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KINDS OF `SUKHWAN' RITES AND OCCASIONS
OF PERFORMANCE

The significance of the rites will be readily apparent when we examine the
occasions on which they are performed. The occasions are numerous and
there is a profusion in the names given to the ceremonies. I shall therefore
group and classify the ceremonies to indicate certain uniformities and
distinctions.

1. Rite of passage: (a) marriage (sukhwan phua mia mai). The rite is
a major component of marriage proceedings and is performed to give the
couple a prosperous life together. During the rite the couple are instructed
about proper behaviour towards each other and towards relatives; the
couple pay their respects to elders, who in turn bind their wrists. (b)
ordination (sukhwan nag). One important sequence in the ordination into
monkhood is this ceremony, in which the khwan of the nag is called and
bound. A noteworthy part of the ceremony is that the officiant tells the
nag about his obligations to his parents, especially the mother, who have
brought him up, and to his kin who have contributed gifts and furnished
the eight requisites of a monk.

2. Pregnancy: the state of pregnancy is a focus for sukhwan rites.
Between the third and seventh months, two rites may be performed for
the mother. One rite, which is held for every mother before every childbirth,
is the sukhwan maemarn, the calling of the khwan of the mother and of
the child in her stomach. The second rite, obligatory for the first childbirth
only, is more elaborate and is called taengkae maemarn (to loosen or untie
the pregnant mother). This rite is addressed to supernaturals pictured
as `old mothers' (than or alternatively mae gao mae laang) who allow
children to be born as humans.

The stated purpose of the pregnancy rites is to give the mother strength
and an easy delivery. A pregnant woman's khwan is prone to leave her
and roam because she is frightened of and anxious about the pain and
difficulties of childbirth.

3. Threshold ceremonies before starting an enterprise: these ceremonies
are essentially similar to rites of passage. However, there is no change of
status as such, but merely the entering of a new phase of activity which
requires protection, blessing and morale charging. Examples are: sukhwan
phraa, performed at the temple for monks by lay elders before the monks
go into retreat during the Lent season (khaw phansa); and sukhwan
thammada, `ordinary' ceremony, performed before a man goes on a trip
or before a youth goes into military service.

4. Ceremonies of reintegration: such occasions are when a man returns
to the village after a long or extended trip (the rite is performed `because
his khwan may have stayed behind'), or when he returns after serving
a prison sentence or completing his national service. Another is when
a person recovers from an illness. All such occasions thus connote reintegration
or reacceptance into village society. The patient who was in
an abnormal status, removed from day-to-day life, returns to normal life.
In the case of the man who returns from jail, the villagers consciously
recognize the need to accept him publicly and reintegrate him into village
life.[1] What I call here ceremonies of reintegration are referred to as
sukhwan thammada (as 3 above). This means that for the villagers there
is a similarity between the threshold rites held before starting an enterprise
and rites of reintegration: what they have in common is that both relate
to periods of transition—the former to periods preparatory to separation
from the community or the course of normal life, and the latter

to periods preparatory to reuniting with the community or resuming
normal life.

5. Rites for those suffering from prolonged illness: these are rites wherein
the celebrant for whose benefit the ceremony is being performed has
been suffering from a prolonged illness. The patient has already been
subject to various kinds of treatment and has not recovered, and the
khwan ceremony is performed to charge him with morale and to give
him hope and `long life'. It is important to note here that the khwan rite
is performed not so much to cure the patient as to reconstitute the morale
of a dying or very sick person.

The following are examples:

(a) In the case of sickness in children: kae kamlerd or gae mae gao mae
laang—to dispel sickness caused by `former spiritual mothers' (mae
gao mae laang); baeng khaw baeng kai—to recall the khwan of a child
under ten years of age who is suffering from a prolonged illness owing
to the fleeing of its khwan (in this ceremony rice balls and boiled eggs
are cut into halves).

(b) In the case of sickness in adults: sutra khwan luang, a khwan
ceremony for the continuation of life performed for an adult who has
been suffering from a serious and prolonged illness. It is performed
while the patient is asleep. A similar ceremony is taeng kae promchati,
in which the heavenly creators of human beings (Thaen) are propitiated
to prolong life. Closely related to the latter are misfortunes caused by
such planetary agents as Rahu, for which Gae (dispelling) Rahu is
performed, and Bucha Tua Sawoei, a ceremony performed for the
animal of the year in which one was born.

