Posted on 12/01/2004 4:47:41 AM PST by PjhCPA
ST. PAUL - The man charged with murdering six hunters and wounding two others in Northwestern Wisconsin last week is a Hmong shaman who has called on the spirit world in trances that last up to three hours, his family and friends say.
The accused, Chai Soua Vang of St. Paul, seeks "the other world" when he tries to cure sick people or invoke divine protection for those who request it, said Ber Xiong, his friend and former hunting companion.
"He is a special person," Xiong said. "Chai speaks to the other side. He asks the spirits there to release people who are suffering on Earth."
Xiong said that Vang, a 36-year-old truck driver, was one of about 100 shamans among St. Paul's immigrant community of about 25,000 Hmong from Laos. He said he had assisted Vang in several shamanistic ceremonies, most recently two years ago, when an extended family asked him to ensure its health and prosperity.
"He danced on a small table for about two hours," said Xiong, an employee of an audio-technology business in Bloomington, Minn. "He was calling out the whole time, not to the people in the room, but to the other world. My job was to sit near the table and make sure he did not fall off."
snip
But in a brief interview, Vang's sister, Mai, confirmed that he was thought to have mystical powers.
"He is a shaman," Vang said. "But I don't know how long he has been one."
Cher Xee Vang, a prominent leader among the Hmong in Minnesota, said the suspect, to whom he is not closely related, had often participated in curing ceremonies.
"Chai Vang is a shaman," Cher Xee Vang said. "When we needed him to cure the ill with traditional ways of healing, he would."
(Excerpt) Read more at duluthsuperior.com ...
Ping to you...
Oh, oh. This means its a case of religious persecution, and the man cannot be charged with a crime. That's in the penumbra of the First Amendment. Darn! If only this guy were a Christian -- then he'd be fair game for criminal prosecution.
I don't care one whit about his job. He still has to answer for what he has done!
Is this an attempt to convince a jury that this tragic incident was unavoidable and therefore, Hmong is not responsible for his actions? Phooey!
Perhaps he can shaman his way out of jail. I doubt it. If convicted, I suspect he'll get shanked.
Just makes me want him to fry even more.
Amen.
Words fail me.
I view this story as a subtle attempt to undermine the rule of law that we all live under. If any rock breaker neanderthal can claim special priviledge for their primitive beliefs, we can forget about the finer points like protecting our families.
31: Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
Chapter 20
6: And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Yep.
Leni
BTTT
He should tell them to set an extra plate.
Why have we heard nothing from the MSM and FNC? Is it too hot to handle?.
But had a white man shot and killed 6 Homg(sp) and two still in the hospital........can you even imagine the outcry from the media!
It would be 24/7.
Well, I see they're establishing the basis for an insanity defense: many traditional cultures set aside as shamans those we would set aside in in-patient psychiatic facilities.
Please put me on your ping list. This seems to be the only place to read about this horrible story.
shaman? translation? "nutjob"
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