When i was young my mind used to drift off somewhere into the spririt world. I can't really tell you guys but i will explained the process where we go after we died or what happens to us we don't get a proper funeral.
We are as the great confusician say living in the Yang part of earth, while the spirits live in the Yin. I can say that hmong people have been around since the beginning of time because there are so much stories and evidence to be digg up. And also China's government conspiracy locked up infor about our past and hidden them somewhere. They have also destroyed their culuture during the communist era and therefore destoryed our past as well, but i will recited four syllables. In china they Say " The Yin And the Yang" IN hmong we Say " Yin Cheej and Yang Cheej" samething as the chinese. This means good vs. evil, heaven and hell, or in our culture, human and spirite world.
Let's begin with the process i exp.
In the Hmong culture we are as realted to the spirits as we are to the chinese, japanese and others. Why do i say this? It is because we all are linked by spirits in the ways of rituals and spirit calling. In japanese culture they believed that demons will leaked out into our world and their job is to protect and scarrife beings to seal the gates of hell every 75 years. The chinese also have their own way and also us hmongs.
During the hmong funeral, the dead person will have to travel back to his homeland or hmong kingdom and it is located in china. Even the elders who guides his soul will say back to china and the dead person will be equipped with horse, bow and money, but the sadest thing is that we have to tear up the dead person's clothes so that the chinese won't try to steal it on his way to his homeland. This process is also part of hmong history but noone knows the true meaning. I believed i may have crack many mysteries behing hmong's stories but it will take a long time to find out the true meaning. Well as the dead person travels back to china, chinese merchants or bandits will try to steal his silky clothes and other goods but if we didn't tear up his clothes then the chinese will try to steal it.
This ritual or the passage to china was never created in the begining, but was only created not too long ago, probbaly when we had to flee china and migrate to indochina. That was when we started the ritual to sent the dead back to hmong kingdom. Chinese people are not bury with goods so when they died they will try to steal hmongpeople's silky clothes.
The journey for the dead will end when he reaches his homeland and meet up with his ancestors.
It is believed that hmong people have more than one spirits. We have one main spirits but when we died we multiply so that one can have two or three to guard our grave. Sometimes when it is time for the spirit to be reborn they will leave and go the first gate of the spirit world. I will brief on that later.
Sometimes your spirits may have one guarding the grave and the other will recarnate until he is reborn then will leave or disappear.
Hmong/all spirits whether it is black, white, mexicans ect. their spirits will remained whereevr they die unless they released their soul and this process can be seen in many ways. IN hmong we release the soul and the whites also do this, but i am not sure about blacks and mexicans. I can say this forsure because there hasn't been many reports of black ghosts compared to whites and asians. I would probbally say that blacks aren't as aggressive as whites, therefor whites have remained on earths whiles more blacks and others disappear after they died. This is just my thoughts-add commments.
Well in america they have what they called Pyshics and they released the souls by gathering energy to sent them back to where ever.
This is the reason why when someone died and have no whereabout where his body is, we release the soul to go to heaven and if not, then they will remain there forever. You will probbaly have dreams that they are hungry and are poor in the future dreams.
Well the elders say that there is a road in which we take if we are not dead. When our spirits wanders into the spirit world, Yawg Sau will call to us and bring us back to our place. In one dream, my grandpa said that he was sleeping and heard his brother playing the Leave instrument and he looked and it came from the moutains and he wa going to follow it but then suddenly he woked up and looked outside seeing his cousin playing the qeej. He thought what a drift dream he had.
This is the reason we are forbbiden to play the hmong drums and the Qeejs if it is related to sending the dead because if both are play inside the house, ghosts will be in there or someone sleeping while the music " sending the death" is played, the sleeper will follow the host playing the music into the spirit world and into the first gate of the spirit world.
Second, at the funeral if you fall down or sleep, then elders will yelled at you and wake you up. If you fell down on the path where the dead person will be carry at then you will need a hu plig so when they take the dead person to the grave it will not take yours.
Note :
The elders say that when the dead is carry out, the person's spirit is sitting upright and his arm/hand is moving/signaling any spirits that have fallen on his path to go with him in the spirit world and if this happens then that person will get sick and die. Also when the dead person is put into the ground, noone is suppose to stand in his shadow or coffin shadow because he will drag your shadow with him to live with him. Very rare but has happen before that is why our ancestors developed a Con for everything.
If you asked your elders they will tell you that if they have drifted into the spirit world they will come across a gate or called " Nyuj Va". this is where the human spirits stops at before going into the spirit world. If there is noone to stop you and you decided to go then your dream will become a reality. Dream is the portal to the other world and the linked between us and spirits. If you enter the gate then you will go with the dream and perished but if you stop then you should be fine. But before you enter there should be someone guarding the gate> Most of the time Yawg sau will stop you and tell you to go back or follow your someone's footstep. The CUe for this role is to wake up. Almost evry dream that end up like this after you are told to go back, you will encounter cliffs, huge lakes or others just so you can fall into it and be awaken.
Noone that i know has ever pass the first gate so i don't know much, but i will tell you that someone has passed it and they did not die. The person was charge/crime in heaven and they sent two messengers to take him to testify against his second wife. When he got upthere??? no more time in lap..so let me know if you guys are interest in this story. i will let you guys know what he experienced and other things.