Phi Fa ( th, ผีฟ้า, lo, ຜີຟ້າ) is a deity or spirit in the local

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

northeast Thailand Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...

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

Khun Borom Khun Borom ( th, ขุนบรม, ) or Khoun Bourôm ( lo, ຂຸນບູຣົມ, ) is a legendary progenitor of the Southwestern Tai-speaking peoples, considered by the Lao to be the father of their race. Mythology According to the myth ...

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 ''khene'' (; spelled "Can" in English; Lao: ແຄນ; th, แคน, , ; km, គែន - ''Ken''; Vietnamese: ''khèn'') is a Lao mouth organ whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a small, hollowed-out h ...

, 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 phing, a guitar-like stringed instrument, by a drum, and by ''ching'', small bells, cymbals. The chanting is very similar to mor lam, the traditional music of Lao and northeast 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 Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

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

, ritual

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...

, and male-female competitive

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. 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'' ( th, เจ้านาง; ), 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 ...

'' "The Princess' Terror", ''

Pob Pee Fah ''Pob Pee Fah'' ( th, ปอบผีฟ้า; ) is a Thai ghost story, made as a TV series (known as a '' lakorn'', the Thai equivalent of a soap opera). Set partly in the 19th century, it shares some plot details with an earlier series, '' Jao ...

'' and its 2009 remakePop Phi Fa 2009
/ref> are

Thai television soap opera Lakorn is a popular genre of fiction in Thai television. They are known in Thai as (, lit. "television drama") or (''lakhon'', , or ''lakorn''). They are shown generally at prime-time on Thai television channels, starting usually on, before or ...

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 Asian shamanism Thai deities Laotian deities

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