we have a new spirit house! after mama found a snake in bed with her in the middle of the night, the Long Som (spirit medium) told us that the ghost of the land wants a place to live. (see the previous blog entry for the story) i sent tok some extra money to get us a spirit house. she had to wait until after the recent buddist holiday to have the workmen come and install a concrete pad and tile.
and again mama had a nocturnal visitor - this time a centipede under her pillow. don't know what kind of centipede it was, but they do have some big ones in thailand. ones that bite and produce a painful wound that is easily infected. they usually don't come creeping around the house. i've never seen one on our property actually. so the creatures visit is a little odd. we're hoping that with the new spirit house installed, the local ghosts will be appeased with their fancy new digs, and stop bothering mama. that's the principal, as i understand it anyway.
and old man from the village came out to dedicate our spirit house. offerings of fruit, sweets and food were prepared:
i wish i could have been there for the ceremony. we now have a beautiful addition to the yard.