6. Comprising a final category are rites for dispelling bad luck betokened by
inauspicious happenings, that is, when objects considered unlucky impinge
on human beings by `moving out of place'. Ceremonies called sia krau
or gae ubad have to be performed when unusual inauspicious events
take place—such as lightning striking a tree in the house compound or
the house itself, a vulture alighting on the house roof, a toad entering the
house, or a domestic buffalo lying down in the mud under the wash
place (hong naam). Readers familiar with Mary Douglas' ideas (Douglas
1966) will recognize these situations of certain objects or creatures being
out of place as signifying dirt or pollution or bad luck, for example
an inauspicious animal like the toad moving from outside into the house,
which represents `sacred' space; or a `sacred' animal like the buffalo
moving from a clean into a dirty place.

This list covers a wide spectrum of situations, which can be classified
in different ways. We should keep in mind that villagers refer to all the

rites listed above as sukhwan, and that the technique of the ritual—the
calling of the khwan and the binding of the wrist with cord—is always
the same. Usually when villagers talk about sukhwan rites they have in
mind situations 1-4 in my list: that is, assumption of new status, pregnancy,
initiation of an enterprise, and reintegration into normal village life of
persons temporarily removed from village society. It is in relation to
these situations, then, that I propose to probe further concerning the
purposes and structure of the rite and what it does.

The khwan, it is said by villagers, stays with the body when a person is
in good health, has strength, and is leading a good life. But it is prone to
leave the body when the `state of mind is not good' (caj bau dii). These
words are significant; the flight of the khwan is attributed to the state of
the mind. But, as noted in Chapter 4 (p. 58), `The causes and consequences
of the khwan's departure are formulated in a circular manner...'
It is said that `when the mind is stirred or agitated, the khwan leaves'.
And when the khwan flees the body, this will result in sickness; correspondingly,
the ceremony must be held to forestall the flight. Conversely,
sickness of the body can lead to agitation of the mind and the khwan's
flight; correspondingly, the khwan must be called back to the body of the
ill person. In either event, through this circular formulation, the crisis
is agitation leading to flight of the khwan. Therefore the khwan must be
`bound' to the body, that is, secured or restored. The sukhwan thus
addresses itself to agitations of the mind which are either prelude to or
result of sickness.

We can now take up the role of the ceremony in pregnancy. When a
woman is pregnant, it is said, she is frightened about the pains and
difficulties of childbirth or that she may die. The khwan may in these
circumstances leave her. Ideally the ceremony should be performed in
good time, before it leaves; if it does leave and she becomes ill, the
khwan is called back to the body, so that the woman will be restored to
good health and have an easy delivery.

In marriage, the ritual is performed in order that the couple may have
a prosperous life together and in order to prevent marital quarrels and
divorce. Before ordination, the nag may be anxious about the rigorous
monastic life ahead of him, or he may be thinking about the girl he loves.
When a young man returns from a long trip, his parents fear that his
khwan may have stayed behind or strayed on the way.

It would appear, when we examine village theory and the occasions
at which sukhwan is performed, that there are two features to the rite
which relate to timing and to influencing the mental state of the celebrant.
Many of the situations embody both features, others emphasize one more

than the other. In rites of passage (marriage and ordination) the transition
to a new status is a point of great elaboration; threshold ceremonies
prior to initiating an enterprise also emphasize a new phase. A second
emphasis is the reassuring of the mind, the charging or restoration of
morale and health, which finds its greatest elaboration in dangerous physical
states like pregnancy or in sickness. But of course just as pregnancy anticipates
motherhood and is a transition period, so are an ordinand or the couple
to be married considered as being `agitated' and needing a morale-booster.
Thus village theory sees an underlying uniformity in the situations.

Now these statements of uniformity about sukhwan and the occasions
on which it is performed set the problem I wish to probe in the rest of
this chapter. Because it is said that the khwan flees owing to the agitations
of the mind, the ritual must in some way address itself to making an
impact on the minds of the celebrants. And because the ritual is so clearly
recognized by the villagers as conferring a happy state of mind, prosperity
and good health, a challenge is posed to unveil the mechanism by which
the intended effect is transmitted. If sukhwan rites are in some sense
prophylactic or therapeutic, what is the method used?

