Zawgyi ( my, ဇော်ဂျီ) is a semi-immortal human

alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...

and mystic with supernatural powers and often seen with a magic stick and a red hat. Zawgyi is one of the supernatural figures in Burmese mythology and folklore.

Legend and powers

Zawgyi has supernatural powers such as flying through the air, travelling beneath the earth and oceans, as well as performing divination, necromancy and resurrection. He dwells alone in

Himavanta Himavanta ( th, หิมพานต์; ; ) is a legendary forest that is said to be located at the hill of Himmanpan Mountain or the Himalayas which is derived from the Sanskrit word ''Himālaya'' ( हिमालय 'abode of the snow'). Hi ...

, an invisible mythical forest set deep in the

Himalaya Mountains The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, where he forages herbs for magical purposes. After searching for many years he obtained the mythical

Philosopher's stone The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...

and thereby gained Zawgyihood. Sometimes, with a touch of his magic wand he brings to life "illusory females" (''Thuyaung-mèý'') from

Nariphon The Nariphon ( th, นารีผล, from Pali ''nārīphala''), also known as Makkaliphon ( th, มักกะลีผล, from Pali ''makkaliphala''), is a tree in Buddhist mythology which bears fruit in the shape of young female creatures. T ...

(Thuyaung fruit trees) bearing female-shaped fruits in order fulfill his carnal wishes. He gained it by medicines derived from trees, roots, tubers and bulb of deep forests and legendary ball of mercury which possesses supernatural powers. They spend their lives searching for herbs to treat suffering humans and to attain longevity. They use the magic wand to grind the medicinal herbs and roots and any round flat stone found miles from anywhere are believed to be the Zawgyi's grinding stones. He always has a staff in his hand, which he would use during his walks especially in negotiating along very rugged footpaths. Zawgyi practices alchemy to become

Weizza A weizza or weikza ( my, ဝိဇ္ဇာ, pi, vijjādhara) is an immortal, supernatural wizarding mystic in Buddhism in Burma associated with esoteric and occult practices such as recitation of spells, samatha, mysticism and alchemy. The goal ...

and attain immortal life, along with lesser attainments such as supranormal powers. The goal of this practice is to achieve the timeless state of the Weizza, who awaits the appearance of the future Buddha, Metteya.

Costume

Zawgyi are dressed in red from head to toe with a red hat and a magic wand in hand. There are only male Zawgyis. Mustache is an optional part of the costume. Zawgyi becomes a Weizza (Master Wizard, technically super Zawgyi), he would change his dress to white and would change his trousers for a white Burmese longyi.

Zawgyi dance and choreography

Zawgyi dance is basically a happy dance to portray how he grinds medicines with the wand and how he finally created a magic pill. Therefore, nearing to the end of the performance, he performs this choreography where he holds the wand horizontally and jumps across it to show his success.

References

Bibliography

* * {{cite book , title=Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali Imaginaire, first=Steven, last=Collins, year=1998, series=Essays on Burma, publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press, isbn=9780521570541, ref=pp.684 Buddhist folklore Burmese folklore Fictional Burmese people