Hmong folk religion

Miao folk religion or Hmong folk religion is the common ethnic religion of Miao peoples, primarily consisting in the practice of ua dab (Hmongic: "worship of deities"). The religion is also called Hmongism by a Hmong American church established in 2012 to organise it among Hmong people in the United States.

It has a pantheist theology, centered on worship of deities and progenitors of the Miao peoples. Throughout its history it has incorporated theoretical and ritual elements from Taoism, and broader Chinese religion, especially the emphasis on the pattern of the forces of the natural universe and the need of human life to be in accordance with these forces.

Most Hmong continue to practice the traditional religion, although many Hmong in Asia have converted to Buddhism or have mixed it with Buddhism, and many Hmong Americans and Hmong Australians have adopted Christianity or Buddhism.

The highest god of Hmong traditional religion is called Saub or Yawm Saub, who endows the shamans with their abilities. The Saub god may be called in times of need and he can manifest in points of crisis throughout the course of history. The first shaman was Siv Yis: Hmong shamans refer to themselves as "Siv Yis" when they are in ecstasy. The gods of cosmic nature are simply called dab, while dab neeb or qhua neeb are shamanic spirits that float through the worlds and work with the shamans operating within a specific sphere which is their domain. The shamanic spirits include wild spirits of untamed nature and the tamed and friendly spirits of the house. Ancestral spirits (Xwm Kab) who reside in the world of the dead form another category, though also involved in shamanic practice.

The frog god Nplooj Lwg is considered the creator of humans. Ntxwj Nyug and Nyuj Vaj Tuam Teem are the lords of the otherworld, determining life, death and reincarnation or rest in heaven. While Ntxwj Nyug is an indigenous deity, Nyuj Vaj Tuam Teem is thought to derive from the Jade Lord of Taoism. Every house has an altar for the Dab Xwm Kab (god of good fortune).Dab Pog is the goddess of babies.Zaj Laug is the "Old Dragon" or "Dragon King".Poj Ntxoog is a fearful female spirit associated with the tiger.Yaj Yuam is an ancestral hero, the "Heavenly Archer", corresponding to the Chinese Houyi. Other gods are of nature, such as Xob, the god of thunder and lightning, and Nkauj Hnub and Nraug Hlis, "Lady Sun" and "Lord Moon".Chiyou (or Txiv Yawg) is worshipped as an ancestral god of the Hmong nation.

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