read the spirit catches you and you fall down

Later, the young girl was admitted to a hospital, but her epilepsy was not diagnosed at the time, primarily because the doctors could not communicate with Lia’s parents (they did not speak English, and the hospital did not have an interpreter). They tried many traditional remedies to treat their daughter’s condition the way they understood it. Going back to Lia, Fadiman tells the story of Lia’s first seizure, which her parents called “ qaug dab peg,” which means ‘the spirit catches you and you fall down’” (Fadiman 20).

In addition, the author reflects on the history of the Hmong people and the way they were repeatedly oppressed in many countries in which they lived. An important role in these beliefs and rituals is played by the txiv neeb (Fadiman 4), a shaman. Specifically, many traditions are related to the way a child should be delivered and treated during the first days of his or her life. From the beginning, the reader becomes familiar with the complex Hmong culture, which features many elaborate beliefs and rituals. The first chapter is dedicated to Lia’s birth out of 14 children of Foua Yang and her husband at the time, Nao Kao Lee, 12 had been born in Laos and delivered according to Hmong traditions (Fadiman 3). The book has two categories of chapters in it: some of them narrate the story of Lia Lee and her family, while other chapters discuss the history and culture of the Hmong people in general.

Read the spirit catches you and you fall down