Using the rite of passage (marriage and ordination), and the pregnancy
ceremony as two foci of crystallization of ideas within the wider sukhwan
class, I shall proceed with a detailed analysis in order to unravel their
structure and meaning as ritual forms. The experience gathered in earlier
chapters in analysing rites performed by monks now enables me to state
a formalized scheme which will be utilized not only here but in later
appropriate contexts as well.

1. Analysis should first specify the occasion or the context of the ritual.
(This has already been done for the rites in question.) The occasion
itself will specify what kind of message is going to be transmitted to the
celebrant and why the celebrant is assumed to be receptive or prepared to
receive the message.

The khwan ceremony at marriage or ordination is only one—albeit
crucial—sequence in a greatly elaborated set of ceremonies which bring
together large numbers of people, and which are considered auspicious
(mongkhon/mangala) and therefore joyous. The celebrants—the marrying
couple or the ordinand (nag)—are presumed to be ready to receive a
particular kind of message which characterizes for them the role commitments
of their new status. This assumption is made by those who participate
in the ritual, and they consider the holding of the ceremony as both a ritual
and a social imperative.

For the pregnant woman, the ritual is by contrast an independent
ceremony performed to restore something (morale and health), and to

remedy a negative situation. It is presumed in holding the ceremony that
the patient, being unwell and unhappy, wants to be reassured and healed
or reintegrated. The ceremony is a cultural remedy and it, too, is considered
to be an imperative when the appropriate situation occurs or is believed
to be likely to occur.

2. Thus what I call the `occasion' or the context of the rite can also
be seen as portraying the community's definition of the celebrant's
situation, the effect or transition he is expected to experience. There
is thus a specification of the receiver of the message. Note that I avoid
imputing to the celebrant or patient this state of mind, which is defined
socially. Analysis of the ritual as prophylactic or therapeutic, as undertaken
here, does not postulate or much less prove the supposition that what is
culturally defined for the celebrant is subjectively experienced by him,
although if the ritual is to be actually effective—that is, to achieve what
it intends—a correspondence may be necessary. I can only suggest the
possible effectiveness of the cultural technique as a teaching or indoctrinating
device in the appropriate social context.

3. The third level of analysis is to decode the message that is being
transmitted by the ritual, and the framework for this has been developed
in the preceding chapter. We saw there that the message is contained in
a configuration of events which are composed of two types of ritual acts:
(a) physical acts and manipulation of objects; (b) the recitation of words
or texts. In all sukhwan ceremonies, as in the Buddhist rites, that part
of the ritual which consists of manipulating objects symbolically tends
to be uniform with only minor variations. The differences in the message
transmitted to suit one kind of sukhwan rite rather than another are to
be discovered in the words recited. Thus again, as in the case of Buddhist
rites, we must pay attention to the words here too, for they are considered
by the villagers to be the most essential part of the rite. The recitation
of words is in fact the main part of the ceremony, and the only uniformity
in the content of the individual rites is the common formula for `calling
the khwan'.

But there is one feature that distinguishes sukhwan ritual from the ritual
of Buddhist monks: its words are in the local Lao language of ordinary
use and are understood by officiant, celebrant, and audience. This is
a different use of words from that of the Pali chants of monks and will
be commented upon further.

4. The effectiveness of the ceremony also depends on a fourth factor,
namely the status and characteristics of the sender of the message (the
officiant) and the supporting cast of witnesses and mediators whose presence
is considered necessary. Why are the occupants of certain statuses the

right persons to perform and help at sukhwan ceremonies? And why are
they considered the appropriate persons whose acts will achieve effects in
the persons who are the receivers?

This scheme for analysing the sukhwan ritual may be summarized as
specifying the following levels of analysis and then fusing them—the
occasion, the sender, the receiver, the supporting cast, and the message
(the latter being a combination of the language of object symbols and
physical acts, and the language of words).

I shall now describe and analyse two rites of passage and a rite of
affliction, concentrating first on the ritual as a sequence of acts, next on
the text recited at the rites, and finally on the special properties of the
supporting cast. Since the officiant in all sukhwan rites is a village elder
and since his social position and ritual role are critical, I shall deal with
him separately in a subsequent section.

