Rice spirit calling ceremony of the M'nong Gar people

Like most ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, the Mnong Gar people in Dak Lak province believe that there is a soul in the rice grain. When the rice spirit stays with the family, the harvest will be bountiful. If taboos are violated, the rice spirit will fly away, causing the rice to become bad, infested with insects, and cause crop failure.

Therefore, the rice spirit calling ceremony is always respected, preserved and promoted by the M'nong Gar people in community life.

The M'nông Gar people live mainly in the old Lak district, now in the two communes of Lieng Son Lak and Dak Phoi. For generations, the M'nông Gar people's lives have relied mainly on slash-and-burn farming, in which rice plays a very important role.

Rice is not only used for daily life but also to brew rice wine used in ceremonies and to welcome distinguished guests; rice can be exchanged for goods, jewelry, household items, etc. For that reason, the ancient M'nong Gar people had many rituals to worship the rice god, of which the rice spirit calling ceremony is the most important.

Living in the middle of the great forest, like most ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, the M'nong Gar believe that all things have souls, meaning that all things have souls, and rice grains also have souls.

Therefore, when the rice god stays with the family, the harvest will be bountiful, the granaries will be full of rice. However, if taboos are violated, the rice god will fly away, causing pests and crop failure...

In a year, the M'nong Gar people have two ritual systems: agricultural and life cycle. In the agricultural ritual, the rice spirit calling ceremony is performed at the end of the harvest season, reserved for the last plot of land where the sacred rice is found.

Mr. Y Kai Cil in Jie village, Dak Phoi commune is a person who regularly participates in performing rituals for people in the village and commune, so he is very knowledgeable about the rice soul calling ceremony.

Mr. Y Kai Cil said that in this ceremony, the M'nong Gar people will pull out the pillars used for the ceremony on the opening day of the harvest, pluck the last rice grains and put them in a small basket worn on their waists, praying that the rice spirit will not leave and follow the people back home to the village.

Then, they pull up a piece of straw and some other leaves and wrap it in a blanket along with a sacred sickle, which they wear like a baby carrier. Along the way, they blow on the bamboo pipe and pray for the rice to return to the village. When passing through puddles or streams, they must use a leaf to make a bridge for the rice spirit to cross.

When arriving at the granary, the above items will be brought into the granary and offered a jar of rice wine. The person offering the rice wine will recite long prayers asking the rice god to stay in the village and in the granary, not to be afraid of anything and not to leave.

“Because they believe in the rice god and believe that if the rice god stays with the family, the fields will have a good harvest and the family will have a lot of rice. Therefore, the M'nong Gar people perform a very solemn ritual to call the rice god's spirit,” Mr. Y Kai Cil shared.

To preserve and promote traditional cultural identity, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Lak province coordinated with local authorities to support the M'nong Gar people in Dak Phoi commune to restore the rice soul calling ceremony.

For many years now, the M'nong Gar people in T'long village, Dak Phoi commune have also established a traditional art troupe to perform traditional rituals, including the rice spirit calling ceremony.

Meritorious Artist Vu Lan, a researcher of folk culture of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, said that the rice soul calling ceremony is one of the important agricultural rituals formed from the working life, reflecting the spiritual beliefs and cultural features connecting nature and the spiritual world of the M'nong Gar people.

This ritual shows gratitude, respect, and appreciation for the protection of the gods in all aspects of life of the ancient M'nong Gar people.

Currently, in the context of modern life, many traditional customs and rituals are gradually fading away, so the provincial cultural sector and local authorities have carried out many propaganda activities to support people in villages to restore and preserve traditional cultural rituals.

Thanks to that, many rituals were restored, including the rice spirit calling ceremony, both preserving and promoting the unique traditional cultural values of the nation and spreading the beauty of the land and people of the Central Highlands to tourists inside and outside the province.

NGUYEN HOAI BAO

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/le-goi-hon-lua-cua-nguoi-m-nong-gar-393160.html