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Keeping the House Spirits Happy

Literally meaning 'the ancestral ghosts', Phi Poo-Ya is as far from Hollywood's image of scary haunting walking fleshless corpses, poltergeists, vampires, and the like as possible. And no. It ain't cutie Casper neither.

In physical form, Phi Poo-Ya is a family shrine. As opposed to the chao ti or land guardian shrine which is often an elaborated craft on a single pole, it is set on four stilts and has next to no intricate details in the structure. Most shrines might contain images of religious importance, but in the case of Phi Poo-Ya one normally puts nothing in, except perhaps a piece of soft white cloth.

According to local belief, it is regarded as necessary to worship the ancestral spirits of the family. It should be noted that, as Thai families are sort of extended, consisting of multiple units of parents and children, every sub-family only pays worship to one shared Phi Poo-Ya shrine. This shrine can be inherited only through the female members of the family. In case of the lack of a daughter or a niece, a family has to adopt a girl from the most immediate kin to inherit the shrine.

However in modern time, the families tend to get smaller and live separately, especially in urban areas. The shrine must still be located in one of the houses. For some reason, the shrine is usually left untouched except when the responsible family comes to take proper care to give occasional offerings such as water, incense, and some food. Only on a very special occasion in the 9th month of the Lanna lunar calendar, approximately in July, the family will be reunited to pay major respects to the Phi Poo-ya, which is similar to the gathering of Chinese families during the Chinese New Year.

Now, the Phi Poo-Ya is not just a shrine as it may seem, but also plays a large part in the traditional Lanna matrimonial ceremony. It is believed that a woman can be married only after approval has been given by the ancestral spirit. So, the man and his family will have to go to the house where the girl's family shrine is maintained and ask the spirits for permission to take the girl as his wife. Indecent affairs without prior approval usually result in the most senior female member of the girl's family getting ill without a cause. This is known as phid phee or wronging the spirit. Any cure acceptable in modern medical science cannot heal the person of this mysterious illness, unless the guilty party begs forgiveness from the Phi Poo-Ya with various offerings, including a bowl of rice, a pig's head, some desserts, and most importantly a bowl of holy water made of som-poi (a kind of acacia plant) leaves and turmeric dipped in fresh water.

At present, there is the danger that this and some of the other animistic beliefs of Lanna may fade away. A day will come when the Phi Poo-Ya is swept away by the stronger stream of modernization, westernization, or globalization - you name it... and we lose touch with our forebears and all the good in the past.