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Vietnamese minority fight evil with fire

Sunday, 19 February 2017 6:22 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 19 February 2017 6:23 PM ]

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Fire dance of the Pa Then people.

An ethnic minority in Vietnam have immersed themselves in washing away the taint of evil with fire.

Logs prepared for the fire hopping dance.

The Pa Then people of northern Vietnam have held a ritual during which they pranced on scorching piles of embers to supposedly exorcise evil spirits and pray for a healthy harvest.

The offering of a boiled pig sitting on a platter of its own intestines starts the Vietnamese minority Pa Then's ritual fire dance. © AFP

The ceremony, which is reckoned as a national treasure, started with shamans setting a large pyre ablaze and chanting to invoke spirits.

A tray of votive offerings, which include a pig's head and a cooked chicken.

Then lithe young men ran through burning coal barefoot and prepared themselves to drown in a state of trance as fire stoked.

In a similar symbolic act, Hakka villagers in China tried to burn all foul away by embracing flames.

During the ceremony held in a temple at Fujian province, 8 men were selected by elders to expose their bodies and faces to fireworks spitting out white sparks.

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