Almost all aspects of traditional Hmong life are thought to be affected by contact with supernatural beings. A person is thought to have been allotted time on earth by God. The Hmong believe that any given Hmong person receives papers to come to earth as part of a given family and clan. Many ritual ceremonies are performed by the Hmong for the purpose of fulfilling the will of the ancestors and natural spirits. If the ancestors are pleased, they will protect the believer's descendants from illness and natural disasters.
Shamanism is viewed as a way to to maintain communication between the Hmong and the spiritual world.
Spirits of nature are believed to possibly cause physical and psychological harm to Hmong in the guise of illness, nightmares, and even death. Hmong shamans undergo rituals in order to figure out the causes of illnesses for the purpose of treating the effects. When performing rituals involving animal sacrifice, shamans communicate messages from evil spirits to the persons affected and vice versa. In sum, many Hmong are compelled to spiritual worship by fear stemming from health issues. While there is no standarization in Hmong religious rituals and practices, Hmong rituals usually revolve around the practices that their ancestors passed onto them.