Ua neeb khu: a Hmong American healing ceremony
- PMID:21041553
- DOI: 10.1177/0898010110385940
Ua neeb khu: a Hmong American healing ceremony
Abstract
Ua neeb khu (pronounced "oo-ah neng kue") is a ceremonial healing practice engaged in by Hmong Americans for the treatment of various health problems involving spiritually focused concerns that only a shaman practitioner is qualified to treat. A qualitative ethnographic case study method with participant observation was used to analyze a spiritual healing ceremony performed by a shaman healer (txiv neeb) for an elderly Hmong American male residing in a midwestern city in the United States. The healing ritual was filmed and reviewed with the shaman healer to identify symbolic meanings and processes. Through ritual exchange and reciprocal transaction between the spirit and living world, the shaman facilitated the resolution of the spiritual problem and promoted the patient's healing and sense of well-being. Awareness of the symbolic aspects of ritual in ua neeb khu and the relationship to the patient's world view is useful to health practitioners for a holistic understanding of Hmong American healing practices.
Similar articles
- Hmong shamanism. Animist spiritual healing in Minnesota.Plotnikoff GA, Numrich C, Wu C, Yang D, Xiong P.Plotnikoff GA, et al.Minn Med. 2002 Jun;85(6):29-34.Minn Med. 2002.PMID:12092436
- Moral agency, identity crisis and mental health: an anthropologist's plight and his Hmong ritual healing.Postert C.Postert C.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2010 Mar;34(1):169-85. doi: 10.1007/s11013-009-9164-0.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2010.PMID:20012472
- Dang-Ki healing: An embodied relational healing practice in Singapore.Lee BO, Kirmayer LJ.Lee BO, et al.Transcult Psychiatry. 2020 Dec;57(6):786-800. doi: 10.1177/1363461519858448. Epub 2019 Jul 1.Transcult Psychiatry. 2020.PMID:31262232
- What is esoteric healing?Settersten L.Settersten L.J Holist Nurs. 2011 Jun;29(2):132-9. doi: 10.1177/0898010110385247. Epub 2010 Oct 21.J Holist Nurs. 2011.PMID:20966434Review.
- The Flexibility Hypothesis of Healing.Hinton DE, Kirmayer LJ.Hinton DE, et al.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2017 Mar;41(1):3-34. doi: 10.1007/s11013-016-9493-8.Cult Med Psychiatry. 2017.PMID:27142641Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Related information
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical