RITUAL EXORCISM

Massed villagers recover 'haunted' women

By Jakkapong Rawiwan

The Nation

Kalasin

KALASIN: -- The fear of phop ghosts brought residents of two villages in Kalasin's Yan Talat district together in a ritual on Wednesday night to exorcise evil spirits from two women and capture 100 phop ghosts in 100 sections of bamboo.

The women, Daeng Somwai, 36, from Ban Kud Or and Kancahan Wangchalee, 31, from Ban Khok Si, displayed symptoms of phop-ghost haunting: trembling bodies, speaking in tongues and suddenly switching from laughing to crying and screaming. Relatives took them to Wat Donyanang, where the abbot is well known for his exorcisms.

At the temple, surrounded by holy thread, about 300 residents of the two villages attended the ritual. Earlier, a spirit medium had gone into a trance and declared 100 evil spirits were bent on harming local residents. They were advised to bring their relatives to join the ritual and remain within the protection of the holy thread.

The exorcism then proceeded, with monks praying and the haunted women being sprinkled with holy water until the 100 evil spirits were summoned and captured in 100 sections of bamboo. The two women then returned to normal.

Abbot Phra Khru Prasutthamasunthorn said this period had seen evil spirits roaming free to harm people, especially those collecting things from the forest at night, because black-magic items had been released.

People in the Northeast believe phop ghosts come from practitioners of black magic, who use it to harm others. They are then punished by the spirits of their teachers and become phop ghosts for breaching prohibitions against "improper use" of black magic.

Jitavej Khon Kaen Hospital director Thavee Tangseri said the two women were suffering from hysteria resulting from severe fear or anxiety. Their condition is not restricted to the mentally ill but happens often to those who believe in the supernatural.

He said 95 per cent of people allegedly possessed by phop ghosts were women and that the haunting occurred after an incident that served as a trigger, such as someone mysteriously dying in their sleep. This leads weak-minded people to believe in harm from ghosts, and they develop the symptoms of ghost haunting.

The local solution by exorcism is not a bad thing, because it tackles the mental aspects, he said. However, if treated by modern medicine, hysterical patients will be accompanied by strong-minded persons whom the patients trust, so they will eventually calm down, usually within a few days.

-- The Nation 2010-02-05

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Did anyone see the bizarre 'funeral' of a Doremon doll on TV a few nights ago? A middle aged woman was crying almost uncontrollably, monks and locals attended, performing the usual rites at a funeral.

The TV showed pictures of the doremon sitting in a classroom, I missed the story of why it was time for it to 'die' though.

Is this increase in ridiculous stories about telephones and exorcisms deliberate?

Is this increase in ridiculous stories about telephones and exorcisms deliberate?

Shhh. It's as entertaining as the old Midnight, Globe and National Inquirer before they went upmarket.

This makes for good reading whilst having a bowel movement. Same consistency too.

Is this increase in ridiculous stories about telephones and exorcisms deliberate?

Shhh. It's as entertaining as the old Midnight, Globe and National Inquirer before they went upmarket.

This makes for good reading whilst having a bowel movement. Same consistency too.

i just wonder about the sanity of the editor including it in the headlines and devoting quite so much space to it.

And yes those villagers are all properly informed voters too.

Making the best decisions based on the facts....

Poor ladies, sound like they were quite ill with medical issues.

Love the story!

This a like a free (and safe) lsd trip. Absolutely fascinating!

Hope the women are alright and sedated now. More importantly, are the black-magic items (that had been released in the dark forest at night) under control? Hmm.. I wonder..

And yes those villagers are all properly informed voters too.

Making the best decisions based on the facts....

Poor ladies, sound like they were quite ill with medical issues.

yes, scary that such people are allowed to vote.

same thing happened to me while eating 'black magic chocolates",soon as i gave them up i was ok,but i never did vote.

I find it sad that the supposedly Buddhist monks got involved with this. I can understand absorbing some of the local superstitions and animistic beliefs when first introducing Buddhism to the area, (Christianity has historically done the same), but evidently the time to return to the basic principles never came.

Oh well, I guess they aren't hurting anyone. I just hope they weren't doing this for the money.

Is this increase in ridiculous stories about telephones and exorcisms deliberate?

I think for those of us living here, it's very beneficial to be reminded just precisely what the nature of the country is.

It helps tremendously to keep things in perspective whenever discussions of Western thinking and experiences in Thailand are conducted.

Edited February 5, 201016 yr by dranor

I find it sad that the supposedly Buddhist monks got involved with this. I can understand absorbing some of the local superstitions and animistic beliefs when first introducing Buddhism to the area, (Christianity has historically done the same), but evidently the time to return to the basic principles never came.

Oh well, I guess they aren't hurting anyone. I just hope they weren't doing this for the money.

