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20
THE PARADE OF SUPERNATURALS

It might be thought by those who have an `elevated' view of religion
that I am being frivolous in concluding an exposition of a religion with
a myth and a rite concerning rice, the staple food of the villagers. In doing
so, I do not want to argue that religion is a metaphysical projection of
the rumblings of the stomach. On the contrary, I use rice as a point of
reference in order to suggest that the primary and basic interest of the
villagers—the production, consumption and distribution of food—is so
impregnated with moral and ethical conceptions that this myth and rite
provide a miniature view of the universe in which nature, society and
the deities combine and play their parts. It should cause no surprise that
one of the idioms in which Thai villagers express their ethical values is
in terms of the language of food transactions. The myth I deal with is
not a summary of all their myths, nor does it encompass all their religious
conceptions. It is, however, a comprehensive one, which reflects from
one vantage point the major religious ideas and brings into perspective the
cults of the village. It gives us a vivid suggestion of the moral and emotional
ambience of village religion; it is a rainbow refraction of the religious prism;
and it places in focus other pictures which have come into view in the
course of previous analysis. Moreover, at the beginning of this book I gave
a brief account of a cosmology that is inscribed in the written treatises of
the grand Buddhist tradition. It is therefore appropriate that at the end of
the monograph I should show how this same cosmology comes alive in the
social life of villagers as they pursue their ordinary tasks of living.

The supernatural actors whom we have witnessed playing their parts
on the village stage now parade before us in this myth to take their curtain
call. They belong to one troupe. But in the rite associated with the myth,
man also makes his ultimate declaration of his role in the drama, and
states the dignified manner in which he confronts the supernaturals.

MYTH: THE STORY OF NANG PHRAKOSOB

(THE FEMALE SPIRIT OF RICE)[1]

In the time of Phraya Wirupakha[2] rice grew by itself in his garden. The
rice stalk was big in girth—seven times the size of the human fist. The

rice plant had many stalks with many heads of paddy on them. The
circumference of each grain of paddy was five times that of the fist; its
length was five finger spans. The grain was as bright as silver and it had
the fragrance of coconut and cow's milk. Human beings were attracted by
these qualities in the rice and so brought it to Chao Rathi,[3] who informed
them that the rice belonged to Phraya Wirupakha, who lived in heaven
and came down to earth in the company of Phraa Chao Kakusantho[4] to
eat it. Human beings then cut the rice, cooked and ate it. In this way life
was sustained, and they built a barn to store the rice. Ever since then
rice has been their food.

Phraa Chao Kakusantho,[5] when he was reborn in Chompoo (India),
brought rice with him in order to feed (human) life and religion. He lived
for 10,000 years. He said that religion (Buddhism) would last for 8,000
years. At this time rice kept its original fragrance.

Next, Phraa Gonagamano[6] was reborn in this world, and he had much
supernatural power. In his time the rice grain was already becoming
smaller—its circumference was four times that of the human fist and its
length was four finger spans. This Lord Buddha lived on this kind of
grain. He said that religion would last 7,000 years. The rice preserved its
fragrance, people did not starve, and there was no death caused by
starvation.

At this time there lived an old widow who had been married seven
times. She had neither children nor grandchildren. She decided to build
a barn, and while it was being built her merit caused rice to grow by itself
under her barn. The paddy was plentiful. She was annoyed with this
profusion of growth, and so she hit the rice grains with a stick. The grains
broke into pieces, both big and small, and these pieces flew up into the
sky. The big pieces fell in the jungle and took root there. This variety is
called khaw doy (mountain rice). Other pieces fell into water and grew
there. This rice was called Nang Phrakosob,[7] and she lived in the company
of a fish by the name of Toloptalan. Rice became angry with people and
did not return to them. Thus people starved for 1,000 years.

There was the son of a rich man who went into the forest to earn a living.
Unfortunately he lost his way one day and therefore had to spend several
nights in the forest. During his wanderings he came to a swamp, and

because he could not go any farther, he sat down and cried. A fish called
Plaa Kang, who heard the weeping of the young man, came and addressed
him in sweet and gentle words. The fish told him that it would bring
Nang Phrakosob to him, and that if a person eats Nang Phrakosob he
will be cured of fever, stomach ache and abscess, and will derive many
other benefits. She lived in a cave in the forest, and the elephants, lions
and tigers which lived in the forest paid homage to her because she was
virtuous. The young man was told to take Nang Phrakosob back with him
to feed life and religion.

