Rice and everything nice

      Every aspect of the Rice Goddess ceremony, Mnhum Yang Potai, is highly symbolic.
“Red symbolizes sweat, blood, and the energy needed to grow rice,” says Ya Hang, a 53-year old leader of the ethnic Chu Ru community in a remote Lam Dong Province village.
Hang and several other men from Proh Commune, Don Duong District, squat in the hot Central Highlands’ sun, carving two long bamboo poles.
“Black symbolizes natural calamities, which may steal farmers’ livelihoods at anytime,” Hand says as he decorates his pole with colorful hand-made flowers. “Yellow symbolizes matured rice arriving in our homes after the harvest.”
The poles are but one component of the biannual colorful Goddess of Rice Ceremony, in which the villagers give thanks for their rice harvest. The yard outside the village’s central wooden hut is littered with the makings of the ceremonial poles. The shorter pole, just less than two meters long, is called the female pole and decorated with three rings of red, black and yellow flowers. The male pole, just over two meters long, is decorated with nine rings of flowers,
The tip of the male pole is adorned with the sacred bird, Polang. The Chu Ru say the bird is a benevolent god that can drive away evil spirits that come in the form of other birds.
The Chu Ru are a matriarchal clan, and gender roles play an important part in their society.
“Only married men can make these poles,” says Hang as he plants one of the two poles firmly in the ground in front of the hut. After the other pole is planted near the entrance, the ceremony is ready to begin.
Sage says
Local shaman Ya Phu is the center of the offering ceremony. Villagers invite him to organize all kinds of sacred rituals, including weddings and funerals, as they believe he can communicate with gods and even evil spirits. Also a farmer, Phu is paid for his services in the form of chicken meat, some rice wine and beads.
The sacred hut in front of which the ceremonial poles have been placed is built of wood, bamboo and straw. The walls are angled toward the east and west. The hut’s entrance faces the southeast.
When dusk arrives, the village gathers in front of the hut. Everyone is dressed in traditional clothes and leaders carry torches.
The shaman leads a procession around the hut. Behind him stroll men carrying food offerings to the gods and a set of three gongs. At the end of the group, people carry large jars of wine.
In the hut, the gongs are leaned against the western wall. The Chu Ru believe that all life and growth originates in the east and therefore their offerings are always set on the eastern side of the hut. The offerings include cakes, chicken, pork, betel nuts, areca leaves, boiled eggs, rice, porridge and bananas. There is also one bowl of sacred, uncooked rice, in the middle of which a chicken feather stands upright.
The Chu Ru believe the Rice Goddess lives in the rice basket of each family in the village, so at the end of the ceremony, each household carries home a handful of the sacred rice to place in their family basket.
Soon, a clean live boar, tied to a bamboo pole, is brought into the hut.
People pour water from the nearby stream into the wine jars, which are only partially filled with wine and herbs. They then pour the mixture onto the pig’s head before slaughtering it.
Ya Phu pours candle wax into a bowl of burning coals, the first official invitation to the gods.
He then sits facing east, with the village elders sitting behind him, asking the gods to allow the ceremony.
Journey to the other side
Phu rhythmically rings a series of bells and chants prayers, inviting gods to come to the village for ceremony.
The shaman then leans backward in a trance-like state. This symbolizes that he is riding a horse to the gods’ world, and that the road is rough.
Phu informs the gods that the rice has been harvested and brought home. He tells the gods that the village is hosting a ceremony to thank them. On behalf of villagers, he prays for strong crops in the future and good health for everyone.
If there are any flaws in the ceremony, the shaman will have to punish himself by ritualistically drinking wine or water, or hitting himself with a whip.
After Phu speaks to the gods, two trays of pork from the newly-slaughtered pig are laid in the yard for the gods. Two more trays of meat are placed as offerings in the hut, alongside chicken, rice, wine and a bowl of porridge. One last piece of pork is hung above the gong set.
Prescience
To end the ritual, the shaman throws chicken legs and wings into the air. He then predicts the future by reading the way they have fallen, as which side it has landed on and which direction it is facing are said to be omens.
Now, the sounds of drums and gongs begin, informing people from other villages that the Chu Ru are about to celebrate.
Soon the traditional Rokel pan-pipe begins and the drums and gongs grow louder. The group moves outside and 10 young men and women dance energetically to the music.
With graceful hand gestures and glistening eyes, the women perform a dance to invite the gods to join the party.
Slowly, the dancers reach to the hut. Their howls are mighty and wild and the ambience turns mystical in nature.
People invite each other to enjoy wine, which they drink together through straws out of large communal jars. Under the bright moonlight, the whole yard smells of wine.
The village drinks, eats and dances until sunrise..