`Sukhwan' ritual at marriage: case illustration 1

The sukhwan ceremony at formal marriage is only one phase in the
proceedings. The following is an account of a rite which was performed
in the morning.

The phakhwan of the marriage ceremony is a conspicuous ritual item,
under other names, in all khwan ceremonies. It is a tiered conical structure
built on a tray, and on it are placed a boiled egg, bananas, flowers and
a lump of rice. The participants sit around it. The phakhwan is an offering
to the khwan. When the officiant invites the khwan of the celebrants to
come, they first come to the phakhwan because they are attracted to it.
The rule for marriage ceremonies is that elderly married women who are
still living with their husbands should make the phakhwan; widows and
divorced or separated women should not be assigned this task. There is
a taboo on the performance of sukhwan for the bride and groom together
if a parent (or the parents) of either of them is dead, for if it is done
under these circumstances the pair will not live or stay together long.
If a parent is dead, separate khwan ceremonies must be done for the
bride and groom. Villagers cannot say why this taboo exists. As in the
case of other khwan ceremonies, this particular one was performed in
order to make the bride and groom `rich, live well, healthy and happy'.
The observer can reasonably infer that the khwan ceremony avoids the
participation of widows and divorcees because it is meant to affirm the
stability of marriage. Similarly, marriage is `opposed' to death and this
notion is marked by a separate performance for the couples when a parent
is dead. After the bridewealth had been ceremonially presented, the
ceremony was conducted in the presence of the assembled guests in the

sleeping room (haung yaai) of the bride's parents' house, in that section
used by parents and located in the eastern quarter (see Chapter 2). The
officiant was a ritual elder called pupaahm or paahm (which is derived
from the Indian word brahman). He sat on one side of the phakhwan;
the groom and bride sat close together on the other side, the former on
her right. Sitting in a circle between the paahm and the groom were
three men, between the paahm and the bride four women. (The numbers
were said not to be significant. It is not necessary that these men and women
be married; they are friends of the couple and include both married
and unmarried young adults.)

A cord was attached to the phakhwan and passed through the hands of
the women, next of the groom and the bride, then of the men, and its end
was held by the paahm. The cord is called fai monkhon (thread of good
fortune). The officiant then placed a bamboo ring, with pieces of cotton
wool attached, on the head of the groom; an elder's wife did the same
for the bride. (The villagers interpreted this act as marking the pair as
the beneficiaries of the rite.)

A candle was lit, after which the officiant chanted the invitation to
the thewada or divine angels. (The thewada are always invited to come
and witness the marriage rite: they are told that on such and such a day
the marriage is being held for so-and-so. They are requested to help call
the khwan of the bride and groom so that they will come, `join as a pair',
and enter the bodies of the couple.) Then followed a long chant which is
the actual `calling of the khwan', and which I shall discuss presently.

Next the officiant gave advice and moral instruction to the couple. Thus,
for instance, the groom was told that he should not show interest in
divorced or separated women but must be true to his bride. The bride
was told that she was a daughter-in-law and must love her husband and
her husband's parents. The officiant then made sacred water (fai naam
lao) by pouring liquor and/or perfume into a bowl of water, and sprinkled
the couple with it. (From this point on, the young people in the audience
intermittently joked and pushed the bride and groom so that their bodies
touched.)

The paahm picked up the lump of rice, a banana, and the egg from the
phakhwan, put them in the groom's hand, and then tied his wrist with
a piece of white thread (fai mongkhon). The procedure was repeated for
the bride. (This may be said to represent the transference of the khwan
from the phakhwan to the couple, followed by the binding of the khwan
to the body.) The elders, men and women, and the young people followed
in tying bits of thread to the wrists of the couple. The elders at this point
gave the couple gifts of money. This sequence is referred to as puk-khan.

What has been described is the sukhwan ceremony proper. It is followed
by a sequence called somma phuu thaw (which is enacted without the
sukhwan when the latter is not appropriate, that is, when parent or
parents of bride or groom are dead). The words somma phuu thaw are
critical for understanding village social and kinship relationships and
obligations, especially the place of elders in the village community. Somma
means `forgiveness', phuu thaw means `old person'. These phuu thaw
are also, in the context of marriage proceedings, called thaw gae (old old
persons), which term is understood in the sense of intermediaries or
witnesses. Traditionally somma phuu thaw, `asking the forgiveness of
elders', is an essential part of the marriage ceremony. `Forgiveness' in
fact means two reciprocal things: the couple pay their respects to elders,
the elders confer their blessings on the union.

