New Year Spirit
At the Hmong New Year (Noj Peb Caug) a ceremonial address honors Ntoo Xeeb, the titular spirit of the new year, together with four benevolent spirits of the locality. Recorded in an ethnography of the Ban Mae Sa Mai community in northern Thailand, the ceremony combines expiation, supplication, and sacrifice to renew the community's standing with the spirit world at the turn of the year.