The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Chapter 1 Summary

After reading chapter one from our reading, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, one of the Hmong customs that stood out to me the most was the sacrifice of an animal to cure infertility. I thought this was interesting because of the believe that you have to kill a living thing in order to give life to something else. Another one of the customs that stood out to me was the burial of the placenta, it stood out to me because there was a difference on the treatment of a boy’s placenta and a girl’s placenta. They believed that the placenta belonging to a male had greater honor, therefore was buried under a home in which the male spirit would look after it and create a strong home. A third custom that stood out to me was the hu plig ceremony …show more content…
We don’t believe in burying the placenta, sacrificing animals, staying away from caves or that our spirits would travel back to the original burial of the placenta. Although most of the Hmong customs differ from my own, there are a couple of similarities. Paying attention to a pregnant women 's cravings is also important in my culture. We believe that if a pregnant woman does not eat what she is craving, the baby would be born with some type of characteristic similar to the food she was craving. My mom once told me that our neighbor’s baby was born with a red bump on her forehead because the mother craved a strawberry and didn’t eat it. Another similarity between Hmong culture and my culture is the belief in eating certain foods after giving birth. As mentioned before, we are not allowed to eat cold foods because it wouldn’t help the healing process. After a woman gives birth, she is also given a strict diet of chicken soup accompanied with toasted tortillas or wheat toast and we are allowed to drink only oatmeal water or “atole”. Women in my culture need to follow this diet for the next forty days following a child’s birth. We are “safe” to eat our normal meals after the forty-day period because that is the amount of time it takes for the womb to heal and return to its normal …show more content…
They believe in giving birth to their children at home without any form of medicine or help. They believe that children go through medical issues because of the way a placenta has been buried. These beliefs may keep the Hmong people from going to hospitals. Not only may their customs create a health disparity but also many of the doctors are not aware of certain culture customs. Not speaking the English language or providing translators who speak the Hmong language, can have its disadvantages when communicating health issues or concerns. Not knowing the concerns of a certain group of people can create difficulty in providing them