The fish told the young man where Nang Phrakosob lived and he
went there intending to take some grains to grow at his home. On his
approach, Nang Phrakosob flew to meet him, he caught her by the leg,
and her fragrance spread in all directions, even up to Indra's heaven.
She protested that she did not want to return to her previous abode
among humans, for the old woman had badly beaten her. The rich man's
son, glad that he had met Nang Phrakosob, tried to persuade her again
and again that she should accompany him, but she refused.

Now there were two thewada (divine angels) who sympathized with the
fish's (Plaa Kang's) plan. One changed into a golden deer (suvanna mika)
and the other into a parrot (nog kaeg tao). They endeavoured to help the
fish, and tried to persuade Nang Phrakosob with sweet words. The fish
said, `Dear Nang Phrakosob, please return. Don't live with fishes in this
manner, go back to feed human life and religion.' Then the wise deer
said, `Dear Nang Phrakosob, please return home. Don't live in the forest.
Go and sustain life and religion.' And the parrot also told her that she
should go and support religion; it was not the right thing to remain in
the forest. The Buddha would return to be reborn, and she would be
praised more than before.

When Nang Phrakosob learned that she was being asked by thewada
in disguise, she agreed to accompany the rich man's son. When she returned
to the town she still smelled fragrant and she sustained people and religion.
The gratitude of the rich man's son was great beyond measure. This was
the time of Phraa Chao Kassapo (the third Buddha). The rice grain had
diminished in size again—its girth was thrice as large as the human fist
and its length was four finger spans. It smelled as fragrant as before, and
the Buddha lived on the rice. Phraa Kassapo lived for 4,000 years and
entered nirvana. It was said that religion would last for 6,000 years.

It was now the time of Phraa Chao Sakkyamuni Godhom,[8] who was
considered the most excellent being in the world. Phraya Mara[9] had been

defeated by him. The rice grain had again grown smaller—its circumference
was 1½ times that of the human fist and it was 2½ finger spans long. It was
sweet-smelling and the Buddha lived on the rice. When Phraa Sakkyamuni
was eighty years old he entered nirvana.

One thousand years later there lived a man of high rank (Phraya)
whose heart was filled with jealousy. He never made any meritorious
acts; he committed demerit. He ordered his men to build a barn to store
rice in, and he sold the rice. Nang Phrakosob took umbrage again because
she was being sold. She threatened to go away, but she did not know
where to go, because wherever she went there would be human beings
who would find her. She therefore went to stay with Chao Rathi at the
mountain called Hin Nong Tho. As a result of her departure people died
of starvation and this continued for 320 years.

There was at this time an old couple called pu yer-ya yer (`grandparents').
They were feeble because they suffered from hunger. They tried hard to
clear the land in search of rice but it was in vain. Thewada (divine angels)
brought them before Chao Rathi.[10] The old couple prostrated before
Chao Rathi, who thought to himself that people were dying of starvation
because they did not follow religious precepts. Chao Rathi sent for Nang
Phrakosob and offered her to the couple and told them to take her and
grow rice in order to feed lives and religion. Nang Phrakosob protested
that she wished to stay with Chao Rathi in order to feed his children, and
that once before she had been beaten by an old widow, and that she now
feared she might be sold. Chao Rathi, however, was not pleased with her
protest. He gave the old couple some gatha (sacred verses) and asked
them to memorize the words, which would prevent misfortune befalling
Nang Phrakosob. These gatha are: Pancha, Ekha, Apicha, Hathayum,
Sahum.[11] He also taught the old couple how to keep rice attached to
religion for ever.

The sacred words made Nang Phrakosob feel that she wanted to go
with the old couple. Chao Rathi then caught her by her wings and tail
and thus the rice grain broke at the middle. Then he directed Nang
Phrakosob to divide herself into varieties of rice: khaw kam (dark rice),
khaw khao (white rice), khaw chao (ordinary rice), khaw niow (glutinous
rice), khaw pee (annual rice), and khaw dyan (monthly rice). She did as
instructed and then she held her breath and died. Her flesh and skin
turned into stones. When religion is about to end Phraa Ariya Mettai

(Maitreya) will be reborn in this world, and rice will also be reborn as
khaw sali (wheat) to feed life and religion.

