Lahu Belief

Lahu people respect Aue Za as their god which is like christian god. Besides, they believe in spirits and ghosts. Aue Za God      Aue Za god is the great god who creates this world and all virtues. Worship god is the important thing to do because god will bless them fertility and a plenty of food. During New Year, by the end of January or until Febuary of each year, every villages have to worship and give their crop to Aue Za god. It is also the modest manner to ask for blissfulness in the following year. They offer god one bowl of crop and ask god to give back nine time next year. Ghosts           Lahus believe that there are also good and bad ghost in general area. The first group are guardian sprits which  protect  member of the family. On the contary, the another ghost are guardian spirits of the forest which give the severe punishment to the persons who insult them. If that person realizes that they are wrong doers, the redemption a vow to a spirit which is run by a shaman is held like Lahu’s belief. Spirit and courage      Lahus regard the spirit or soul as same as accultism of Thai. If the soul flies away from the body, it is risky to be harm by ghost and get sick. Lahus believe that the time when the soul flees away is the weakest period which causes discouragement and illness. So, they will ask To Bo for help. To Bo will run the accultism-ceremony by lighting the candle and reciting the spell. After the rite finishes, To Bo will tell the proper way which is told by god to patient to fulfill a vow. Moreover, for the small ceremony, the chickens are killed to feast all villagers and in the big ceremony, they kill the pig for food. Everyone in the village ties a sanctified thread around the patient’s wrist to bless and give him encouragemt.           There is the ceremony to call back the courage of Lahu. They will kill the chicken and cook it for few people such as the aged and the shaman. After eating, the chicken bone will show suddenly whether the courage come back yet. The belief about Opium Origin      There was one woman name Na Ma who was unmarried. After she died, her body was buried behind the village. Several days later, opium and tobacco trees growed miraculous in buried area. Opium tree sprouted in the same position as her bosom and the tobacco plant growed in the female sexual organ point. Since then, opium smokers are praised among people while tobacco smokers get offence from the society. Other Believes      Don’t bring skirts when go out for hunting because it may cause wrong shot. Don’t let the women touch any weapons or hunting equipements due to their ability is decreased.