Marisa Cranfill
The favorite food of the Lao guardian spirits is definitely khao niaw, or sticky rice. Look closely and you will find it stuck everywhere around Luang Prabang: tucked in the walls, stuffed inside a dragon’s mouth and piled up on spirit houses. Like a Where’s Waldo picture, where ever you find sticky rice balls you can bet there are some spiritual beings and a few ghosts enjoying themselves. On a Lao spirit house, mounds of stic
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
Easter, the festival of spring; rebirth, new life and the clear bright colors of nature. What could be a better time to honor the land than on one of the most cherished of American holidays? Bunnies are a leftover from the ancient spring festival honoring Eostre, a great north European goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. The exchange and offering of brightly colored eggs are an ancient custom, celebrated by many cultures from East to West;
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
This home-made spirit house has a special name called tat. It is a fusion of ancestor worship, Buddhism and the spirit house tradition. The owner of this property built the tat with his own hands. He says, “The tat comes from ancient times; we build them to honor our ancestors. This one is for my deceased mother and father.” According to Jao Nit, a Lao cultural expert, ancestor worship came to Laos via Chinese culture. But whi
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
Spirit house hunting in Luang Prabang is easy: do some qigong and open your third eye (so you can see the spirits), drink lao coffee (because it is delicious), get on a bicycle (the best transportation in Lao) and meet the land guardians! I found this saarn phra phoom style spirit house guarding the workshop of a man who makes khon masks used in the Hindu epic play called Pra Lak Pra Lam, the Lao Ramayana. &n
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
After three heavenly weeks in Luang Prabang, my understanding of spirit houses has raised the roof. (Pun intended) “Lao is medieval; it’s not renaissance. Thailand is renaissance.” The Prince of Lao - an extraordinary artist and cultural preservationist – asserted in response to my probing questions about the local spirit houses. I could tell he was getting a little frustrated that I continued to compare La
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
You just know when a spirit house has got it; that certain something, like the magnetism of a supernova – a rare charisma that causes you to stop dead in your tracks and take a closer look, or at the least, save a snapshot of it in the little box of treasures folder of your mind. The first rule of spirit house success is that it can’t be truly powerful without a power source. A daily blast of sunshine, root systems th
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
Why did the zebra cross the road? To get to the spirit house of course! I may have decoded the supernatural mystery as to why Thai people offer zebra statues at spirit houses. Well, I didn’t really figure this out myself. The credit goes to a very insightful Thai monk named Phra Kittisak. Here is the evidence: Clue #1 It is very common to find large and colorful ceramic animals surrounding spirit houses; roosters, elephants, horses and
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
You could say a well-kept spirit house is always ready for the holidays, especially when it is wrapped up in a colorful bundle of bows and ribbons. These gauzy ribbons called paa saarm sii (meaning 3-colored cloth in Thai) can be found wrapped around any object in Thailand that is considered to have innate power, especially trees and pillars. The ritual of tying ribbons transforms an otherwise worldly object into a sacred one and is a physical ac
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
For a moment, imagine your great, great, great, great, grandfather going all the way back to the beginning of time. Now do the same on your grandmother’s side. Where did they begin? How many lands did they inhabit? How many languages did they speak? How many houses did they live in? What seeds did they plant? How much pain did they suffer? How many people did they love? How much wisdom did they transform? Connecting to our ancestors is a h
READ MORE
Marisa Cranfill
A homemade spirit house in the Northeast of Thailand is surrounded by a blanket of crispy leaves. This is the dry season: a time of trust and courage, a time to give thanks, to let go and to rest. The energy of autumn is brittle, rigid and descending as it prepares for the depths of the slow winter months. In Chinese five element theory, autumn is the season ruled by the metal element and its corresponding characteristics. Metal connects to the o
READ MORE
