Anthropological Archives Database

Ancestral Ritual, Lumpang Province

14-16 March 1987 - Votive ritual to ancestral spirits (Phee Meng) Around the wa tree in front of the pavilion. The wa tree is considered to be sacred, and the area is used for slaughter, with the tree representing the forest. The fact that it fruits in abundance during the month of the ritual ties in with the belief that it will help the family have many descendants. Some believe that a wa tree is used because the spirits were purchased from people from the Thai Yai (Shan) tribe under a wa tree. Symbolically, it reflects the relationship between humans and the forest, which generates life and provides a home for the ancestral spirits. Participants in this ritual must clean themselves before entering the pavilion.

by : Anan Ganjanapan

Ancestral Ritual

Ancestral Ritual, Lumpang Province

14-16 March 1987 - Votive ritual to ancestral spirits (Phee Meng) The ritual chief and the descendants invite ancestral spirits from the wa tree into the pavilion. The ancestral spirit is believed to reside in a bundle of red cloth known as pha pakpee, in which are placed betel, tea leaves, cigarettes, puffed rice, flowers and incense sticks. During the ritual the red cloth bundle is carried on the blade of a sword into the center of the pavilion, after which the spirit medium proceeds with the ritual and dancing

by : Anan Ganjanapan

Ancestral Ritual

Ancestral Ritual, Lumpang Province

14-16 March 1987 - Votive ritual to ancestral spirits (Phee Meng) Worship of the white cloth spirit. The supreme spirit medium sits under the wa tree, where the descendants bathe her, after which she is clothed in white cloth and distributes holy threads to the descendants to show that they respect the same ancestral spirit.