Summary
» Country? Thailand.
» In a few words, what is the idea? The Guardian Spirit restores the health of a woman, through the shaman. Taking part and witnessing this type of experience requires some involvement from someone from an animist community, but if possible, it is worth attending. And chat with the shaman later.
» Duration? Probably at least one or two nights, one full day.
» For whom? Travellers who question the limits of our existence or who are simply curious about the way other cultures deal with it. Unprejudiced.
» Where? Small villages of animistic communities. North and northeast of Thailand. Hill tribes.
» When? All year long.
Description
Communication between the world of the living and the world of the spirits has to be extraordinary although at the same time a domestic matter.
The video below portrays the shaman of a Lisu village as he communicates with the afterworld at the request of one of his fellow neighbours.
Of course, such communications do not take place in the same way as on the phone ‘Hi Peter, how are you?‘, but it is similar in that there is someone at the other end that you cannot see but who is there.
A lady from a Lisu village goes to the Shaman’s home because she feels sick and needs his help to find the cause and, if possible, the solution too.
As you can see from the footage, everything takes place in the living room of the house in front of the altar, with the children present but busying themselves with other matters, the TV on, there is no reason to conceal anything, it all happens spontaneously and naturally.
The Shaman then consults Apamu, the Guardian and protector of the community.
The world of invisible spirits is densely populated, more or less like ours, and a hierarchy is upheld among them, they are not all equal.
Interestingly, they also have their own character. Apamu, for example, is very fussy about keeping the temple clean and on one occasion, he decided to leave them because it was not clean enough.
Once the ritual is over, the Shaman has both the diagnosis and the solution for the illness.
The problem stemmed from the patient’s lack of attention to the spirit of her great-grandmother and therefore the solution is to pay due respect and lay down the offerings she deserves at the little house of the spirits.