The old couple grew the many kinds of rice they had received and
obtained much yield. The best seeds of khaw niow and khaw chao were
chosen for growing in the succeeding season. When they planted the
rice they solicited help from phii (spirits) to secure ample harvests and in
return they promised offerings such as liquor, duck and chicken, rice,
betel nut, water for bathing, clothes, and jewellery such as bracelet, anklet
and ring. They constructed a shelf at eye-level height, put all the offerings
on it, and asked phii to render help. Rice grew abundantly, yielding
bountiful harvests, because of the assistance of phii and because of the
efficacy of the sacred lustral water, which was sprinkled on the plants.
The lustral water was made by chanting the sacred words taught by
Chao Rathi.

The old couple distributed rice near and far, to different peoples in
different countries. Among the recipients[12] were the kingdoms of the Naga
(mythical water serpent), of Krut (mythical sky bird Garuda), of Jetawan
(a locality in India associated with the origins of Buddhism), of Chatoom
(the heavenly kingdom of Wirupakha, the King of the Nagas and one of
the four world protectors) as well as Chompoo (India) and Langkha
(Ceylon). Each of these places got 100 heads of rice. But countries and
peoples nearby received 134 heads—namely, the Kula (Khmer of Cambodia),
the Jeen-Jum (Chinese), brahmins (Hindus), the Thai, Lao, and
Vietnamese. People brought their buffaloes and carts to collect and take
away their share of the grain.

When the old people died, people transferred merit to them and they
went to heaven. At mealtime, both morning and evening, people paid
their respects to them and invited their khwan to come and partake of the
food. After the old couple's death, rice yields became smaller and smaller.

From that time, the method of growing rice has been well known to
people who have cultivated it for themselves. The jungle is first cleared;
then several tools like the plough are made; the buffalo is used to draw the
plough; and then rice is planted. A month later heads of paddy appear.
Later they are harvested, tied into bundles, and piled up on the threshing
floor. Khaw haeg (`first paddy') is selected, tied into bundles, and placed
on the top of the pile. At an auspicious day and time, permission is asked
from Nang Phrakosob to beat the rice or to have the buffaloes trample on it.

After threshing is completed, the sukhwan khaw (calling the spirit essence
of the rice) is performed at the threshing floor.[13]

All of us, males and females, do not grow much rice any more. We have
handled the harvested rice and we have made a seven-tiered bajsi (ceremonial
structure), in which we have placed white cloth, candles and joss-sticks.

I invite all good things like ya gao (old grandmother) to enter and
reside in the bajsi. The good teacher is also invited to confer blessings on
the paddy, beautiful long-headed paddy, and to summon together all the
khwan of the paddy. Khwan which stay on the top of the mountain, under
the water, at the mouth of the cave, and on the big mountain are invited
to come together today. We have got together several gifts—cloth, food
dishes in pairs, fish and pork. Also various kinds of flowers, clothes,
bracelet, ring, comb and water for bathing.

Then gatha[14] (verses) are recited like this: Khwan of rice, you may have
gone to live in the Naga town, come back if you are aware; you may
have gone to stay in Chetawan (Jetawana) jungle, the Himmaphan
(Himalaya) jungle, come back if you are aware. Khwan of rice, you may
be in Chatoom, in Langkha (Ceylon), please come back; you may have
gone to Chompoo (India), please come back.

When the khwan hear this calling out, they come from several places—
from the town of Than (heavenly creators), from Naga town, and from
Langkha. When they arrive they are invited to eat yam, taro, betel nut, and
other foods. They are invited to climb up to the house with a wooden
floor and a thatched roof. Inside the house several kinds of fruits are
laid out—such as pomelo and tamarind. These fruits cure diseases like
rheumatism.

Rice is both excellent and costly. Lord Buddha and rice were born at
the same time. Rice came along with religion. Phraa Achaan (the teacher)
has given praise in verses, saying that through the possession of rice can
be achieved transcendent virtues (bahranee). When one eats rice its results
spread out . . . one can wish to be Indra, Brahma, rich man, ruler . . . one
can wish to enter nirvana, to possess an excellent winjan (soul), to be
reborn as Phraa Pachek Pothiyan (Pacceka Buddha) . . .

