Thai Girl Tattle: The Death Of Durian
...In the relative cool of the morning,offerings of food were prepared and we then all went out to the spirit house and performed a brief ceremony. As always it was low key and dignified, with emotions kept well in hand, even though the loss of a first born is one of the worst possible traumas. In fact it seemed comforting as they remembered Durian and prayed for her spirit....
Andrew Hicks tells of the Thai way of honouring and remembering a beloved first-born daughter.
Do please visit Andrew's Web sites
http://www.thaigirl2004.com/
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If only Durian were still with us, enjoying the busy life of the family.
Mama has had a dream.
Durian, her eldest daughter who died a few years ago came to her a few days ago in a dream and said she was hungry. Something must be done about it.
In my recent book, "My Thai Girl and I", in a chapter called 'Living with the Spirits' I wrote about how the spirits are all around us in our lives here in our village in Isaan and how we therefore set up a spirit house for them at the front of the house.
I felt it was too intrusive though to write about the death of Durian as this was just too recent and raw to be a part of the book.
Durian was much older than my wife, Cat, and in a family of seven siblings brought up in a poor family in rural Thailand, she was almost like a mother to the younger ones. When she became sick with kidney disease a few years ago, it was a terrible time as the family faced the inevitable parting.
Once a year we remember her and go to the temple, but this recent occasion was something a bit special, a response to Mama's dream.
In the relative cool of the morning,offerings of food were prepared and we then all went out to the spirit house and performed a brief ceremony. As always it was low key and dignified, with emotions kept well in hand, even though the loss of a first born is one of the worst possible traumas. In fact it seemed comforting as they remembered Durian and prayed for her spirit.
How their belief in the spirits coexists with their belief in Buddhism I have no idea but coexist it certainly does. In Thailand the belief in animist gods remains strong and it would be fascinating to know precisely what these beliefs are. Does anyone really know?
The trees and the land have spirits and the spirits of the dead are everywhere. They are much to be feared and so must be humoured with offerings.
As Durian was such a good person, I cannot imagine her being anything but benign. At least Mama Papa now know she will not go hungry and will not again disturb their dreams.