The `somma phuu thaw' on this occasion took the following form (a
standardized pattern). Two cushions were placed end to end and a bowl
containing flowers and candles was placed on top of them. The couple
sat on one side of the cushions and the officiant on the other. (Male and
female friends may or may not sit next to the couple.) The officiating
elder (the same person as the officiant of the sukhwan rite) first touched the
bowl—this he explained as `accepting the flowers and candles given as
the gift of the groom and bride to the elders'. He then gave them lengthy
advice (a longer version of the advisory sequence in the sukhwan described
above). For instance, since in the case of this marriage the couple were
expected to live uxorilocally (for a while at least), the groom was told
how to behave as a good son-in-law of the household—that he must
respect his new `parents' and work hard. The wife was given an even
longer instruction. She was told: Do not argue with your husband,
prepare food for your husband to eat when he returns from work, look
after the house and keep it clean, get on well with the husband's relatives,
do not commit adultery, save money from your husband's earnings, etc.

Following this, an elderly married woman led the bride and groom to
their sleeping quarters (the western quarter of the sleeping room), where
the bed had been prepared for them. They then returned and candles
and flowers from the bowl were distributed to all the phuu thaw. (This
is a `gift' to them from the couple and `marks' them as witnesses.) With
the wedding rites thus concluded, a feast was given to all those present.

Now for some comments on the ritual symbolism. That in the sukhwan
ceremony is pretty obvious and requires no lengthy elucidation. The
ceremonial structure, phakhwan, or its equivalent, is to be found in most
village rituals; it reminds one of the prasaat (palace) in Buddhist rites, the
conical pagoda, and the seven-tiered umbrella of royalty. The name of

the structure, however, changes with the rite and this is conceptually
important. In this case the phakhwan stands as the object that will attract
the khwan; it is the place where the khwan will alight; in other words, it
becomes the externalized and objectified khwan itself. Items of food—
boiled egg, lump of rice, bananas, etc.—are placed in the phakhwan; the
khwan is attracted by them and enters them, and when the officiant
transfers the khwan to the bodies of the celebrants it is these items of food
that are first handed over to the couple. In every ritual in the village,
food items are used symbolically as offerings, as the objects that attract
supernaturals, and as a medium for the transfer of sacredness. In this
khwan rite we may note that the food objects and other offerings are called
kryang bucha, that is, objects for making worship, the word bucha being
derived from the Indian word puja. The offerings in this case distinguished
by the fact that they lack meat and are primarily, except for the egg,
vegetarian, and that they are offered to pure benevolent sacred agents.
(The logic of these category distinctions can only be expounded later when
we have examined other rites, especially those addressed to phii (spirits).)

The white cord is the object through which `charging' or `sacralization'
takes place, and it is also used to bind the wrist (puk-khan). Through this
act the khwan is tied to the body. The ritual role of the cord is similar
to that in certain Buddhist rites examined earlier in Chapter 12. The role
of the lustral water as a cleansing agent before the khwan is received by
the celebrant is also readily evident.

The officiant is signified by his wearing on his arm a package containing
cooked rice, banana, and coins; this package also constitutes the nominal
payment for his services. The signification of the celebrants requires
a gloss: a bamboo ring with pieces of cotton wool is placed on the head.
The white colour of the cotton symbolically connotes purity in this
context. The head is crowned because it is the head that is considered
the pre-eminent residence of the khwan. The mode of signifying the
recipient differs in different sukhwan rites, and I shall elucidate the logic
of this in the rites to follow. An additional object is the candle, which is
always lighted before the ceremony starts. In the wedding ritual a single
candle signifies both celebrants, and is not a focus of elaboration as in
the other two situations that will be examined.

Finally, the pushing of the bride and groom so that their bodies touch,
and their being led to the bridal chamber, are clear enough in their
implications for a couple being married and about to initiate sexual union.