ANALYSIS OF THE MYTH

The myth links the arrival of rice and its subsequent vicissitudes with
religion, in this case Buddhism. If human civilization owes its sustained
existence to the domestication of rice, so is religion associated from the

beginning with ordered human life. The myth reiterates again and again
that rice was given to man in order `to feed life and religion', that `rice
came along with religion', that `Lord Buddha and rice were born at the
same time', that if human beings starve, then religion too is in jeopardy,
and conversely, that if religion is not cherished then people starve.

It would appear that the unfolding of the story betrays a tragic vision
of humanity. The protectors of heaven and earth (lokapala), particularly
the king of the Nagas (serpents), gave rice to human beings as a boon
but man was unworthy of it, and this led to a progressive deterioration
of his life and also his religion. The rice gets smaller and smaller in size,
less prolific in yield, less fragrant. Concurrently, the life span of Buddhism,
beginning as 8,000 years, gets progressively shorter. The history of the
Buddhist religion is dated in terms of the five Buddhas, the fourth being
the historical Gotama Buddha, and the fifth being the Buddha-to-come,
Maitreya, with whose appearance a new religious cycle starts and wheat
replaces rice. This view of humanity is, of course, in line with both
Hindu and Buddhist cosmological ideas—the succession of the four cycles
of time (yuga), the present era being Kali Yuga, the dark and destructive
age. According to Buddhist tradition it is said that Gotama Buddha
predicted a finite period of existence of 5,000 years for Buddhism, ending
with its final decline. The myth thus incorporates classical Buddhist
cosmology and eschatology as set out in Chapter 3, p. 47.[15]

Nevertheless, such a tragic vision—while no doubt a product of Indian
experience and formulation of that experience, and while it is embodied
in the doctrinal texts of philosophical Buddhism—is, however, mitigated
by the belief in the golden age to be initiated in this world by Maitreya,
the expected Buddha. It is also patently contrary to the existential orientations
of the villagers, for whom religion is an affirmation of life, and
for whom ethical conduct will bring its returns in the here and now.
In fact, the last paragraph of the commentary to the myth is in a way
a triumphal counter-statement of the villagers' point of view. Although
human existence is not blessed with material plenty, rice is still a precious
human possession, and it is a vehicle for fantastic acquisitions of power,
wealth, and spiritual aims. Orthodox, purist Buddhists might consider
the concluding sentences blasphemous: `When one eats rice its results
spread out . . . one can wish to be Indra, Brahma, rich man, ruler', enter
nirvana and even be reborn as a Pacceka Buddha. The purist might be
more understanding if he were to appreciate that the villagers are here
postulating that rice, which has a precious value, is both a basis and
a vehicle for higher aims; around it cohere religious actions and ideas.

Anyway, the highest achievement stops short at the Pacceka Buddha
who is concerned only with his salvation and cannot teach the way to
others.

These preliminary remarks lead us to a closer examination of what
the myth says. Looked at sequentially, the myth brings into focus the
kinds of religious activities or cults that comprise the field of village
religion. The connections between rice cultivation and religion are
pervasive: not only does rice support Buddhism, but also the various
attitudes towards rice expressed in the incidents relating to the old widow,
the rich young man, and the old couple (who are archetypal ancestor
figures) contain ethical statements about meritorious conduct as propagated
by Buddhism. In fact these sequences are central to the understanding
of the myth in structural terms.

We note that in the incident of the rich man's son the thewada (divine
angels) help man: they are mediators and witnesses at auspicious happenings,
a role they play in most village cults. Next we note, in the
sequence relating to the old couple, that Chao Rathi taught them sacred
verses (and the necessary ritual) so that Nang Phrakosob, the spirit of
rice, would remain with man and be protected from any misfortune that
might result from man's mishandling of rice. Thus is introduced the
sukhwan ritual that will be performed by man to keep the essence of rice
with him for ever. So delicate and fragile is the spirit of rice that man
has to handle her with care; if she flees away she must be propitiated and
persuaded to return.

We are then told that when the old couple planted the rice they solicited
the help of spirits (phii). The kind of approach made to them signifies
their special relationship to man, different from that of the supernaturals
mentioned so far. Man solicits the help of phii in order to ensure ample
harvests, and promises offerings in return. The phii help man on the
understanding that man rewards them—this, then, is reciprocity phrased
in the idiom of bargain and equivalence.

Thus we note that around rice cultivation cohere particular manifestations
of most of the religious cults of the village—Buddhist rites, the
invocation of divine angels (thewada) who are benevolent mediators, the
propitiation of the original `ancestral' couple who are in actual life transformed
into village guardians (Tapubaan), sukhwan rites for recalling the
spirit essence of rice (and in other contexts of human beings themselves),
and finally a relationship of conditional reciprocity with phii (spirits),
whose character contrasts with that of thewada. These are the cults that
have engaged us in this book.

