Blessings from the Ancestors
Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2019 7:31 am
Since I missed going back to the village on Pchum Ben, the family arranged a ceremony to receive blessing from the Ancestors for good luck. Described as a small family affair.
But when a foreigner is involved, small gets thrown out.
Got thrown right into it just after arriving at the village. Told to hurry up and change.
Such a small intimate ceremony that required village security.
A ear killing (100+ decibel output) Khmer sound system for the party at night.
And 12 tables for all the guests.
Along with mass food production to feed all the guests.
And fortunately a small table set up for guests to donate to help recoup some of the costs.
The guests were generous. Their donations paid about 35-35% of the total costs.
The main focus of the blessing was the chanting by the Buddhist monks.
And the faithful.
Not one temple of monks, but three temple of monks were required for the prayers to reach the ancestors. Plus the head monk, a famous (expensive) local celebrity.
Chanting stopped at night, for another day’s chanting the next morning.
Was suddenly told by missus to get dressed up and leave the bunker. Turns out, I walked into a surprise anniversary party. All arranged by missus.
I got a bouquet of flowers, and she got a fancy formal necklace.
Then dancing with brain skull pounding music commenced.
The next day, the monks and faithful arrived for chanting around 4:30 AM and continued for the next 2 hours before stopping for breakfast.
After breakfast came the ghostly blessing by the monks. They hold a white sheet on end, and the family get covered by the power of the spirits.
Finally came the offering of rice to the monks.
After all the other offerings throughout the ceremony.
We thanked each guest for their donation of rice to the monks by giving them a krama and 5000 Riel.
Me, afterwards.
(Images of tired little girl sleeping on the monk prayer stage. Sorry I hit my limit of photo uploads for the month)
But when a foreigner is involved, small gets thrown out.
Got thrown right into it just after arriving at the village. Told to hurry up and change.
Such a small intimate ceremony that required village security.
A ear killing (100+ decibel output) Khmer sound system for the party at night.
And 12 tables for all the guests.
Along with mass food production to feed all the guests.
And fortunately a small table set up for guests to donate to help recoup some of the costs.
The guests were generous. Their donations paid about 35-35% of the total costs.
The main focus of the blessing was the chanting by the Buddhist monks.
And the faithful.
Not one temple of monks, but three temple of monks were required for the prayers to reach the ancestors. Plus the head monk, a famous (expensive) local celebrity.
Chanting stopped at night, for another day’s chanting the next morning.
Was suddenly told by missus to get dressed up and leave the bunker. Turns out, I walked into a surprise anniversary party. All arranged by missus.
I got a bouquet of flowers, and she got a fancy formal necklace.
Then dancing with brain skull pounding music commenced.
The next day, the monks and faithful arrived for chanting around 4:30 AM and continued for the next 2 hours before stopping for breakfast.
After breakfast came the ghostly blessing by the monks. They hold a white sheet on end, and the family get covered by the power of the spirits.
Finally came the offering of rice to the monks.
After all the other offerings throughout the ceremony.
We thanked each guest for their donation of rice to the monks by giving them a krama and 5000 Riel.
Me, afterwards.
(Images of tired little girl sleeping on the monk prayer stage. Sorry I hit my limit of photo uploads for the month)
