Soulmates

A Romantic take on Mienh folklore by Priscilla Trinh Lee

Soulmates

It is believed in Iu Mien folklore that before a soul (Wuonh) is brought to the Earth (Lungh diev) it sits in heaven as a flower (Biangh)

In Mienh culture there is a belief that before you are born your soul sits in a flower garden waiting to be picked to come live on Lunch Diev (the earth).

I believe that me and Ben (my partner) may have been best friends in the flower garden.

When I was picked, I lived in my mom’s belly and was quite nervous. I heard and felt the troubles of the earth and had changed my mind. I tied my umbilical cord around my neck. In Mienh there is even a name given to children for this — Tseng. However, I cannot trick fate, I was born on a late winter night in January. My parents were happy to see me safe in the world.

I cried so loud I believe even heaven could hear me. Maybe it was time, or maybe heaven felt sympathy for two friends who had been separated. Ben was born 9 months from that day during the transition of summer to autumn on an early September day.

We share the same color of earth in our eyes, and have a similar shape to our hands and feet. Maybe we had the same pedals and roots in another life and another time

Celestial Garden’s name comes from this belief of souls sitting as flowers above the heavens.