I now employ the method of structural analysis to discover the major

category oppositions and the attempted mediations in the myth, and the
messages it conveys.

(a) First, let us examine the theme of the progressive diminution in
the size of the rice grain and the size of the yields, and the periodic cycles
of starvation faced by human beings. This theme is worked out in terms
of the proper/improper attitudes of man towards the life-giving food.
In the beginning rice grew by itself in the land of an old barren widow who
had been married seven times. As a result of her bad temper she beat the
rice, which then crumbled into pieces and flew away. The result was the
first period of starvation which lasted for 1,000 years.

Rice was next given to the grateful son of a rich man, but it passed into
the hands of a man of high rank, who, being greedy and full of sinful
conduct, stored it and sold it commercially. This again violated the spirit
of rice, which therefore deserted man for a period of 320 years during
which starvation again prevailed.

Rice was then given to an old couple, `grandparents', and it was they
who were taught the ethics of a moral relationship to it. They were taught
the proper rituals. The proper attitude to rice is then demonstrated in the
myth by their free distribution of rice to peoples in different countries, which
include mythical kingdoms of the Naga (underworld) and Garuda (sky),
kingdoms in India and Ceylon, and finally all the peoples in Thailand and its
neighbouring countries. It is this free gift (valued highly in Buddhism) that
is seen to enable the sustenance of civilization on a universal scale. The old
couple were beatified and remembered regularly by their descendants.

At one level, then, the message is that to beat rice and to be ill-tempered
towards it brings calamity; to sell rice in the interests of profit like a
merchant does the same; to grow it with proper care and distribute it
freely is the basis of continuing prosperity. At another level, however, the
incidents and their implications highlight the exigencies of practical
existence which necessitate `wrong' actions. If man is to harvest and
thresh rice in order to consume it, he must beat rice and harm it. But one
should not do so in the manner of an old barren woman. Secondly, rice
must be sold to others or bartered away in order that man can acquire
other necessary things in life—but here again the example of a rich
acquisitive merchant is not the best model of imitation. Essentially, then,
like the old couple, farmers must take ritual precautions, help others, and
control callous attitudes and acquisitive aims.

(b) The second theme susceptible to structural analysis is that concerning
the ways in which rice came to man, as expressed in the three sequences
relating to the old widow, the son of the rich man, and the old couple.
These sequences imply oppositions and mediations (and also a scheme

of progressive resolution) in the relationship between nature and culture.
The stages in the history of rice thus given are:

1. rice, which initially grew in the garden of Phraya Wirupakha, a
protector of heaven and earth, was divine food which also gave sustenance
to the first Buddha. Human beings discovered this food, at which time
rice is represented as `growing by itself'. Thus when human beings first
found it, it was in a divine as well as a wild state;

2. from here begin the three sequences. During the time of the old
widow, rice grew spontaneously and profusely under her barn, that is
rice in its wild and undomesticated stage, a product of nature;

3. we then come to the story of the fish, the golden deer, and the
parrot, animals which are respectively of water, of land, and of the air or
trees. Rice lived in the water and in the forest, and the animals played the
role of mediators who persuaded rice to go with man. Rice was equally
the food of animals and of man, which postulates a commonality between
the animal and human worlds. Rice was thus delivered by animals to
man, which represents its passage from nature to culture, from a wild
plant to a cultured plant. This sequence of the passage of rice from the
animal to the human world sets up not only the dichotomy between nature
and culture, between animals and human beings, but also the categories
of human habitation or village (baan) as distinct from forest (paa), a distinction
still observed in village thought and ritual;

4. in the third sequence, the old couple are said to receive rice from
Chao Rathi, the ruler over man, and he teaches them the cultural devices
for cultivation, which include proper relationship to the supernaturals and
to the spirit of rice itself. In other words, rice is represented in its domesticated
stage, when it is controlled and properly cared for by the arts of
man, both technical and religious.

