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Cham

The cham is the intermediary of the guardian spirits; the tiam is their
medium. In theory a medium is superior to the intermediary, who assists
the former. In practice there are some complications. Every village in
the vicinity of Baan Phraan Muan has a cham, but not necessarily a tiam. The cham is initially chosen by the guardian spirit by possessing him;
thereafter he is never or rarely possessed. He makes the offerings to the
spirits either to cure illness, or to propitiate them as in the collective
agricultural rites discussed above. The medium is also chosen by possession,
but he experiences it on subsequent occasions when he is called upon to
divine in curing ceremonies of an exceptional kind. He also plays a major
role in the rain-making ceremony, which will be described later. Mediumship
is rarer than the role of intermediary because it requires special
psychological attributes. While the cham of Baan Phraan Muan is well
established and publicly recognized as such, there is doubt among the
villagers as to whether their medium is the genuine product. The cham
is an intermediary of both Chao Phau Phraa Khao and Tapubaan, and in
talking of his mediation both cham and villagers refer to the guardian spirits
(Tapu and Chao Phau) as interchangeable entities. The mode of recruitment
of the cham and the (doubtful) tiam indicate certain interesting features.

Bunsi, now in his late forties, became cham at the age of thirty-one,
which again emphasizes the point that the ritual specialists we are considering
here gain recognition in early adulthood. It is relevant to note
that he had never been a Buddhist novice or a monk. He stated that
before possession by Chao Phau Phraa Khao he had no particular interest
in the guardian spirits. (Village theory is that Chao Phau or Tapubaan
simply come into any person they choose; the choice is unpredictable

beforehand, and so is the logic of the choice.) He also stated that his
first possession was totally unexpected. He was sitting one day in his
house when giddiness overtook him. He felt bodily tremors and lost
consciousness. Those who were with him (the witnesses) reported that
in this fit he spoke with a strange voice which declared itself to be Chao
Phau and said that it wanted Bunsi as his cham. He was told all this when
he regained consciousness.

But probing into the matter and piecing together what the villagers
said, we see that the time was ripe for the recognition of a new cham,
although it is not possible to say why Bunsi was the right candidate.

Bunsi's predecessor was a man called Beng. It was clear that he could
not continue as cham. Apparently certain misfortunes indicated his loss
of power. It is said retrospectively that his wife died because he failed to
respect Tapubaan by not making offerings on wan phraa. The village
concept in such a case is pid phii (a fault against the spirit which arouses
his anger). It is also said that Tapu did not communicate with him any
more. Village gossip also had it that he was too old to be cham, that he
was a drunkard and was not assiduous in his duties. These may have been
vital reasons for wanting to find a new cham.

It was in this context that the man who made claims to being the
medium (tiam) had one of his possessions, in which Chao Phau speaking
through him declared that he did not want Beng to be his cham any more.
Soon afterwards Bunsi experienced possession by Chao Phau in the
manner described earlier. After this he fell sick and had many bouts of
dizziness. Beng, the cham, was called to treat him but he refused. The
villagers were certain that the illness was caused by Chao Phau and that
Bunsi was the chosen new candidate.

The dismissal of an existing incumbent and the recognition of a new
one is a tricky business, given the theory of election by possession. For
a cham cannot simply resign his office. He must be given permission by
Tapu or Chao Phau to do so. As an informant put it: `If the phii sees that
the cham is tired, that he has been working for a long time and should be
replaced by another person, then he may be allowed to give up his work.
If he is not allowed, he cannot.'

To become the publicly recognized cham of the village, it is not enough
to be possessed by the guardian spirit, for possession as such might
denote either an affliction verging on madness or an ecstatic state by
virtue of election. The village must decide whether election by Chao
Phau or Tapu is genuine or not, whether the illness signifies a chosen
representative or an affliction of a malevolent kind. Thus the village
public is the final legitimizer of cult office.

In Bunsi's case, his installation was made by village decision simultaneously
with the deposition of the former incumbent. A meeting of
villagers was called by the headman (puyaibaan) and village elders, and
the information was circulated that the incumbent cham, Beng, wished
to resign his office and that therefore it was necessary to appoint a new
one.

At the meeting, which was held at the sala (preaching hall) of the wat,
both the outgoing and the succeeding chams were present. A village elder
—a pious Buddhist lay leader and a maukhwan as well, the most respected
leader in the village—first invited the thewada to attend the ceremony as
witnesses (pao sagkhe) and then called upon Tapubaan to choose one of
the two candidates as his cham. Bunsi alone experienced a possession by
Tapubaan and was therefore clearly chosen. The village headman made
an announcement that henceforth Bunsi would be the village cham. It
should be noted that the Buddhist monks, who do not normally participate
in the cult of the guardian spirits, were present as necessary witnesses.
They did not, however, perform any chanting nor did they confer blessings
on the proceedings, thus adhering to their segregation from the cult of
the phii.

It came as a surprise to me, as an anthropologist, that the cham observed
no special interdictions associated with his mediating role; nor did he
prepare himself in any special ritual manner for a ceremony. In this
sense he is different from the village's foremost diviner (mau song).
I realized later that the cham's lack of association with special interdictions
is consonant with the theory of possession: from the villagers' point of
view it is completely arbitrary in that the guardian phii choose whomever
they want, and the chosen are not distinguished by special virtues or
characteristics.