Neit Ceremony

There are more than thirty types of spirits, such as the spirit of the Home, the spirit of the Road, the spirit of the Tree, the spirit of the Water, the spirit of the Dream, the spirit of the Mountain, etc. There are also "Female ghosts" with gender-specific characteristics, as well as "Nu ghosts" and "Han ghosts" named after other ethnic groups.

In the village of Black Squirrel, most villagers over fourty years old know how to offer sacrifices to Neit in order to avoid disaster. This specific ceremony took place around 9am, because someone in this family had been feeling unwell for days.

Therefore, men from the same village were invited to preside over the ceremony behind the house, and helped cook piglet. Women mainly served tea and water to the guests during this process. This time, the ceremony may have been simplified: after killing the piglet, the host distributed the pig to all the villagers. In the past, such a ceremony required the host family to invite all the villagers to dance and feast all day until the pig was finished.

When I asked him why everyone got the pork, a young villager told me that maybe people could share the pain of that patient. On the other hand, the villagers felt more or less hesitant when I asked what this ceremony was about, and they whispered in Chinese: "做迷信” (superstition). They seem to want to end this conversation. "迷信" is a vague term, used by the authorities of atheism to refer to certain religious activities.