Now to comment on the supporting cast in the ceremony. It is elderly
married women who are neither widowed nor divorced or separated who
make the phakhwan. The women thus stand for established stable marriage.

Young friends of both sexes, married and unmarried, sit on either side
of the groom and bride, themselves holding the cord. Youths are selected
to transmit good wishes and to give moral support to the couple. It is
a married elderly woman who leads the couple to the chamber, and it
is elders who take precedence in the binding of the wrists of the couple
and in turn receive respects and gifts from the couple—all of which
signifies that it is the elders who are establishing the marriage and who
are appropriate for transferring blessings. The somma phuu thaw sequences
underline these features. Youth takes a secondary place in these sequences,
and in fact throughout the entire marriage proceedings.

`Sukhwan nag' ritual: case illustration 2

The calling of the khwan of the ordinand for monkhood is, like the
sukhwan at marriage, one sequence in the ordination ceremonies (bun buad)
which cover two days. In Chapter 7 I have described the sequences: the
first day is the day of `bringing together' (wan ruam) the ritual articles,
especially the eight requisites of the monk (kryang meng), and the preparation
of food for feasting; and on the second day is staged the ordination
in the temple.

It is in the afternoon of the first day that the sukhwan ceremony is
held. In the morning the nag will have been shorn of his hair at the
temple, brought to the home of his parents, and dressed in a loin cloth
of red or green colour (pha mai) and a long white shawl (pha biang khaw)
worn diagonally on the shoulders. The red or green colours of the cloth
are auspicious life-affirming colours, while the white shawl `represents
Buddhist religion'—a vivid symbolization of the combination of characteristics
in a man in the transition from secular virile youth to ascetic
sexless monk.

The main sequence of ritual acts at sukhwan nag parallels that described
for marriage: here I shall make special note of the features which are different
so as to indicate the distinct features of ordination as such, thereby
permitting us to decode the special features of the message transmitted.

Let me briefly repeat some of the facts already stated. Ordination in
the village of Phraan Muan is invariably a collective ceremony at which
a group of boys becoming monks before Lent are ordained together.
The entire village participates; the boys not only are sons of particular
families (the heads of which are the chief lay sponsors) but are also
village youth whose ordination is sponsored by the entire village.

The sukhwan rite is appropriately held in the preaching hall of the
temple. In addition to the ceremonial structure called phakhwan, a central
object in the ritual is the kryang meng, the eight requisites of the monk

(robes, umbrella, begging bowl, slippers, razor, etc.), which are the
contribution of parents, relatives and fellow villagers (all collectively
called the elders (phuu thaw)). These articles are the objective symbols
of the monk's mode of life.

The ordinands sit on one side of the phakhwan and the kryang meng,
which are in the centre, and the officiant (paahm) sits on the other. The
cord attached to the phakhwan passes through the hands of the ordinands,
terminating with the officiant. This is similar to the marriage rite except
that no youths sit on either side of the nag holding the cord—for clearly,
their presence would be inappropriate in a situation which anticipates
the renouncing of lay life.

But a more remarkable difference from the rite at marriage is the
method of signifying or marking the celebrants. Candles play a significant
role here, and they are of two kinds: thian wian hua (candles of the length
of the circumference of the head) and thian kha khing (candles of the
length from shoulder to waist). Each candidate's head and body are
measured and candles made with wicks of the appropriate length. The
`head' candles are attached to the phakhwan and lit during the ceremony;
the `body' candles are attached to the kryang meng. The symbolism here
as decoded by the anthropologist is the dichotomy of head and body, or
spirit and body. The `head' candles signify that the candidates' spirit
essences (the chief manifestation of which resides in the head)[2] should
return and be attached to their heads; but the `body' candles signify that
their bodies become attached to the monk's articles and are dedicated to
the service of monkhood as symbolized by these articles.

The sequence of recitation, sprinkling with lustral water, transference
and binding of the khwan is the same as that described for marriage. The
role of the supporting cast of witnesses and mediators (thaw gae) is the
same: parents, elderly relatives, and elderly villagers play the significant roles
as sponsors. While of course youth are present at the proceedings, ordination
(even more than marriage) is more emphatically a concern of the elders.

