 | Buddhism and the spirit cults in North-east Thailand |  |
POST-HARVEST OFFERINGS TO THE GUARDIANS:
A CASE DESCRIPTION
The ceremony, which is referred to as liang phii (offering to phii) took
place on 24 January 1962 after the rice harvest was completed.
At 9.30 a.m. about fifty villagers assembled at the spirit house (shrine).
Each villager was said to be a representative of a particular household; in
some cases adult children were sent to represent parents; in other cases
villagers represented the interests of householders who could not be
was that each household (in cases where junior households lived in the
compound of parents to form one economic unit, this can be extended
to mean `compound group') should present or send offerings. (It is
believed that failure to make offerings will result in sickness to the members
of the offender's household.)
Each householder's offering consisted of a large basket or bowl containing
one boiled chicken, sauce, rice in a small basket, pa wan (rice
mixed with sugar) in a package, betel nut, tobacco, and locally made
cigarettes. In all there were 106 such offerings, excluding the three
contributed by the officiants, the cham, the assistant, and the tiam (medium).
The officiants first cleaned the floor of the spirit house, then lit two
candles and attached them to the posts. Then with flowers in their hands
they squatted in front of the shrine and invited Tapu and Chao Phau
to receive the offerings. The offerings themselves comprised different
categories. One called pa derm, represented the collective offerings of the
village, and were in fact presented in sets sequentially. First, the three
offerings of the cham, his assistant and the tiam were placed inside the
shrine, with the rice basket and the liquor bottle open. The phii were
invited to receive them. After a lapse of a few minutes, half of the chicken
and a lump of the offered rice were put in a bowl and placed inside;
some of the liquor was poured into a vessel and placed similarly. The
left-overs were returned to the three donors.
The next offering consisted of seven sets. The same procedure was
followed, and the words said by the cham by way of invitation were:
`thang mod ched pa, nimon chao phau rab nam luug nam laan' (`altogether
seven sets of offerings, made by children and grandchildren, inviting
honorific father to eat'). In the next sequence eleven other sets of offering
were made, and so on until the collective offerings were exhausted.
The collective offerings were followed by another category called pa ba,
which were made by individual persons soliciting favours from the
guardians. In this ceremony four men solicited favours—one requested
that a sick pig be cured; another, whose daughter was employed as a bus
conductor, asked Tapu to protect her from accidents; the third and fourth,
both young men, requested physical safety while doing national service
and success in a forthcoming examination, respectively.
The next set of offerings (see pa) were again made by four persons;
these were in gratitude for favours solicited and granted.
The final ritual sequence was the summing up by the cham and his
assistant: holding five pairs of flowers (kan ha) placed in a bowl, they
said that 106 offerings, excluding the three made by themselves, had been
be rewarded. A promise was made that in the fifth or sixth lunar month
(dyan ha fa hog) offerings would be made again. (This refers to offerings
before ploughing in the next rice cycle.)
The ceremony was concluded by a meal, all those assembled eating
the portion of the offerings returned to them. The offerings left in the
shrine were later taken by the ritual officiants as their due.
| Buddhism and the spirit cults in North-east Thailand | |