Thus the stages are a progressive statement of the passage of rice from
its wild to the domesticated stage: first as growing in a divine garden on
earth and being food of the gods (and men), then as wild in the forest and
water unavailable as food for man, and finally as food for all varieties of
human beings under the aegis of culture and human effort. Rice was
first of all a divine product and a boon to man; it was also a product of
nature and was relinquished to man by animals; it was finally gifted by
the ruler of men on condition that men organize themselves properly
in relation to other men, deities, spirits, and nature. The categorical
oppositions that emerge in the myth are deities/human beings; nature-animals-forest/culture-human
society-village; spirits (phii)/human beings;
first ancestors (grandparents)/descendants; ruler/subjects; Thai people/
others (Chinese, Hindus, Laotians, Khmer, Vietnamese, etc.).

(c) A third theme, also concerning rice, can be isolated in the myth.
Although from one perspective the story moves through the vicissitudes of
immoral human behaviour to a final moral harmony, it is at the same time
these human actions that lead progressively to the emergence of varieties
of rice from its original undifferentiated state.

At the time rice grew in Phraya Wirupakha's divine garden, a grain
of rice was a very large object. When the old woman beat the rice the
fragments dispersed and then crystallized into two varieties—wild mountain
rice of the forest, and rice in the cave of the fish, Plaa Kang, that is
swamp rice. Then after its domestication, Chao Rathi further fragmented
the rice into other varieties—dark rice, white rice, glutinous rice, monthly
and annual rice, etc., which with their different flavours, textures and
growing periods are the actual varieties known today to the villagers and
cultivated by them. (In the actual sukhwan ritual, which I shall take up
next, we see that rice varieties are metaphorically divided into still others,
but these are poetic descriptions and not actual varieties.)

THE RITE OF `SUKHWAN KHAW' (CALLING THE
SPIRIT ESSENCE OF RICE)

The commentary at the end of the myth of Nang Phrakosob described
how, since the time rice-growing has been well known to villagers, a certain
technology of cultivation is practised, and how after threshing the ceremony
of sukhwan khaw (calling the spirit essence of rice) is performed. It described
how offerings are got together for the spirit essence and verses are recited
to call the khwan dispersed in mountain, cave, water, and in the jungles
of India and Ceylon.

The rite of sukhwan related to the myth is performed today by the
villagers. In Chapter 13 I described the rite as it is conducted for human
beings. Here I shall relate how it is performed for rice and examine how,
as a rite, it is related to the myth.

From the moment the paddy grain begins to form in the fields, villagers
address rites to Nang Phrakosob, the female spirit of the rice, that is the
khwan (spirit essence of rice). The rite of plong khaw is performed before
threshing, at which time permission is asked of Nang Phrakosob to
`beat' her, that is to thresh. This is followed by sukhwan khaw, which is
performed by each cultivating household separately when the newly
harvested grain is stored in individual household barns. The officiant at
the rite is the paahm or mau khwan. The members of the household are
present at the barn when the rite is performed.

The essence of the rite is the calling of the dispersed khwan of the

rice to enter the barn and to reside with the grain. The belief is that if the
ceremony is not performed, the grain will be exhausted quickly and that,
moreover, the yield in the following year will diminish. Elaborate offerings
of meat, liquor, the tops of banana trees and sugar cane plants, and sweets
made in the shape of buffaloes are placed in the barn, and the paahm
recites a fairly long text written on palm leaves. After the recitation, the
rite ends with the paahm pouring paddy into a basket—which is described
in Thai as `pouring paddy for children'—and making a final plea for
good yields in the future.

As in the ceremony for humans, here too the recitation of the text is
the most important part of the ceremony. Therefore it is necessary that
we scrutinize the content of the words recited before we attempt to relate
the rite to its associated myth. I give below an English translation of the
complete text read by the village paahm at the ceremony for the spirit of rice.

Text read by `paahm' at `sukhwan khaw': `Saykhe charupe okasa okasa'[16]

When the fifth lunar month ends and the sixth begins, it thunders and it
rains, and the ploughing of fields begins. People go into the jungle with
a sharp axe and cut mai paniang[17] wood and bring it home to make a plough.
The plough is carried to the field; a yoke is made and placed on the
buffalo's neck; the rope is drawn tight, the buffalo walks and the plough
tills the earth. Ploughing takes many days. Then paddy is sown. When the
seedlings have grown well, they are pulled out and tied in bundles. After
their leaf-tips are cut, the bundles are put together in a heap. The field
is then harrowed and the bundles of seedling are divided into parts and
transplanted according to the customs of up-country folk. In the tenth
lunar month during the period of the waxing moon, the rice plants grow
heads of paddy; the heads bend but the leaves stand straight. It is a
beautiful sight to see them sway back and forth in the breeze. We all try
to drive away the small birds—nogkrachib and nogkrachaab[18] —which come
to eat the grain. It takes a long time for the grain to ripen. When they do
so, the leaves turn yellow. The sickle is used to harvest the rice. The
harvested paddy is left in the sun for three days, and then carried and
heaped together on the threshing floor. Then the beating of rice begins;
sometimes we use the buffalo to trample on it. A branch of a tree is used
to sweep away the straw, and then the grains are collected.