This is a convenient place to digress in order to make a general statement
about the symbolism of lighted candles in sukhwan ritual. The lighting
of candles in front of the statue of the Buddha is a common mode of
worship and paying respects: we could say that in a sense the lighted
candle (or fire) `animates' the Buddha, and initiates the arrival of sacred
time, the period of the ritual. In sukhwan the thian wian hua or head candle
is usual: its lighting starts the ceremony, and the candle, in addition to
representing the celebrant, also informs of the purpose of the ritual,

which is that the khwan (which resides in the head) should return to the
body. Sometimes an additional candle is used which also transmits a
message that is special to the particular ceremony being performed. In
ordination the thian kha khing states the subservience of the body to
the ascetic régime of monkhood. In another sukhwan ritual, say a long
life ceremony, the second candle is called thian ayu, candle of age, which
expresses the hope of long life.

`Sukhwan maemarn' ritual (pregnancy): case illustration 3

The details of the pregnancy ritual are the same as for the rituals already
described: in the centre is a phakhwan; the officiant is the paahm; the
text is read, lustral water sprinkled on the celebrant, and the cord of
good fortune tied (fai mongkhon) by the paahm and the witnesses. The
ceremony is completed with a feast for the guests, who themselves usually
make small money contributions. The ritual, however, is an entity by
itself rather than a sequence in a larger ceremony, and is usually held
early in the morning around 8.00 a.m. on an auspicious day. The pregnant
woman is marked with a head ring made of thread, and a candle of the
head (thian wian hua) is lit to begin the ceremony; the symbolism of these
is the same as in the other rituals described (see Plate 4a).

The main differences between the pregnancy ritual and the sukhwan
at marriage and ordination is in the content of the text read and the status
of the supporting cast or `witnesses' who are present in the ceremony.
Both features symbolize something special about the occasion of the rite
and the position of the celebrant.

Let me illustrate the second point by referring to an actual sukhwan
maemarn that I witnessed. The ceremony was intended primarily for
a young woman called Jandaeng, who was experiencing her first pregnancy.
Her father and mother sponsored the ceremony for her—Jandaeng and
her husband were, like most young couples, living uxorilocally. Another
pregnant woman—Jandaeng's mother's younger sister (who had had other
children)—also took part in the ceremony. She and her husband contributed
a small portion of the expenses.

Both women's husbands were present at the ceremony; the only other
males present were Jandaeng's father and the officiant himself. The
ceremony was, apart from the males mentioned, essentially an affair of
elderly women. If we take Jandaeng as the point of reference, there were
two women of grandparental generation (Fa Mo Yo Br Wi and Mo Fa Yo
Br Wi) and five of mother's generation (Mo, Mo Ol Si, a distant affinal
relative, and two elderly neighbours) present as thaw gae (mediators/
witnesses/old persons). Two women, in this case the two neighbours, who

were said to be women of respect (nabthy), held the cord which passed
from the phakhwan to the celebrant. Two unmarried girls were also
present at the ceremony, but their role as helpers was entirely subsidiary.

Now, this pattern of participation of witnesses, essentially limited to
elderly women and husbands of the pregnant women, differs from the
supporting casts at marriage and ordination. This is obviously related to
the fact that this ceremony was being held to `cure the mind of a pregnant
woman' (pua caj maemarn). How the ritual defines the celebrant's state
of mind and what kind of therapy it attempts will become clearer when
we scrutinize the text that is recited.

The content of the texts read in each of the three ceremonies will be
discussed in turn. The texts themselves are printed as an appendix to
this chapter. All sukhwan recitations begin with a standard invitation or
invocation which immediately places the ritual under the umbrella of the
divine angels (thewada) and the Buddha. The opening sentences constitute
the invitation to thewada, a sequence called sagkhe, who are invited to
attend the ritual and make it auspicious. They are to act as witnesses to
the proceedings, in the same way as do the mortal elders. Immediately
after this are recited the Pali words used by all Buddhists in worship,
meaning: `We worship the Blessed One, Arahat, Supreme Lord Buddha.'
We note the point (for subsequent comment) that the Buddha here follows
the thewada; it is the latter who are the benevolent mediators and the
conferrers of blessings. On the one hand, the ritual is more a concern of
lesser deities than of the inaccessible Buddha; yet it is clear, on the other
hand, that the ritual is performed by persons who identify themselves as
Buddhists.