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Ta Phin Initiation Ritual

The initiation ritual is an obligatory ritual for Dao men as it plays an important role in their families and the community. Even if a Dao man doesn’t pass the ritual while he is alive, a family member must participate in the ritual on his behalf.

Every Dao man, when they are between 15 and 20 years old, has to pass this ritual. The ritual must be taken in order of a man’s position in the family; the father must pass this ritual before his son and an older brother must pass this ritual before his younger brother, and so on.

Once the ritual is passed, a Dao man is considered to be an adult. If an old man doesn’t pass this ritual, he must sit with the children during any important occasion.

In Red Dao society, only the people who pass the initiation ritual have the right to be village officials, worship ancestors and be the family host. These people are blessed by Ban Vuong (The Dao’s ancestor) and when they die, they can gather with their ancestors.

The men who pass this ritual have the right to be a magician, a very important position in Dao society. Although, these individuals must pass the initiation rituals with 7 and 12 lamps. The initiation ritual is divided into 3 levels: 3 lamps, 7 lamps and 12 lamps.

In this initiation ritual, there are 10 rules or oaths which have religious significance but are also educational. People are taught to control their sexual desire, not to be mercenary and to help other people.

A person who doesn’t pass this ritual will not be able to control their ghosts and it is believed that this will have a negative effect on the destiny of their offspring. The Initiation ritual is considered the “birth of a person”, the ritual when a Dao man receives a name from the gods. The documents in this ritual are considered a ‘passport’ for the underworld and people are not punished by devils when they die.

For these reasons, no matter how expensive this ritual is, the Dao must hold it. The small ritual (3 lamps) can cost 2 or 3 pigs and tens of chickens. The largest ritual (12 lamps) can costs over tens of pigs and hundreds of chickens, with many servants required and lots of work.