The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is not only a ceremony to send off the Kitchen Gods to heaven but also an opportunity to send wishes for a smooth new year" - Mr. Nguyen Van Truyen (born in 1975, Can Tho City) told us.
To be ready to take the Kitchen Gods to heaven, Mr. Truyen and his wife, Mrs. Dang Thi Ly (born in 1979), woke up at 5 am. Mrs. Ly was busy in the kitchen while he was busy sweeping the garden, wiping the tables and chairs, and finally tidying up the place of worshiping the Kitchen Gods. This assignment has become the lifestyle of his family for generations: women keep the fire in the kitchen, men take care of the house.
Ms. Ly shared that the Kitchen Gods offering tray of people in the Mekong Delta is not fussy about quantity but focuses on the meaning of each dish.
Every year, I have to cook bitter melon soup with the hope that all the hardships of the old year will pass. The stir-fried dish must have green beans to pray for my children to study, take exams or do business well and prosper" - Ms. Ly said with a smile.
The clearest difference in the Kitchen Gods worshiping ceremony of Southern people is the paper offering set that Mr. Truyen often calls "flying storks and running horses". This is very different from Northern people who often worship live carp and then release them.
Standing in front of the Kitchen Gods' altar, Mr. Truyen carefully placed the "flying storks and running horses" offering set next to the meal tray. According to him, this is a symbol of the resonance between heaven and earth, between fast and far.
“Grandparents taught me that the horse symbolizes endurance, speed, helping the Kitchen Gods overcome dangerous terrain underground. And the stork is an image symbolizing elegance, helping the Kitchen Gods fly into the blue sky in the most gentle way” – Mr. Truyen explained about the folk tale.
When the incense sticks were burned halfway, Mr. Truyen performed the burning ceremony. Looking at the fragile ashes carrying the image of "horses flying and horses running", the couple believed that their sincere prayers had been received by the gods.
More than that, this year's Ong Tao procession brings a special feeling to Mr. Truyen's family as well as many people in the Mekong Delta, because the upcoming New Year is Binh Ngo year 2026 - the Year of the Horse.
The interesting coincidence between the "running horse" symbol in the offering garment and the mascot of the new year makes people believe in a "double strength". For them, the image of the horse is not only a means to help the Kitchen Gods go to heaven, but also a symbol of the breakthrough and reaching out of the land of nine dragons after a year of hard work.
In the Year of the Horse, worshiping'running horses' is the best. I pray for health for my family and hope that the economy next year will improve, running as fast as a horse's hooves" - Mr. Truyen excitedly said.
