The Spirit House

The Spirit House is now in place so the house is complete .
Spirit worship is probably the oldest form of religion in the world, and when Buddhism came to Southeast Asia, it developed alongside the ancient spirit worship already in place. Today many of the beliefs remain intertwined with Buddhism and form part of everyday life for Thai people.
If you want to read more about spirit worship.

http://www.travelfish.org/…/south…/surat_thani/ko_samui/3033

House warming party

The Tables were set up and people were casually wandering into the tents and sitting down . Suddenly 20 tables were occupied by the invited guests . I was informed that we would visit each table and a picture must be taken . Somehow my camera went to video mode and Pemika's daughter Chutinan (nickname Ice) ended up recording our many stops and creating stills.. I was a little taken aback when playing the movie to see the doddering old man wearing a very snug shirt that wasn't so snug a year ago (lol) . It seems the video file is to big to import so I may email it out later . 

I was surprised when viewing the pictures to see how many people didn't smile for the picture . They would be laughing and joking and as soon as Chutinan started her countdown many went stone faced .
I;ve not included all the pictures as some looked like they were at a wake rather than a party (lol) .

Thank goodness Pemika looked beautiful and got all the attention . She was radiating happiness on this special day where everything she had hoped for was coming off without a problem to be had. Singing, drinking and eating with no speeches . Perfect . 

The invitation is just a draft of the final . J for John and K for Koy as that is Pemika's nickname and what everybody in the village calls her.. It was a fantastic day that I was privileged to be a part of . I'm not a religious man but I did give thanks on this day for the blessings I have received .For 28 of my first 50 years I was blessed with my wonderful wife Lynne and now the fates have blessed me with another wonderful partner to spend the rest of my life with 

     Pemika and her mother Panja

Pemika and Chutinan (Ice)

Special Visit from an esteemed monk

Pemika was overjoyed that we would be receiving a visit from a highly esteemed monk in our region . I couldn't pronounce his name if I tried so let's just call him Top Monk . I came into the house from the back and as I entered the living room I saw Top Monk with 3 or 4 assistants as he made his way to the bedroom door . He put the powder paste on the door and sprinkled water on it as well . He is quite old and needed to be guided to each door to repeat the same ritual blessing . He then moved to the exterior and repeated the steps on the front door of the home . All the while I noticed him chewing something and it reminded me of watching someone chew tobacco . After the front door blessing was complete a chair was brought for Top Monk and as he sat people came forward to have powder placed on their foreheads or tapped with the bamboo bouquet that dispenses "holy" water . After all the blessings are done Pemika's brother Jack walks Top Monk down the stairs to half way down the drive where I see Jack put his hand up to Top Monks chin and out comes whatever he was chewing on . Jack collects it in his hands and it is put aside to be dried out , divided up and placed into an amulet or something of a similar nature . Pemika is quite happy at the family's good fortune to have this keepsake from such a holy man . I asked Pemika how long Top Monk has been around and she pointed to the little staue in a box that adorns her in home Buddha shrine and she tells me that that is a likeness of him that she has had for years . Looks like Top Monk is bigger than I thought .

The arrival of the 9 monks

If you are Buddhist than the pictures are self explanatory however if you are not then read a book because I have little to no insight into why you we had to have 9 monks come to bless our home but we did and I;ve long since learned it never hurts to have some good luck come your way . The 9 monks arrived on Jan. 9 wait there might be a tie in there (lol) . They proceeded through the party tent led by the top monk and meandered up the driveway across our new porch and into our livingroom that was prepared to accomodate them . Many family and freinds came in and sat on the floor to join in the blessings and chanting . The spillover camped on the porch so they could hear the monks prayers. Such a pleasure to see what a high level of happiness our freinds and family experience when being a part of these rituals that seem to enrich their hearts with hope and promise of good things coming their way.

 Sorry if I sound a little sappy and I need to bite my tongue occassionally but they beleive and don't question and it gives them great comfort and why shouldn't they celebrate that . After an hour of prayers and chanting the 2IC then stood up and using the bound together bamboo sticks annointed everyone with water . Then the monks were offerred food , lots of food which they happily chowed down on. After the monks had eaten Pemika and the kids offerred each monk some tributes . With all the formalities done the 9 slowly made their way out of the house down the driveway back through the tents and disappeared leaving a trail of very happy devotees .