Erecting a spirit house needs a special Brahmin ceremony in order to beg the spirit to come and live in it. Both the position and time it is put up must be carefully chosen as well. For the spirit house in our school, the end of the Buddhist Lent was chosen as the most auspicious day to start the ceremony. Six o'clock in the morning was also regarded as a good time.
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Special offerings were made during the ceremony: a pig's head, a 'baisee' or ornamental preparation of cooked rice wrapped in banana leaves topped with a hardboiled egg, a coconut, bananas and other fruit, tea and two special kinds of sweetmeats associated with spirit houses.
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The picture to the right shows the school owners placing lighted incense sticks into the food as a blessing. Once the elaborate banquet had been offered to the guardian spirits none of it could be eaten by this family. However, it wasn't wasted as it could be given away for other people to enjoy.
For more information, read 'Traditional Thailand' by Denis Segaller, the author of the popular 'Thai Ways' book.
Return to Spirit House.
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