Should I get a spirit house?

[Gecko123]

My house was built 15 years ago. But no spirit house. Didn't have the monks come and bless the house either. My father in law came and performed an incantation at the construction site, but I've always had the feeling that I cut a few spiritual corners by not going the spirit house route. Was this a major faux pas?

 

So to those who built one, was it money well spent? Do you pray and light incense and candles with your wife? Do you think it has contributed to your domestic happiness? If you didn't build a spirit house, do you have have any regrets? Ever get the feeling like your house might be attracting bad spirits because you don't have one?

 

If you have a spirit house, feel free to post a picture. 

 

By the way, Amazon sells a wide variety of spirit houses, in case anyone's interested.

 

 

[Pdaz]

Do you want to keep it clean, add offerings and candles etc ? Not just a case of buying one and ignoring it. My wife said, "no way" as she has enough to take care of already.

[Peterw42]

At least you have an explanation for not winning the lottery.

Many housing estates, if thats where your house is, have a spirit house that covers the estate.

 

[thehelmsman]

Don't forget the Red Fanta, Buddha loves that stuff.

[makecoldplayhistory]

18 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

Don't forget the Red Fanta, Buddha loves that stuff.

or Yakult.

[CharlieH]

We have one, the wife wanted it, its her belief etc and I respect both her and her beliefs.

 

Personally , couldnt care less but  "up to her" .

[PETERTHEEATER]

Yes, house built 12 years ago we have a big garden and a big gleaming white Spirit House set with real gold leaf keeping the structures looking 'as new' through the years.

 

Yes, we dress the SHs on major religious days as a husband and wife and I say a prayer each morning at both as part of my daily pre-breakfast routine. We also have another Thai Style house with two SH sets, one large and one small. The large on is in the main garden and the small one just outside our boundary wall on a thin triangular verge. Second was a result of yet another Buddhist guru's recommendation.

 

Your Thai wife would not object to having a SH I assume? The difficulty is finding a genuine person to direct the installation since the houses and therefore the images within should face in an auspicious direction usually, but not always, eastish. We have had some mumbo-jumbo charlatans in my opinion. There is always someone in the locale who will dress up in a white cotton pyjama suit for a suitable fee!

[grumbleweed]

I didn't bother,  don't drink that much so keep my bottle of Jack Daniels on a shelf

[ThaiWai]

This is tongue in cheek right?  Certainly as an adult you know there are no gods and magic and spirits?  Yeah this is a joke, has to be.  You had me going there for a minute.  555 good one!

[connda]

Are you a practicing Animist?  I lovingly refer to most Thai Buddhists as 'Buddhist flavored Animists' because those spirit houses have zip/nada/nothing to do with Buddhism.  

So if you don't practice Animism as a religious belief, then having one is rather unnecessary, well, unless you're sort of agnostic on the issue and simply want to hedge your bets.  Or, you're putting one up in the garden the same way you'd place garden gnomes and bird baths in your garden - it sorta just looks cool. 

 

My wife is very much a Buddhist flavored Animist so the spirit houses get a lot of attention. Me?  Suffice to say that over my lifetime I've experienced enough strange things that I'm simply hedging my bet.  My wife gives them a full smorgasbord on a daily basis.  Me?  I'll light some incense on Buddhist holidays for the benefit of family members who have left this plane of existence, sorta like putting flowers on family member's graves back home.  And seeing that my father, mother, and daughter's graves are about 14 thousand miles away, burning incense and leaving flowers on the spirit hourse works for me.  

[jak2002003]

18 minutes ago, ThaiWai said:

This is tongue in cheek right?  Certainly as an adult you know there are no gods and magic and spirits?  Yeah this is a joke, has to be.  You had me going there for a minute.  555 good one!

I have a spirit house, even though I don't believe in gods and ghosts and the rest.

 

I just think they look pretty and are an interesting part of Thai tradition.

 

I also like to have one to annoy the Christian missionary's that sometimes dare to venture down out street, but they soon avoid my house.. after a told a few I worship Satan and tried to convert them.. boot on the other foot, poor man was really scared and could not wait to leave 55. 

[Formaleins]

It is the usual Thai confusion of Bhuddism and Animism, on the one hand the Bhudda side of them is anti alcohol and high moral fibre, yet when it comes to the crunch they fear ghosts much more than anything that Bhudda has to offer and you can bet your bottom dollar that Jowtie in his little spirit house will be getting well oiled on that bottle of Lao Kao they give him to shut him up and not torture and kill them slowly.

[Gecko123]

37 minutes ago, ThaiWai said:

This is tongue in cheek right?  Certainly as an adult you know there are no gods and magic and spirits?  Yeah this is a joke, has to be.  You had me going there for a minute.  555 good one!

Honest to God, not tongue in cheek. I have had strong suspicions that my house might be haunted as a direct result of not conforming to spirit house protocol. There have been really weird otherwise difficult to explain karma issues. Again, not tongue in cheek, not trolling, 100% sincere. I'm not prone to superstition, but I sometimes wonder if Thailand isn't in some vector where para normal "spirits" tend to linger longer than elsewhere.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Gecko123

[pby92]

If one day have house in Thailand will have just because i like them.

[1FinickyOne]

We have one but it took several years to get it... no noticeable difference in luck but I like having one and have always liked them, but no idea why -  - and I don't tend it but have many family members who do... for me, they just look like a cool decorative accessory.