All of us then invite a wise achaan[19] to come and be seated on a mat to
officiate at the khwan khaw ceremony. Si si, today is a good day, it is
full of good luck. The offerings prepared by all of us and placed in the
pha khwan[20] are: food, fruit, betel nut, khaw tom (a kind of dessert made
of rice); those placed in the tray are: young banana leaves, tender leaves
of sugar cane, bai koon,[21] boiled egg and boiled chicken. Other articles
are maikan haab and kanlao (pointed sticks for carrying bundles of threshed
rice). We have laid a white cloth on the tray and have also placed in it one
pair of candles, thread (fai sai sin), and four namtao (water vessels made
of gourds). Four taleo[22] have been woven in the shape of a cow's head and
they have been placed at the four corners of the threshing floor. In the
middle of the floor a mat has been unrolled and a wise achaan has been
invited to sit on it and celebrate the khwan of rice.

Si si, today is an auspicious day and I am going to perform the sukhwan
ceremony for the rice plants in the field. When the plants are transplanted
and when the heads of paddy grow erect, we refer to them as khaw makkok;
the plants which are transplanted on the sides of the bed are called
khaw makkeua; plants whose grain are shaped like the makgleua tree are
called khaw kajmak; plants which have a cluster of many grains are called
khaw plong saeng; plants which have many grains are called khaw makpoh;
plants which bear many heads of grain are called khaw leb chang.[23] From the
plants which bear good grain are selected the seed paddy for the next year.

Om! Rice grown on the upland field, you are asked to return today at
this moment. Rice planted in the wet-land fields and which are now
growing in Myang Lan Chang,[24] you are requested to come today at this
moment. Rice spilled from the basket which fell sideways because its
string was broken, is asked to return today. Rice spilled while it was
being carried on the shoulder-pole is asked to come today. Rice which
was carried away by the rice birds (nogkrachib and nogkrachaab) is asked

to return today. Rice which fell into the elephant's mouth, into the tusked
boar's mouth, rice stolen by the horse, rice eaten by the rabbit which
lives near the field is asked to return today. Rice which went waste in the
partridge's (nogratah) beak, in the yellow-headed rice bird's beak is asked
to return today. Rice which was in the parrot's (nogkaeg) beak, in the beak
of the rice bird, nogkrachib fyang (which lives in the fields), is requested to
come today. Rice which fell into the peacock's beak is asked to come today.
Rice eaten by the mouse (nuu) and by the crab (puu), rice which was
destroyed in the fish's mouth is asked to come today. Rice eaten by worms
and insects is asked to return today. The tops of rice plants eaten by cattle
and buffaloes, elephants and horses are asked to return today.

Red gold, liquor and egg have been laid out for all khwan which come
from every field, from every place. Come and reside in the pile of paddy.
Let the barn remain full, even after paddy has been taken for consumption
for ten years. When paddy is taken out, let it flow back into the barn
like the flow of the Ganges River and the ocean. Come, khwan, come and
stay in the barn which has a wooden floor, which is roofed with elephant
grass (ya faeg); come and sleep on the bed made with hardwood (maj kaen).
When you are taken out to be pounded,[25] please be replenished again;
when you are taken away for consumption, please, khwan, be present.
When we strike a wedge in the barn, or pound the mortar, please don't be
frightened. May you rice grains entwine as naga (serpents) do; may you
embrace like young lovers; may you protect one another.

Anyone who eats this rice, may he have a long life, may he become
as wise as Phraa Chao Mahosot[26] and be as patient as Phraa Mettai.[27] Let
everyone's wishes be fulfilled as I have said.[28]

The message of the ritual text

The text begins with the invitation to thewada (divine angels) to be
present to make the proceedings auspicious. It then proceeds to give in
prosaic terms an account of the paddy cultivation cycle practised in the
village: the sequences of preparing land, ploughing, transplanting,
harvesting and threshing, up to the point when the paddy is ready to
be stored in the barn. One may wonder why the villagers, for whom the
growing of rice is an everyday occupation, need to have recounted these
humdrum details of their technology.

