Phi Fa ( , ) is a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

or spirit in the local

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. It is also known as Phi Thaen (Thai: ผีแถน , Lao: ຜີແຖນ). They play a prominent role in the Phra Lak Phra Lam and the stories of

Khun Borom Khun Borom (, ) or Khoun Bourôm (, ) is a legendary progenitor of the Southwestern Tai-speaking peoples, Mythology According to the myth of Khoun Borôm, a myth commonly related among Tai-speaking peoples, in ancient times people were wicked ...

Phi Fa ritual

The Phi Fa ritual is a practice preferably celebrated for a person who recovers after convalescence from a serious disease. The shaman is the medium, that is able to contact Phi Fa and invite her to take part in the ceremony. The shaman selects the suitable date and location for the ceremony, instructs participants during the preparation of the ritual, controls the correct decoration of the sacrificial altar, and conducts the ceremony. Music, chanting, and dancing are indispensable elements of the Phi Fa ritual. The

khaen The ''khaen'' (; spelled "Khaen", "Kaen", "Kehn" or "Ken" in English; , ; , , ; , ; – ''Ken''; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''khèn'' or ''kheng'') is a Lao mouth organ whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a s ...

, a bamboo mouth organ, is the primary musical instrument of the ritual. It is creates a sacred atmosphere accompanying ritual prayers and devotions and encourages dancing around the sacrificial altar. The khaen is accompanied by the

phin The phin (, ) (, ) is a type of lute with a pear-shaped body, originating in the Isan region of Thailand and played mostly by ethnic Lao people, Laotians in Thailand and Laos. It has frets on the neck over which two or three metal strings run tha ...

, a guitar-like stringed instrument, by a drum, and by ''ching'', small bells, cymbals. The chanting is very similar to

mor lam Mor lam (Lao language, Lao: ໝໍລຳ; Isan language, Isan: หมอลำ ; , , ) is a traditional Culture of Laos, Lao form of song, song originating in Laos that is also popular in Isan, where the majority of the population is ethnic Lao. ...

, the traditional music of Lao and Thailand. Phi Fa ritual participants dance around a decorated sacrificial altar. The dance lasts a full night and creates trance conditions for many of the participants. They believe Phi Fa will participate the ceremony and they expect healing and protection from unfavorable fortune. The steps of the ritual are related to the songs chanted by the shaman and are always accompanied by the khaen. This is because the khaen is believed to be an important mean to communicate with the gods and the spirits. The steps of the ritual are as follows: inviting the gods or spirits, explaining the reason for the invitation, praying for assistance, praying for protection, consoling the patient, re-calling the spirit that has fled the patient, inviting Phi Fa to accept the offerings, Baasii ritual, fortune telling, and taking leave of Phi Fa.

The Baasii ritual

The baasii ceremony is an important part of Lao culture and few Lao would consider undertaking a long journey or important endeavor without holding one. The faithful sit around a small table on which a variety of offerings are displayed – bananas, sticky rice, biscuits, money, and rice whiskey. An elder or a shaman recites the blessing, while everyone touches the offerings or, if they can't reach, the elbow of someone touching the offerings. The elder or the shaman ties a piece of string around the wrist. In Lao tradition, the soul consists of many guardian spirits that occasionally wander away from their owner. These must be called back and bound to the body to ensure a person is properly protected before any important undertaking. Once the elder has finished other participants continue tying loops of string. Yet more string is produced and finally everyone ties string around each other's wrists, whispering good wishes all the while. It is believed that the string must be worn for at least three full days to ensure the desired effect.

Phi Fa dance

''Lam Phi Fa'' ( ; ) is part of the ritual to propitiate spirits in cases of possession. Musically it derived from ''Lam Tang Yao''; however, it was performed not by trained musicians but by those, most commonly old women, who were thought themselves to have been cured by the ritual. In his ''Traditional Music of the Lao'', Terry Miller identifies five factors which helped to produce the various genres of ''lam'' or dance in Isan:

animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

story telling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation ...

, ritual

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage or committed romantic, ''de facto'' relationship. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marri ...

, and male-female competitive

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. One of these is ''Lam Phi Fa'', the Phi Fa dance. ''Lam Phi Fa'', together with ''Lam Phuen'' is one of the oldest genres.

Modern adaptations

Jao Nang ''Jao Nang'', also known as ''The Princess's Terror'' (; ), is a period horror Lakorn which originally aired in the mid-1990s and became known among Thai viewers as the most frightening lakorn. It starred Chakkrit Amarat (จักรกฤษณ� ...

'' "The Princess' Terror", '' Pob Pee Fah'' and its 2009 remakePop Phi Fa 2009
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Thai television soap opera Lakorn ( related to Javanese language, Javanese ꦭꦏꦺꦴꦤ꧀ ''lakon'' from ꦭꦏꦸ ''laku'' "behavior") or ''lakhon'' is a popular genre of fiction in Television in Thailand, Thai television known in Thai language, Thai as (lit. "tele ...

s (ละคร) based on the Phi Fa / Phi Pop legend.

References

External links

ลำผีฟ้า - Phi Fa dance

* ttp://sanomcity.blogspot.com/2010/04/14-2553-2000-0600.html Ram Taen ritual{{Authority control

Videos

* http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phi_Faa_Shamanistic_Healing_Ritual_NE-Thailand-Laos.ogg * http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phi_Faa_Shamanistic_Ritual_NE-Thailand_&_Laos_-_Preparation_of_the_Ritual.ogg Asian shamanism Thai deities Laotian deities