good fortune). It is placed on the wall of the main room of the house. On the altar people make offerings of rice, chicken, soup and rice served in bamboo, with incense and joss paper. Txi dab ('Ge Da') is the general term for the offerings to the spirits, while laig dab is the ritual of offerings to the ancestors. On the last day of the Old Year, rice is offered to the ancestors, with a sacrificed chicken, and a soul-calling (hu plig) ritual is held. Joss papers are a central element of Hmong altars. There are both joss paper used as offerings and decorative joss papers. The second ones are used as symbols connecting with the gods, and they are usually composed of large white sheets, with smaller yellow or silver sheets, and sometimes little red squares. Another type of Hmong altar is devoted to a special category of spirits known as the ('da choua'), or spirits of medicine, which are generally practiced by Hmong women. In Hmong community, it is often Hmong women who specializes in the knowledge of herbalism. Although not as popular, this herbalist spiritual system works in tandem along with the Shamanistic practices. Rituals and psychology Religious rituals involving the respect of spirits and ancestors are performed by the patriarch of each family or the spiritual leader of a clan or a cluster of male relatives. More difficult ceremonies such as soul-calling () are performed by ritual experts the shaman (niam neeb txiv neeb) for spiritual healing, and various experts in funeral rites like the reed pipe player (txiv qeej), the soul chanter (nkauj plig) and the blessing singers (). The soul is believed to continue to exist in an afterlife in the ancestral spirit world or sometimes decide to reincarnate. The body (cev) is a microcosm believed to be constructed by a number of soul parts (plig or ntsuj) that mirror the macrocosm. Hmong religion includes specific rituals for the milestones of the life cycle: there are rituals for birth and baby naming, marriage, rename after marriage, trauma and sickness, extending the mandate of life for sick elderly, death and funeral. There are also festivals with corresponding ceremonies: the New Year (Lwm Qaib or Ntoo Xeeb, or also Noj Peb Caug) in mid-November, Nyuj Dab (Ox Festival), Dab Roog (Door Festival) and Npua Tai (Pig Festival). See also Chinese folk religion Laotian folk religion