when you buy a house - hmoob kev cai

[floaty]

what do you look for? count the house number? what is the thing they do with putting rice grain in a bowl outside the property and going back to look at it? corn throwing inside home? please explain to us hmongs that do not know of such thing and why we do it.

thank you!

[yuknowthat]

House blessing! every new home you move to whether it's just a studio, condo, or apartment, etc..

 but i've never seen any you described.

[Tubpojntxoog]

what do you look for? count the house number? what is the thing they do with putting rice grain in a bowl outside the property and going back to look at it? corn throwing inside home? please explain to us hmongs that do not know of such thing and why we do it.

thank you!

Let me start with a real case. When I lived in PA in 2006, my wife came home and told me a strange story. She said her coworker Miskas and her husband bought a piece of land and built a new house on it. Soon after they moved in, they learned that something was in the house. It kept haunting them day and night. Her coworker worked night shift while her husband worked day shift. She was so scared to go home that she rather went to rent a hotel room to sleep.

Hmong believe the spot where you would build your house on sometimes is conquered by something else. If you choose it carefully, your house will bring you fortune or give you a happy life rather than miserable problems. That is why they xaiv qua tsev. Xaiv qua tsev is not just something Hmong practice. Laotian people do too.

There are two methods that I know of. One is digging a hole in the area you want to built your house on, and put some rice grains in it and cover them with a bowl then put the dirt back to cover it. You also say something to it while doing all that. I don't even know the words. Go back to check it the next morning for unusual things that happen to the grains. They say there are times you will see the grains scattering on top of the dirt. How do the grain get on top? Nobody can answer that. If that happens, stay away from the area.

The other method is they will simply cut a stick and measure it for its length. Then they will just use the stick to hit around the area they like to build the house. At the same time, they are saying some words while hitting. After that they will measure the stick again. If the stick becomes shorter or longer than the original length, they will abandon the area.

Corn throwing around inside the house is done when it is believed that a ghost or some evil spirit has enter your house. This is done to drive the ghost out. Does it? I don't know.

[Xyooj-Man]

What you look for is good house number. My wife knows how to read it and she told me a little, but there can't be a 7 in the house number unless it's the first number. If it's good it's suppose to bring you fortune and happiness If not then bad luck.

You also look at the land if it's in a good position where the sun rise or fall. Bring an elder with you he should know if it's a good location or not.

Throwing corn is just before you moving in to let whoever is there spiritually. That you and your family will be moving in to the house, and for them to get out of the house. But I don't know as much as some people, this is just what I've known or seen before. It's not just us too white people know these stuff in there own way that's why they build in good areas.