The text then describes the preparations for the ceremony: the invitation
of the officiant, the offerings got together. This is a description of the
way a ceremony should be conducted, recited in the course of performing
the actual ceremony, a statement of details of staging while the drama
itself is being enacted.

The main body of the recitation is the lengthy calling of the khwan of
rice. (The metaphorical descriptions of rice—the comparisons with various
fruits and with the toes of the elephant—are a good example of the villagers'
poetic sense.) The respective and sonorous, yet compelling, calling of the
khwan is worthy of attention. In reconstituting the dispersed spirit-essence
of rice, rice from the various fields, rice spilled or left behind, rice eaten
by various birds (of which the small rice birds get repeated mention), by
elephant, deer, boar, fish, crab, mouse and insects, by the stubborn
buffalo, are requested to return.

Finally, after the spirit of rice has been recalled, it is invited to enter
the barn, and to replenish the store of grain despite continual consumption.
The final blessing is in terms of the highest Buddhist aspirations—may
he who eats the rice become as wise as Phraa Mahosot and as patient as
Phraa Mettai.

The text illustrates certain points already well known in information
and communication theory. The actual description of rice technology and
the details of how the ceremony is performed as embodied in the text
may be said to be a store of information. In a sense, a man who reads the
text finds in it the necessary instructions to perform the ceremony. The
compelling repetitive calling of the khwan is akin to `redundancy' in that
it is meant to ensure the message gets through emphatically to the listeners.

Nevertheless, the message contained in the ritual text expands in scope
when placed in relation to the myth.

MYTH AND RITE

Myth can, of course, exist apart from rite; conversely, many rites performed
have no associated myths. But in this case myth and rite are so clearly
linked that a challenge to interpret their relationship is posed for us.

We have seen that the myth of Nang Phrakosob contains certain category
oppositions and their attempted mediations. Three aspects of the way
in which rice came to man are stated. Rice was divine food, it was found
by man in its spontaneous wild state. Rice was given to man by animals,
which represents its passage from nature to culture, from wild state to
domestication; we note here that animals are seen to co-operate with
man, to act benevolently on his behalf. Finally another mode of its coming

into the possession of man is stated—man maintains rice permanently
through the art of magical control taught him by a ruler over men.

The sacred words of the rite itself, however, do not simply say the same
things as the myth, nor is the myth a simple charter for the rite. I posed
the question above why rice-growers should prosaically have their technology
described in the rite. The answer is that the villagers are saying
in the rite that rice-growing is a man-made activity which is characterized
by hard work and meticulous attention. The harvest is a culmination of
this activity, and there is a point in the listeners reliving and recounting
the effort they put into cultivation.

Related to this is the insistence that rice which was taken away by
predatory birds and animals must be retrieved from them. This, then, is
the second inversion of the myth. In the myth the fish, animal, and bird
co-operated to persuade rice to leave its natural wild state and become the
food of man. Here in the ritual, the animal world and the human world
are represented as being antagonistic as well as separated. Man must
keep the animal world at bay if he is to retain the fruits of his labour.
The rite is essentially concerned with maximizing and perpetuating the
stock of rice gathered after harvest.

While these are not necessarily the only links between this myth and
this rite, what has been indicated does confirm the proposition made
previously that the relation between myth and associated rite in the
Thai village is not a simple parallelism or isomorphism, but an inversion
or a statement of the two sides of a paradox which in combination portray
the complexity of man's ideas about and solutions to central problems.
In this instance the preoccupation is the origin of rice, the meaning of rice
cultivation as a human activity, and how to handle and treat this precious
substance which sustains life and which is a vehicle for expressing man's
relation to other men, to nature, and to divine beings.

The myth and the rite express two opposed propositions, which together
compose a complex totality of ideas and values. The myth says that rice
was given to man in a manner which shows his dependence on gods,
animals (nature), and his rulers; in the rite man affirms that rice-growing
is a human activity which requires effort and care and that rice must be
protected against the predations of nature—animals and birds. At the
same time, the spirit of rice, reflecting Buddhist moral and ethical values,
is fragile and elusive and must be persuaded to stay with man.