Phra Phum Chao Thi--"lord of the land or place"

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Prah Phum are Cambodian words of Sanskrit origin. Chao Thi are Thai and have the same meaning---"Lord of the land", "Spirit of the place".

Chao Thi may be compared to Chinese T'o Ti, the god of the ground, who is also the guardian spirit of the village.

In parts of rural Thailand there may be only one shrine for an entire village, and this will be called Chao Thi rather than Prah Phum. A further similarity is that both Prah Phum and T'o Ti are represented as holding a book or register (in which are recorded the deaths of the villagers under his protection).

The practice of every house posessing its own Phra Phum is a development from when people of the towns began to live in separate compounds.

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When land is cleared for a new building, it is believed that the spirit or guardian of the place is disturbed and so must be provided with a new dwelling. Properly porpitiated and cared for, this spirt, Phra Phum, will ensure serenity and harmony within the premises and provide protection from danger, including any malevolent spirits which may be skulking about ("Phi").

The selection of a site and invitation to the spirit to take up residence in his new house requires attention to the auspicious place and time (astrological calculation).

Phra Phum's dwelling should face either north or south, pref. north. It must be in a area where no shadow from the building will fall on it.

The house consists of a single room with an outer platform slightly lower than the room. The inner room is intended as the actual living area for Phra Phum, while the outer platform is for the placement of the daily offerings. This miniature house must be placed at a level with, or slightly higher, than the eyes of a standing person of average height.

A typical ceremony begins with an invocation. A sash is run around and through the spirt house connecting it to a table bearing offerings and then to the building itself. A hole is dug at the determined site, and at the proper time certain leaves and then the pole upon which the house will stand are placed in the hole. The table, laden with offerings to Phra Phun, is blessed and placed near the post. (Offerings may include fish, salads, rice whiskey, rice cakes, rice, lustral water and a pig's head.) At the proper moment the miniature house itself will be placed on top of the pole.

Once the house is set in place, it is furnished with objects to keep Phra Phum comfortable. At the auspicious moment a replica of the deity itself is placed within the house.

In former times, a picture of Phra Phum was drawn and painted on a piece of wood and then cut out. The picture was that of a conventional standing deity wearing a spirelike crown with a halo of light around his head. His right hand held either a double-edged sword or a fly-whisk and his left hand held a book. The sword is one of the wymbols of the conqueror of demons, and the book is used to record the deeds and the births and deaths of the occupants of the place.

Incense is lit, flowers are set in place and incantations are recited to the blowing of the conch shell. The ceremony usually lasts 2.5 to 3 hrs.

Each evening thereafter, fresh but simpler offerings will be presented to Phra Phum. These will consist mostly of flowers, joss sticks, candles, and food.

Should the householder come in for a bit of unsolicited good luck, he must always remember to provide the proper offerings of gratitude to Phra Phum for the good fortune.

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Its been my intention for years now, to make spirit houses out of the pallets that GE shipped in from S. E. Asia. I'd guess there are some thousands at the farm. My understanding is that they are now using a returnable system but for years we put 3-40 cubic yard boxes of the forests of Papau/Phillipines,Indonesia, etc. into the Monroe Co. landfill.

I was over at the plant one day and saw these pallets being dumped into the crusher, smelled a smell that took me back to Bangkok in the early 50's, the woodworkers section of the thieves market district. Damn, I couldn't believe they were dumping all that tropical wood. Well I did the necessary song and dance to slide the pallets through my zoning restrictions, got GE to agree to send them (free disposal for them, fool that I was, eager to get the wood---I saw spirit houses from the git go, plus lots of other uses)

Can I say be careful what you wish for strongly enough! I moved and stacked the first 40 yards, nothing else got done. I moved half of the second load before the third arrived, nothing else got done. The 5th,6th and 7th loads arrived in the middle of a monsoon (we begin where the asphault ends) and could not be unloaded with the others. I quite counting loads after awhile, but if you ever visit we can tour "pallet hell". Or maybe they will get processed.....



-- Anonymous, March 24, 2000


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