Thai spirit house rules and Thai animism intro

[DezLez]

8 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

9 Do thai spirits have rotten teeth from red fanta?

10 Are there spirit dentists? I hope so....

Do they get cancer from all the smoke from the joss sticks?

[Will B Good]

House ready to move in after eight months in hotels/resorts.....water connected, electricity up and running......can't move in for another three weeks...why?

 

The local soothsayer has yet determined the 'lucky' date on which we can move!!!

[cdemundo]

Not a criticism but Christianity is not all that clearly defined when you get to the level of the average believer.

Not really more "pure" than the mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Animism in Thailand.

I think that probably each denomination has an official creed or set of beliefs but the average person has their own.

 

When Christianity is clearly defined it is crazy, but people who lived in largely Christian communities don't think about it.

Consider the New Testament, it starts with a virgin having a baby and ends with a dead man coming back to life.

If you never heard of it and it was presented to you as a grown person you would laugh it off.

 

Some Christians believe in guardian angels and think that angels are regularly stepping in to guide and protect them.

Others believe that people get angels wings after they die when they go to heaven.

That is not really part of the official teaching of any Christian faith that I know of but many hold these beliefs.

 

At least as strange to me as spirit houses, I visit people in their homes in my work and encounter larger than life-size statues of Jesus and Mary.  Encountering seven to ten foot tall statues in the living room or the hall can be unsettling.

 

Some Christian churches in the US have a "blessing of the animals" where people bring their pets for the minister or priest to say a blessing over.  Again, probably not rooted in denominational doctrine.

 

There is a tradition in Catholic communities for successfully selling your house that involves a statue of St. Joseph.

Bury a statue of Saint Joseph upside down In the yard of the house you are trying to sell,.

When your house has been sold, dig up the statue and put it in a place of honor in your new home.

The Pope probably hasn't heard of this.

 

You have Christians that state "I don't drink alcohol because I'm Christian".

No one apparently told Jesus about this, being his first public miracle was changing water to wine.

 

Kind of like "no military plan survives first contact with the enemy", no system of religious beliefs survives contact with believers without random changes and additions.

 

[kokesaat]

My Thai wife and I lived in Texas for 14 years before moving here.  When we put our house on the market, our realtor told us it'd probably be a few months before we'd sell (back in 1996).  A few days after we put the for sale sign out, an elderly mother/daughter looked and made an offer.  My wife says she put sticky rice on all the fence posts around the yard as an offering to the spirits for a quick sale.  Who can argue with that?

[RafPinto]

On 4/16/2022 at 6:52 PM, Will B Good said:

That is certainly a truism in Thailand......around the house, in the garden, driveway, patio, pavement outside.......

bedroom?

[Will B Good]

6 hours ago, RafPinto said:

bedroom?

Nope......got all that stuff lined up.

[Damrongsak]

On 4/17/2022 at 11:02 PM, Heng said:

'Waiing' these various landmarks, spirit houses, etc. is a quick shortcut to 'appearing local.'   (if you want to project that image for whatever reason)

 

Advanced: do it while driving.   

 

Had a bus driver do it on a very twisty road up along a mountain ridge years ago - no guard rails.  He did it right at a turn where there was a spirit house and many, many garlands and whatnot.  Right where people had gone off the road and plunged several hundred meters to their deaths. It was a road from Loei to Phitsanulok, probably in Phetchabun.  The old orange bus had loose steering and suspension.  But all was OK, as there were a half dozen monks in the back. 

[RamenRaven]

On 4/23/2022 at 8:11 PM, kokesaat said:

My Thai wife and I lived in Texas for 14 years before moving here.  When we put our house on the market, our realtor told us it'd probably be a few months before we'd sell (back in 1996).  A few days after we put the for sale sign out, an elderly mother/daughter looked and made an offer.  My wife says she put sticky rice on all the fence posts around the yard as an offering to the spirits for a quick sale.  Who can argue with that?

That makes me wonder, how often do Thais set up spirit houses or at least make offerings to house spirits when they are overseas in non-animist countries?

 

Because, typically in corporate America, houses are strictly viewed as objects that people profit off of, not as spirit dwellings. Previous home owners most likely did not believe in spirits, so you wouldn't have to maintain any spirit paraphernalia that was left behind.

 

Since you don't see any spirit houses around you, so how would a Thai know that there are spirits in their new home abroad, and that they would behave like Thai house spirits?

 

[kokesaat]

"Since you don't see any spirit houses around you, so how would a Thai know that there are spirits in their new home abroad, and that they would behave like Thai house spirits?"

 

We lived in Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa, Panama.......according to my wife, all of the houses had spirits.  Nothing frightening......but there were times when she'd leave some food/incense out for them.  

Here in Thailand we have 3 rai of land....no spirit house.  I asked why.  She said there were no bad spirits in our area, so no need for one.  That said, she makes regular offerings of a coconut, incense, some snacks, and 3 cigarettes to keep the good spirits appeased.

[RamenRaven]

27 minutes ago, kokesaat said:

"Since you don't see any spirit houses around you, so how would a Thai know that there are spirits in their new home abroad, and that they would behave like Thai house spirits?"

 

We lived in Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa, Panama.......according to my wife, all of the houses had spirits.  Nothing frightening......but there were times when she'd leave some food/incense out for them.  

Here in Thailand we have 3 rai of land....no spirit house.  I asked why.  She said there were no bad spirits in our area, so no need for one.  That said, she makes regular offerings of a coconut, incense, some snacks, and 3 cigarettes to keep the good spirits appeased.

I haven't seen cigarettes placed as offerings before.

 

But maybe that's because I didn't pay close attention.

 

[RamenRaven]

On 4/23/2022 at 8:11 PM, kokesaat said:

My Thai wife and I lived in Texas for 14 years before moving here.  When we put our house on the market, our realtor told us it'd probably be a few months before we'd sell (back in 1996).  A few days after we put the for sale sign out, an elderly mother/daughter looked and made an offer.  My wife says she put sticky rice on all the fence posts around the yard as an offering to the spirits for a quick sale.  Who can argue with that?

If Thais think that house spirits are supposed to originate from the spirits of the previous owners (I think the souls of the previous owners?), then wouldn't Texan house spirits prefer Whataburgers, Texan BBQ, and Tex-Mex treats instead of sticky rice?

 

Why not place offerings of pecan pies and cornbread?

[Artisi]

On 4/16/2022 at 9:52 PM, Will B Good said:

That is certainly a truism in Thailand......around the house, in the garden, driveway, patio, pavement outside.......

Objects, when has rubbish and useless junk been classed as anything other than rubbish and useless junk?