntaub noj ntawv haus" so that the baby spirits can go full term and live a full and healthy life once they are born. Not doing so can cause a miscarriage or still birth.

While doing so, the shaman will need two white cotton cloths that stem from the shaman to the couple's bedroom. The ritual above was not done at the couple's own home, so therefore we had to just extended the white cloth to the couple placed behind me with their pillows to the side. The white cloth represents the fertility bridge and it will be given to the couple to bring home for safe keeping.

This ritual is a very emotional and sensitive ritual because fertility is a very sensitive topic to many people (understandably so). This ritual may be the last resort or option for many people. Some may have experienced miscarriages and still births before. The inability to have children and conceive is also so stigmatized in our culture and women are often to blame. We further isolate women and cause more harm by passing judgement. A person is valuable whether or not they have children, either by choice or other times not by their doing. What we can all do to help is to come from a place of understanding and support. To show our love and extend our compassion. To validate and value them.

TFL Hmong Shaman