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Spirit house at on a street in
Bangkok
Spirit House at Jim Thompson's House |
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Beach in
Koh Samui,
Thailand |
Every Thai house, or building has to have a spirit house to go with it.
A place for the spirits of the site, or phra phum, to live in. Without
this vital structure you're likely to have the spirits living in the
house with you, which can cause all sorts of trouble. A spirit house
looks rather like a birdhouse-sized Thai temple, mounted on a
pedestal. At least your average spirit house does. A big hotel may
have a shrine covering 100 sq. meters or more.
How do you ensure that the spirits take up residence in your spirit
house rather than in the main house with you? Mainly by making the
spirit house a more auspicious place to live in than the main
building, through daily offerings of food, flowers, candies, and
incense.
The spirit house should also have a prominent location, and should not
be shaded by the main house. Thus, its position has to be planned from
the very beginning, and installed with due ceremony. If your own house
is improved or enlarged, then the spirit house should be as well. The
local phaw kru or maa khruu (father, or mother teacher) usually
presides over the initial installation, as well as later improvements.
The interior of a spirit house is usually decorated with ceramic, or
plastic figurines, representing the property's guardian spirits. The
most important figurine, the chao thii, or 'place of lord', embodies a
phra phum who reigns over a specific part of the property (see list
below).
Larger, or more elaborate spirit houses may also contain figurines
that serve as family, retainers, or servants for these resident
spirits. Thai believers purchase these figurines, as well as the
bowls, dishes, and other accoutrements for making daily offerings, at
rural temples, or in larger cities, at supermarkets, and department
stores.
An abandoned, or damaged spirit house can't simply be tossed aside
like a broken appliance left to rot, or dismantled for firewood.
Instead, it should be deposited against the base of a sacred Banyan
tree, or in the corner of a sympathetic Wat (temple), where benevolent spirits
will watch over it.
Guardian Spirit Sphere of Influence
| Phra Chaimongkhon |
Houses |
| Phra Nakhonrat |
Gates, portals, ladders |
| Phra Khonthan |
Honeymoon homes |
| Phra Khan Thoraphon |
Corrals, cattle pens |
| Phra Chai Kassapa |
Granaries |
| Phra Thamahora |
Fields |
| Phra Than Thirat |
Gardens, orchards |
| Phra Chaimongkut |
Temples, Shrines |
| Phra That Tara |
Monasteries |
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