Baisri: “Container to touch the brightness of the soul”
Every ceremony has a baisri, the symbolic container of refined vibrations that welcome the land guardians. The most common baisri pakchan used in spirit house ceremonies are filled with overlapping symbols. Three rows of five pointed “fingers” are made of rolled banana leaves and tipped with white flowers representing hands in prayer. A spoonful of steamed rice from the top cream of the pot, half of an open banana, and half of a cucumber are typically placed inside. A shelled hardboiled egg is stuck onto the tip of the point representing the cosmic egg on top of Mt. Sumeru.