Dedicating the new spirit house

One of the advantages to staying in Thailand in a small community for as long as I will is that I really become immersed in the culture and have the opportunity to experience Thai traditions. Most recently, I went to a ceremony to dedicate the new spirit house at Sala Phrom, near the entrance of the sanctuary.

My knowledge of spirit houses is limited but is as follows:
They are not Buddhist, although you may see them near wats (temples). They are related to animism, and the idea that spirits are not attached to humans alone, e.g. trees (can) have spirits.
Each building or group of buildings needs to have one to house and placate the spirits displaced by the building.
The grander your house/building, the grander the spirit house.
If you add an addition to your house, you should enlarge the spirit house as well.
Offerings such as fruits, flowers, water, or soft drinks are left for the spirits to keep them happy.

The old spirit house at Sala Phrom was in disrepair, so a new, larger one was constructed. I’ll try to get some pictures, but the new spirit house is basically a little cottage with red curtains. The wood over the door is patterned and inside there are multiple altars beneath a portrait of a ranger who died here about sixty-five years ago (the resident ghost).

When I boarded the blue bus outside the office, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The ride was less bumpy that I would have expected from the road, and everyone squeezed in to make room for all of the people who wanted to go. When we first got to the house, some rangers and other residents of Sala Phrom were already there. Mats had been set out on the porch of the house, and women were sitting there already. There were also chairs set out for more people to sit. Several of the rangers had brought cameras and were taking pictures of everything going on.

The entire ceremony was in Thai, but here’s what I think happened . . . Everyone was given incense and a “prayer” was said by a older ranger who retired recently (we had the opportunity to go to his retirement party a few weeks ago and it was lots of fun). The chief of the sanctuary also said some words- maybe a blessing or a commitment to take care of the spirits. There were many offerings on the altars, including apples, bananas, sticky rice, water, whiskey, a whole chicken, and pig’s heads- these also received sticks of incense but they weren’t lit. After the offerings were dedicated, the spirits had their chance to enjoy them . . . before we ate it all!

It was quite the experience to watch the meat being cut up, and once I was able to convey that I was a vegetarian (mai ao means “I don’t want any”), I was passed bananas and sticky rice at frequent intervals. The women remained sitting on the porch sharing sticky rice, fruit, meat, and chili sauce, but the men moved around a table with the lao kao (whiskey) and meat. There was also some sort of jelly-coconut-raisin dessert that I hadn’t had before that was fabulous. (I am slowly finding Thai food to satisfy my sweet tooth but am also enjoying trying 5 Baht (about 15 cents) candy from 7-11.)

After this second breakfast it was back on the bus, where I was taught how to fold lotus blossoms into open flowers. There was a small tree fall across the road at one point, but that was easily taken care of with the amount of people we had! At one point I think some people were commenting on the wild chickens (“gai” is chicken, and as the first letter in the Thai alphabet is G I can recognize this word. Though it is deceptively similar to “kai”, the second letter, which means “egg.”. . but I don’t think people were pointing at eggs by the road!). Going to the ceremony was a great way to start my morning and I look forward to witnessing more of these events.