University of Virginia Library

Text of the `sukhwan maemarn' ceremony

Keeping in mind that this text is recited for a pregnant woman, who it is
said is anxious about childbirth and for whom the ceremony will ensure
easy childbirth, let us look at the sequence of ideas and their content.

The sukhwan maemarn text begins in a manner that we are by this
time familiar with: the day chosen for the ceremony is declared to be an
auspicious one, and this theme of auspiciousness is given grandiose
elaboration. The gods and astrologers and monks and thirty village elders
have declared the day to be auspicious; the day is appropriate for the

enthronement of a king; for the birds to build their nests; for divorced
and separated women to go up the mountain; for the Buddha to shave
his head; etc.

The text then calls the khwan. The khwan of the legs, eyes, and flesh,
that is, the entire body, are requested to return. The distinctiveness of
this text, however, lies in the fact that the khwan of the pregnant woman
is asked not to stay and linger with a young man of the city in heaven, not
to aspire to enjoy heavenly pleasures, but to return to her earthly husband
who is described as slender and handsome and as shedding tears and
waiting for her. (We note that these words echo some of the words in the
marriage ritual: there the husband, who is described as being handsome,
is asked to join the wife who is awaiting him in the bed-chamber; here,
however, it is he who is anxiously awaiting her. Thus these words attempt
to focus the pregnant woman's attention on her husband, who is described
as desirable and as desiring her.)

The text next focuses on the immediate ritual situation. It describes
the phakhwan and the food set out, and mentions that elders, children,
young unmarried or divorced or separated women, and the midwife
await the return of the khwan. (This mention of all kinds of females once
again differs from the other texts described: pregnancy and childbirth
are presented as desired by all females, apart from its interest for the
elders; children are appropriately assimilated to this interest of females.)

The words shift now to describing the situation before and after childbirth
and appear to be addressed to the baby that is to be born. In other
words, the pregnant woman is given a precise account of her present
condition, an anticipatory picture of childbirth successfully accomplished,
and the details of the care of the baby. Let us follow the successive images
presented because they contain the core message from the point of view
of the stated intention of the ceremony.

First is mentioned the physical discomfort and labour pains of the
mother who carries the unborn child. Then the birth of the baby and
the cutting of its umbilical cord, as well as the manner of birth of a female
child (flat on its back) and a male baby (flat on its face) are referred to.
After the baby is recognized as a `human', the mother's solicitude for it
and the manner in which it is cared for (feedings, bathing, sleeping, etc.)
are described. The village belief that a male child is more difficult to
bring up than a female child is mentioned, and also the cultural preference
for a male child, who it is hoped will become a wealthy and powerful
man, riding in a procession seated on an elephant.

The text shifts its focus again to make a long, compelling calling of
the khwan. If the khwan is in the jungle, or by the pond or river, or up

the mountain or in a cave, it is asked to return, it is urged not to follow
the tracks of wild animals. If it is engaged in cultivation in the upland
(forest) fields, or if it is keeping a tryst with a lover in the jungle, it is
recalled. It is enticed to come and enter the house, where women await
it, where the baby in the cradle awaits it, where elderly relatives of the
parental generation, both paternal and maternal, await it.