The Blessing Ceremony (bai-see sook wan)

Our host (Rat's father-in-law) This evening we went to Waree’s sister Rat (Lat)’s house for a blessing. In this blog I am expressing my experiences in Thailand and I will probably get some things wrong as I am still only at the edges of understanding this lovely culture. Please forgive me if I do and if you know better than me please leave a comment to correct me, if not join me in learning. That proviso was prompted by the fact that I have little idea why the blessing was being performed. The ceremony was to bless Rat’s husband’s brother who has just returned from working Taiwan (her husband is working in Israel). Whether the blessing was to wish him a safe return, a safe journey back or to stop him from going back I am not sure. My Thai language book says “This ceremony is performed mostly in the North and Northeast (and Laos). It’s done at weddings and also for family members or special guests. During the ceremony people tie strings around each other’s wrists while saying the blessing. Bai-see refers to the flower and banana leaf arrangement that holds the strings. Sook wan means ‘call back the body spirits’, and the string is tied around the wrist to keep them in the body. I should explain that I am living in a village in the northeast of Thailand (Issan) not far from the Lao border. Issan represents about 33% of Thailand in both land area and population it is agriculture poor and rarely visited by tourists. Only 3% of tourists to Thailand visit Issan. In my limited experience it is the best part of Thailand as one soon becomes tired of the beaches and islands of the south, the mountains of the north, the cacophony of Bangkok and endless temples. Here amongst the ‘poor’ there is a wealth of beauty in the people and their culture. People of Issan are ethnically Lao and their language, music, dance, food and customs are more Lao than Thai. We parked the motorcy outside and the dark and went into a room crowded with people. There were smiles and comments about the Farang as we sat on the cool tiled floor. All the old ladies came to coo over Adam our baby boy. We always sit on the floor usually on a rush mat.. The rule is that you always take your shoes off before you enter a house (or in some instances a tiled floor area) and the floors are frequently swept so they are always spotlessly clean. This is good as the floor serves as a table as well as a chair. The blessing ceremony In the ceremony a long cord of the white magic string is past around the group linking everybody together and the medicine man, witch doctor, shaman or whatever he is chants continuously for 20 minutes with the group joining in the chant at times and shouting an exclamation periodically. I haven’t a clue what they are saying of course. The man in the centre of the photo is the shaman with flowers and many other accoutrements in front of him. From my position I was unable to see what he was doing with these. The atmosphere is hardly reverent with people going in and out of the room, talking to each other, taking turns at holding the baby and from the adjacent kitchen there is the babble of conversation with peals of laughter from the ladies preparing the food. I have come across shaman before in elaborate one on one blessing and as a fortune teller and I will add these stories to the blog some time. They are nothing to do with the monks and the temples so I suspect they might pre-date the Buddhist religion in this part of Thailand. If I find out more I will pass it on. The host's son being blessed You can see that he has much string around his wrists and there are also gifts of money and an egg? When I have returned from here to Australia I have also had many strings tied around my wrist in my farewell parties and I have been given gifts of money which touches me as comparatively I have great wealth. Blessing Adam our baby After the ceremony everybody blesses everybody else by tying the magic string around their wrists. Of course baby Adam was blessed and many people wanted to bless me. For the first time people asked me to bless them and I spent some time doing this. The person being blessed holds their arm out horizontally with the palm facing upwards while their other arm is vertical with the hand on edge. The person blessing first gently strokes and then ties the white magic string around the wrist of the person being blessed. Often a third person will lightly support the elbow of the arm receiving the string with an upturned palm. Then both wai to each other. Jeremy being blessed Jeremy blessing Ladies preparing food In the kitchen the ladies have been busy chopping up raw beef and pork (they eat raw pork here) preparing food to eat and after the ceremony they bring the dishes out and we all eat. I have noticed some bottles of beer in various parts of the room and suggest to Waree that I might have some but she explains to me that I cannot ask for beer and must wait for it to be offered. So I must wait. Then Waree says something to her sister Rat. Lo and behold I am offered beer. After eating, as people gradually return to their homes Waree explains to me who they are and it seems that the 30 or so are all related in one way or another. I guess through Adam I am also related. We leave for home.