[Gecko123]

Just to flesh this out in the credibility department, my father-in-law had a rep for being a pretty serious gangsta in his younger day. He had mellowed out by the time I arrived on the scene, but he was a strange dude until the end. He performed a banana shoot/incense burning/prayer ritual over one of the house pillons during construction. Later, I sometimes I wondered if maybe he was casting some kind of a spell (I don't think the guy liked me too much). Another time, my wife got jealous, and buried two voodoo-like dolls on the property which were supposed to ward off other females. Even though, I eventually found, uncovered and burned them, they remained unfound for a good five years. These incidents might help explain the basis of my heebee-jeebee concerns.

Edited May 13, 2017 by Gecko123

[nauseus]

If it feels good just do it mate.

 

[Oxx]

20 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

Don't forget the Red Fanta, Buddha loves that stuff.

 

Ignorant and offensive comment.  The offerings to spirit houses have nothing to do with Buddha or Buddhism, but are rather the remnants of a pre-Buddhist, animistic religion.  Just look at the figurines inside and around any spirit house:  not a Buddha figure to be seen.

[Nokawou]

The PhD thesis of Barent Terwiel a Dutch guy that studied Thai village life in 1968 is well worth reading and still valid today. You can download it from the internet and is called "Monks and Magic" explains a lot of strange behavior and is a good read.

[a6patch]

Sometimes traditions are just traditions...social customs that don't need to have proof or solid belief behind them.  Lots of people make the motions around Christmas and Easter even though they wouldn't bet their life about the actual supernatural factual utility of such.  People live to cover their bases lol.

 

We didn't bother with a spirit house because the housing complex has a big one up front.  Having this or that figurine in the garden is ok, but the closer to an actual spirit house we were to get, the more faithful to the rites and traditions of maintaining it the woman would have wanted and...well...she didn't want to bother with that. 

 

And brother, I'm not sure I buy the "I'm not prone to superstition" bit, after reading about "buried two voodoo-like dolls on the property...ward off other females...I eventually found, uncovered and burned them...basis of my heebee-jeebee concerns".

 

[Nokawou]

If you do not believe in spirits, ghost etc. they (the spirits) cannot harm you but for those that believe (most Thai people do) they are real and can harm them. Think of self fulfilling prophecies they make it happen themselves. So the SH is important to your wife and extended family and it makes them more comfortable. Yes I would gladly get one just to get everyone more relaxed no harm done to you except for some expenses just don't start believing in spirits yourself !

[duanebigsby]

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

Honest to God, not tongue in cheek. I have had strong suspicions that my house might be haunted as a direct result of not conforming to spirit house protocol. There have been really weird otherwise difficult to explain karma issues. Again, not tongue in cheek, not trolling, 100% sincere. I'm not prone to superstition, but I sometimes wonder if Thailand isn't in some vector where para normal "spirits" tend to linger longer than elsewhere.

"Not  prone to superstition"?You bought it, hook, line, and sinker. There is no such thing as "spirits" But build your stupid spirit house.to "protect" the family.

[ujayujay]

I had no choice....missus want it

[thehelmsman]

2 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

Ignorant and offensive comment.  The offerings to spirit houses have nothing to do with Buddha or Buddhism, but are rather the remnants of a pre-Buddhist, animistic religion.  Just look at the figurines inside and around any spirit house:  not a Buddha figure to be seen.

You have your beliefs and I have mine, Red Fanta is a favorite. No denying that.

 

Our house got knocked over by a cow..........

[Khon Kaen Dave]

My wife wanted a spirit house, and i said, "yup no problem, as long as i can build a mini synagogue with one wall facing North, so that could invite the Rabbi from KK every month to sit with me at the North wall and discuss the interpretations of the messages of Yahweh to his chosen people. " I have heard nothing since.

[thaiguzzi]

No. Missus did'nt want one. Said it was not neccessary. We moved in in 2005. However, the house did get the full Monk's blessing thing, and every 2-3 years thereafter another monk's visit, sometimes three, sometimes just one. She reckons there will be no spirit house on the land until me or someone major in her family die...

[louse1953]

5 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Yes, house built 12 years ago we have a big garden and a big gleaming white Spirit House set with real gold leaf keeping the structures looking 'as new' through the years.

 

Yes, we dress the SHs on major religious days as a husband and wife and I say a prayer each morning at both as part of my daily pre-breakfast routine. We also have another Thai Style house with two SH sets, one large and one small. The large on is in the main garden and the small one just outside our boundary wall on a thin triangular verge. Second was a result of yet another Buddhist guru's recommendation.

 

Your Thai wife would not object to having a SH I assume? The difficulty is finding a genuine person to direct the installation since the houses and therefore the images within should face in an auspicious direction usually, but not always, eastish. We have had some mumbo-jumbo charlatans in my opinion. There is always someone in the locale who will dress up in a white cotton pyjama suit for a suitable fee!

You mean somebody that really knows his fairy tales as one that only makes it up as he goes.The former charges accordingly.

[khunPer]

Money well spent – I wanted a pair of nice wooden spirit homes even more than my Thai GF – we have had a good life for 7-years now in our new-build house since it was finished; probably also because the spirits got nice homes, and with electric light at night...

–I dare not thinking of what could have happened, if I had saved the "san phra phum"...

–and I furthermore enjoy looking at them, worth all the money...

[swissie]

My house was selected by spirits to serve as their domicile. Built a ghost house, hoping they would relocate. No go, they just stayed on. Actually, spirits have names, did you know that?
If I remember correctly, one called himself Jack Daniels, the other went by Johnnie Walker.
Cheers.

[Andrew Dwyer]

My house was selected by spirits to serve as their domicile. Built a ghost house, hoping they would relocate. No go, they just stayed on. Actually, spirits have names, did you know that?
If I remember correctly, one called himself Jack Daniels, the other went by Johnnie Walker.
Cheers.

What ?
No Jim Beam !!