I am sorry to say I bet a few baht was involved somewhere along the way! After all this is Thailand

Thai people, especially the ones in those living in remote villages have incorporated many of their pre-Buddhist Animism practices into synchronization with Theravada Buddhism. Much in the same way many European pagans synchronized their pagan beliefs in with Christianity. This accounts for many of the seemingly non-Buddhist traditions we see practiced by Thai Theravada Buddhist today.

BB

Love the story!

This a like a free (and safe) lsd trip. Absolutely fascinating!

Hope the women are alright and sedated now. More importantly, are the black-magic items (that had been released in the dark forest at night) under control? Hmm.. I wonder..

Or some of the good old Buddah Thai laced with opium. from the 80's era!

And yes those villagers are all properly informed voters too.

Making the best decisions based on the facts....

Poor ladies, sound like they were quite ill with medical issues.

Maybe if those villagers got the same education chances as the bangkok elite they would be "better" voters. How about spending your time pushing for better education national wide, rather than trying to degrade them?

They returned to normal after the cerremony, so surely it can only be a good thing. Several days they say it would take them by modern medical technique, much less traditional way, so whats the problem?

nobody can prove they weren't afflicted by evil spirits any more than they prove they were; maybe more proof they were as the cerremony actually worked!

Is this increase in ridiculous stories about telephones and exorcisms deliberate?

I think for those of us living here, it's very beneficial to be reminded just precisely what the nature of the country is.

It helps tremendously to keep things in perspective whenever discussions of Western thinking and experiences in Thailand are conducted.

I agree and who to say that the Western pov is the right one. I have a Thai friend who is well educated, here in the Bangkok university system, and she believes in black magic and ghosts. I believe in ghosts, something that stems from my own experiences as a child. Who is to say what is real and what is not? In any case the exorcisms worked, and for me I accept the possibility of more things than we can detect with our eyes or through science.

To be honest, whether there are spirits and black magic worries me far less than the way that some Westerners denigrate Thai customs and belief. I attended a ritual at a friends house presided over by 9 Buddhist monks, we wrote names of people we wanted to have good luck and placed them on a "tree" and during the ceremony we looped strings around our heads. I was told to keep it for luck. I have. Whether it will bring me luck, maybe and maybe not. But it doesn't hurt anyone to respect Thai beliefs.

Did anyone see the bizarre 'funeral' of a Doremon doll on TV a few nights ago? A middle aged woman was crying almost uncontrollably, monks and locals attended, performing the usual rites at a funeral.

The TV showed pictures of the doremon sitting in a classroom, I missed the story of why it was time for it to 'die' though.

I think it had something to do with a young school girl that was raped and murdered, I'm not 100 percent sure about this, but that was what I saw from the news clipping before this clip was shown.

Before you are too quick to criticise such things conider that in the area and with the local belief structure, to those who particiapted in the ceremony it seemed like the "intelligent" thing to do. From their world view what they did was a valid response to the problem as they saw it.

You may disagree with them; but you, like every other human being, has a "baggage" of learned and assumed beliefs that you carry around with you to help you make sense of your otherwise confusing world. Of course, you believe your baggage is more correct and logical than any others, but can you really be sure of your superiority?

Examples of "western baggage" that is carried around by westerners is such things as Christian prayer meetings, football matches, or "democratic" elections. All of these, in one way or another, are mass social ritual affairs where some kind of "demon" is exorcised in one way or another.

And as for the comment about these people voting, just let me remind you of Winston Churchill's words after World War II. He was once asked if he thought that English democracy was now secure in England.

"I certainly hope so", replied Churchill,"but a five minute conversation with any average voter might still leave the matter in some doubt."

Edited February 5, 201016 yr by IMA_FARANG

There are some people who believe that a white bearded man gets around to delivering presents to billions of people carried on a sled pulled by reindeer around the globe over a 24 hour period in December.

There are those who believe that a rabbit delivers chocolate eggs to billions of people at a time determined by the moon in the March/April period.

There are those who don't walk under laddrs for fear it brings bad luck.

There are those who fear the number 13 and frefuse to travel on Friday 13th of any given month.

There ae those who believe that a black cat that crosses your path will bring you bad luck.

The Catholic church still carries out exorcisms.

double post

Edited February 5, 201016 yr by mca

And yes those villagers are all properly informed voters too.

Making the best decisions based on the facts....

Poor ladies, sound like they were quite ill with medical issues.

yes, scary that such people are allowed to vote.

Which would make your posts all the more amusing if they turned out to be hardcore anti-Thaksin Democratic Party voters.

Of course every resident of Isaan must be a "red" yeah? All 20 plus million of them.

Edited February 5, 201016 yr by mca

Thai people, especially the ones in those living in remote villages have incorporated many of their pre-Buddhist Animism practices into synchronization with Theravada Buddhism. Much in the same way many European pagans synchronized their pagan beliefs in with Christianity. This accounts for many of the seemingly non-Buddhist traditions we see practiced by Thai Theravada Buddhist today.

BB

So nothing to do with the money then?