Protect Your Body So You Can Protect Your Spirit

It's almost September and things haven't gotten better. As the pandemic worsens and more people continue to die, we are given an opportunity to really get this thing under control if we want to. We are the carriers, we are what allow the virus to be mobile and so 100% of this is in our choice. Our body is the habitat for the virus and if we die, so does the virus with it. The virus itself cannot survive and it cannot continue to infect without us. We can choose to contain it.

From a spiritual sense, the virus is aggressive. But, it doesn't want us to stop doing what we've been doing. The gatherings, the social groups, the hugging and kissing, the bar scenes, etc. This is a spiritual entity that thrives off of big gatherings much like spiritual entities that linger near clubs and bars and feed off people. Some of which feed off the drugs and the high from people who are taking drugs at these places. Spirits do not discriminate who they latch on to, when, why, and they thrive especially in your last moments. The covid spirit does not care if it dies with the body of a person because thousands and millions of people all over the world are infected. Covid-19 is a spirit let loose and we are the only ones 100% capable of containing it.

At the beginning of the pandemic when we started to see the rise of the coronavirus, many Hmong families took a spiritual approach as a cautionary and preventative measure. Some families did a fib yeem, some did ua neeb rituals, some families made bamboo filters and hung it on their doors, and many, including me, made red and white wrist and ankle strings. Hmong families turn to spirituality because how we survive have depend on it and it continues to do so.

What we as humans were doing before was not working for anyone, not us, animals, the trees and the plants, and certainly not the planet. We get to see the true nature of how each of us are because when everything is going well we don't have the need to be vulnerable, to allow others to see us struggle or fight through anything. We are our true selves not just when we're most happy but also when we are struggling. Right now humans around the entire world are struggling together. Look around, pay attention, hear what your friends and family are saying or doing and you get to know and see the real them. Look at our leaders we elect in congress and see how they are responding or not; you get to see the real side of human beings. While we are debating whether wearing masks, social distancing, and quarantine are political things, the coronavirus is making us their laughing meal. By now we know that the virus doesn't care if we are Hmong, White, Black, if we are Republican or Democratic, gay or straight; the only ones who care are people.

We as Hmong believe that our illness can be attributed to our spirit. If the spirit is lost or frightened, our body responds by being sick. The interesting thing about this pandemic is that now, our spirit is connected to how well we protect our body and health. The coronavirus is an attack on our body and also a threat to our spirit. It knows that if it can penetrate the body first then the spirit will have to follow. It is easier to harm the physical body than it is to harm an endless reincarnating energy form like our spirit. The coronavirus spirit is an aggressive spiritual entity but if we want to survive this pandemic than we need to protect what it is going after, our body. If we can use red and white strings as spiritual protection, then we can use a mask to protect us as well. Protect our body so we can protect our spirit. #HmongShamansMaskUp #ProtectYourSpirit

TFL Hmong Shaman