The Chao Phi
To the imagination of
folk people, an uninhabited and desolate place such as a forest or a wilderness is full of
unseen beings or phi, mostly malevolent ones. Over these numerous phi there is in each
such place a lord or chao phi who rules in his or her particular do main, or sphere of
influence. There is always a shrine built by the people in a prominent place as residence
for the chao phi where personally the people can make offerings and ask for the chao phi's
good will and protection. The chao phi is, therefore, a tutelar or guardian spirit who is
called in Thai "arak" or "theparak", "Arak" is in Sanskrit
"araksha", to protect, and "thep" is "deva" or deity, but
the people reverently call such chao phi "chao phaw" or "chao me"
which means either the lord father or the lord mother as the case may be, When addressing
the chao phaw or chao me' the worshipper will refer to himself as "luk chang"
which means an elephant calf. This is interesting. I venture to think that in the old
day's herds of elephant's roamed far and wide. A herd of elephants might at any time come
up suddenly and destroy the crops of the people. In such a circumstance the folk were
helpless and unable to cope with the situation. To a primitive mind anything extraordinary
or abnormal which inspired awe was accredited to the supernatural. Here the chief elephant
of the herd must have been no other than a chao phi in disguise who came to punish the
folk for their negligence towards the chao phi who was their unseen father. By calling
themselves luk chang or elephant calves and entreating the elephants to leave the place,
the chao phi in elephant's disguise would be appeased. This is probably the origin of the
term "luk chang".
At the clearing or
opening into a forest or at any prominent place there usually stands a shrine to the chao
phi who is supposed to look after the forest as his domain. Anyone going into the forest
must stop at the shrine to pay respect to the chao phaw or chao me as the case may be. If
someone desires to cut trees for his own domestic use or to kill game, he must pay respect
to the chao phi and ask for permission. The usual way to do this is to make one end of a
stick into a hook and stick the other and in the ground or hang it at a certain place on a
level with the eyes of a person standing. This is an act of respect among the Siamese. The
head of a superior must always be in a high position and when he is sitting it is
disrespectful for an inferior to stand above a superior, That is why we have to crawl or
sit down when a superior is squatting on the floor. If the superior is sitting on a chair,
the inferior must not walk in with his head erect and above that of the former. He has to
go in with a bowed head as a sing of respect.
The question arises as
to why a hook is made on the stick when asking permission from a chao phi. The word hook
in Thai is "Khaw" and so also the word to ask permission. It is a play on a word
with identity in sound but difference in meaning "When a stick with the hook has been
placed, it is usually to be left overnight. If the stick remains intact in the morning,
then it is a sign that the chao phi has given his or her consent. Such a convention is not
confined only to the supernatural beings, but may be used also for inaccessible humans. If
you are tired and thirsty while travelling in an uninhabited place, and you come suddenly
on a plantation where there are many ripe melons to quench your thirst, but are unable to
locate the owner of the plantation, then the best thing for you to do is to make a hook
and place it somewhere nearby as a sign asking permission to take away a few melons. Then
you can take then without incurring the ill will of the owner or appearing to be a thief.
When there is a sure
sing from the chao phi that permission is given, the folk can go into the forest to fell
trees or kill game, enough for their own domestic needs only. When they leave the forest
with their felled trees of game, they will stop as the shrine again to give their thanks
to the chao phi. If they have killed game. They will cut a certain portion of the animals
killed, usually the ears and the tips of the nose, as an oblation to the chao phi. It is a
paradox that most of the uneatable parts of the animals are usually given to the chao phi
as a suitable part of the animals are usually given to the chao phi as a suitable
offering. Such a practice is general among many races of people in their primitive
animistic belief.
It is indirectly known
by the folk people that in certain seasons, especially the rainy one, the chao phi even if
he is asked, will not give his or her consent for anyone to go and cut wood or kill game.
If anyone dares to do it, something-unwonted may happen to him or be may become sick with
fever. This is due to the anger of the chao phi. Such a belief has indirectly a
utilitarian and preservative value for the people whose outlook is still primitive. Young
trees and animals can grow and thrive unmolested during certain parts of the year.
Nowadays some progressive people from towns, going out to fell trees or shoot game with
the help of local folk, ignore the practice and tradition. The folk begin to sense
impotency in their chao phi and imitate their modern-minded brothers without the knowledge
the is harm in it; hence harm has been done to the forests and geme.
The chao phi whose
domain is the forest is sometimes called chao pa or lord of the forest. In fact there are
chao phi of various locations. There may be a "chao khao" or lord of the
mountain, a "chao thung" or lord of the open land, a "chao tha" or
lord of the ferry or landing, a "chao thi" or lord of the place. The people
believe that these spirits travel during the day between midday and two o'clock in the
afternoon. On a day's march the people will stop travelling for a while during such times,
fearing that they will unintentionally tread upon the toe of the unseen, and become
suddenly ill through their anger. This is practical. To travel during the heat of the day
through open land is unbearable when the sun is hot overhead. You may have sunstroke,
which means that you have trod on the toe of one chao phi or another.
The chao phi as already
mentioned were developed probably prom natural objects which inspired awe in the people,
hence they are nature spirits. But there is a particular class of chao phi, which
developed from the spirits of the dead and grew about the memory of outstanding dead
persons. They are worshipped with love or fear because of the reputation of their virtues
or their vices. No special name is given to such chao phi. To the people there are no
differences in kinds of chao phi, for all have similar attributes and habits. But in the
Northeast of Thailand, these chao phi have been known as a particular class named
"phi mahesak", a corrupted word from the Sanskrit "mahesakha" which
means great power. They are much feared by the people, especially the phi mahesak whose
reputation when alive as human being was savage and cruel in the extreme. A slight neglect
or omission of worship to these spirits on the part of the people will result in great
harm.
The Phi (Evil Spirits)
The phi here, as
already mentioned, means in its restricted sense a ghost, a devil, or an evil spirit. It
also means the spirit of the dead and the corpse of a person. There are many kinds of such
actively malignant phi; some of them are traditional ones, but others by their peculiar
names bet ray foreign origins. Out of these numerous phi the following names are well
know.