} Spirits
(Ctmlimml from PI 8)

spirits; they worship and tear
them. Even the Christians ivili
say, "I don’t believe in them, but
I’m afraid of them " The husband
of my Thai language teacher died
recently at age so. He and his
wiie were Christian, but his 1am.
iiy is Buddhist. His mother feared
that his spirit might need some»
thing. so she arranged a meeting
with a medium. near a waterfall
about twenty kilometers from
Chiengmai. The mother insisted
that the wife go, as she thought
that her son’s spirit would not re.
turn unless she were there. Out
oi fear, 1 think, the wife invited
several interested 'i‘arang‘ (for.
eign) Christians to attend the
meeting. She insisted she did not
believe in spirits, but neverthe
less, was very nervous.

We left Chiengmai around 8:30
am. tor what seemed to be a pie
nic. Everyone was in a gay mood.
and they had taken tood for a
lunch afterwards at the waterfall.
When we arrived at the home of
the medium, a typical Thai home
on stilts, we found that there was
a couple there ahead of us and
we were invited inside to witness
another spirit’s return. The me.
dium appeared to be a woman
around fiity years old. She had
on a cloth turban and a long Thai
pacin (skirt). She was supposed
to have the spirit of an old man
within her and was speaking to
the people in a deep, cracky voice.
After a short time, these people
ieit and the people in our group
began talking to the medium. The
tamily had brought many belong.
ings of the deceased, such as sev-
eral sets at clothing, and personal
articles. They also brought food
to feed his spirit if it appeared
and was hungry. They had flow-
ers and joss sticks (incense) to
place on the spirit altar in the
room.

The medium began by asking
the tamily the deceased’s name.
She then took the elements of Buil-
dhist worship the yellow, round
piece of wax, candles, flowers, and
'oss sticks, and held them in her

and. She prayed at the alter for
some time. Suddenly she gagged
and made strange noises. She then
turned to the group and said some
things. (She spoke in the north.
ern Thai dialect which 1 don't un-
derstand because 1 study the eerie
tral, official language.) As she
spoke, she wrote with one finger
in a handkerchief which she held
on her’ lap. She was now sitting
in the Buddha position. She
would often yawn, gag, and spit.
The tamily answered questions in
a misleading manner. in order to
test the reliability of the medium.
For instance, they gave the wrong
day and place ot death. After per.
haps thirty minutes had passed.
the woman sent her helper out to
buy candles for the altar. During
this waiting period we learned
that the medium was fiityefour
years old, and has been a medium

since the age of eighteen Dur-_

ing the intermission many in our
group walked around, ate truit or
iricd pork skin (our substitute for
potato chips), and talked. When
the candles were given to the me»
dium, we were told that they had
to be altered to the spirit of the
land, to request permission for
another spirit to be called there.
Once this was done the medium
again gagged and prostrated her
self before the altar, She then
selected a turban, pncin, and
scarf (ditferent from the oucs
worn lor the first client) and put
them on over her clothes. Then
she called the spirit, She asked a
spirit from a near-by cave to bring
this young man's spirit to this
meeting. Soon she reported that
the spirit had found four men and
she described the skin color, build,
and cause uf death of each. Most
of the relatives felt that none oi
these described were the deceased.
but the mother chose one. The “1&-
diurn then laid down on the floor
Ind began a series ot contortions
and snakelike movements to sig-
niiy the spirit entering her body.
After ten minutes of this ,-he has
came calm and fell into a sleep.
In her drowsy state her hclper sat
her up and propped her against
the wall. She spoke in a sing-song

 

nlnnner Ind “inslld clothes.
Saleem-ii Routers, l shirt (dis-
cltding the decelsed’l (avorlte red
one), and a watch. These were
put on the medium. The spirit
spoke to the people but made

many mistakes, such as- choosing
a nephew (or his son, a coworker
for his brother, saying he was a
doctor when he was a banker, and
endless other things. The spirit
was ted through the medium. the
food which the tamily had
brought. All the relatives spoke
with the spirit. The wife was
called to sit close and tell about
their children. when the spirit
was about to leave the medium,
the mother asked her son what he
needed and he named several
things such as: tea, chicken, and
blanket. These things, named by
the spirit, are offered to a wat
(temple) within the neat tew days
after the meeting.

SCARLET AND CK

Tho vim outlet] what: the ma-
dium llld down ailin W Ileep.
Alter lleep came mom mining
and gagging Ind then the spirit
left her. Afitelwatdll the medium

spoke normally with the family.
S e asked if the spirit had spoken
correctly The mo er thanked her
and paid a fee of torty-five baht
($2.25). This is a lot of money in
Thailand and they told us that
this medium made an average of
five hundred baht a day. (A teach.
er makes about nine hundred baht
a monthll) Then, the money,
some rice, a cigarette. flowers and
loss sticks were placed in a bowl
to offer to the spirit altar.

The general concensus of the
group at the picnic afterwards was
that the woman was a phony. The
mother, however, oifered the re-
quested articles to the temple use
next day and appeared to believe
that the spirit had really appeared.

in is hull for m. to underulnd
how one could believe in l'pil'ih'
liter Inch In obvious 'lhow. bu!
it i. not it not of my culture,
and it is 01 t ell-s.

Them are many stories lholit
ihe ‘phii' (spirit in Thai language)
in Thailand, The hospitals can cite
endless cases where patients will
not [like medicine for fear of a
spirit within it. Sick people can't
be returned to some villages if
they have been in a hospital. The
villagers believe that bad spirits
dwell in the hospital and may be
carried home in the patient.

As science and education ad-
vance in Thailand, this animlstic
view will become less prevalent.
We see doubt among our studenls
who now want proof of everything.
In the remote villages, however.
it will be many years before the
idea ot spirits disappears.

Manila Grodzlns Bil“

Hunt’s 225 Lead:
IM Bowling League

Steve Hum paced the third week
of action at the Grlnnell Meg-
alopolitan Lanes by recording a
high game of 225, as well as a
series hlgh of 536 Ed Wright,
despite his painfully slow deliver-
ies, led the faculty team with a
522 series, and Llnda Bird topped
the girls with a pair of 156’s.
sally Hays had a 160. Other 200
bowlers were Larry Fellerman,
218; Rich Wicksltom. 204; and
Sandy Okura, 201. Currently,
Team Nu, 7, consisting of Kent
Thomson. Stan Wezelman. and
Linda Bird. leads the competition
with an .833 percentage,

 

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