Dr.That Sriratanaban
Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University
This research aimed to study and explain the belief related to the ritual known as “Lu Thad Lay Pa” or the ritual to worship the four elements. The ritual is part of the Tai Yai astrological belief and serves the purpose of treating illnesses caused by an imbalance between the four elements in the human body: fire, earth, air and water. The research also aimed to study changes in the ritual in the present-day Tai Yai community in Muang district, Mae Hong Son province.
The results of the study show that according to Tai Yai astrological belief, certain physical and mental illnesses are caused by an imbalance between the four elements in the body. It is believed that these illnesses can be examined through fortune-telling and two forms of treatments are usually implemented: consuming a type of herbal medicine known as Ya Thad Lay Pa, which can help harmonize the four elements in the body, and by conducting the “Lu Thad Lay Pa” ritual. It is believed that the ritual has the effect of adjusting the four elements in the body and helping the person to function normally. It has been found that the ritual to worship the four elements is usually conducted for two purposes. Apart from the above-mentioned occasion when a fortune teller examines and concludes that a person’s illness is caused by the imbalance of the four elements, the “Lu Thad Lay Pa” ritual is also performed as part of two important ceremonies, the Poy Deunhok (Poy Ja Tee), held in the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and the Poy Para, a ceremony in celebration of the images or relics of the Buddha. However, this study has found that today the ritual has been transformed to serve growing tourism in Mae Hong Son. The ritual has been redefined as an offering of worship to the Buddha and as a ritual to bring good fortune and health to the Tai Yai people.
(Presented in the 2017 Chulalongkorn Thai-Tai Heritage Forum: Healing and Herbal Medicine (การรักษาโรคกับการใช้ยาสมุนไพรในวัฒนธรรมไทย-ไท), 22-23 June 2017, Le Meridien Chiang Mai Hotel, Chiang Mai, organized by the Empowering Network for International Thai and ASEAN Studies, Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Lanna Studies Center, Faculty of humanities ,Chiang Mai University and Thai Language Department, School of Liberal Arts Mae Fah Luang University)