WWBD?

 I found myself reaching for words as I sat kneeled on the ground, incensed ash falling on my wrist, camera swinging in the smoke, and my mind all a flurry. I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to concentrate myself into a deep spiritual experience when there are a bunch of ladyboys in shimmery little dresses dancing to Lady Gaga behind me. Not only that, but I feel a bit guilty even trying to conjure up some sort of religious feelings when (I kid you not) Gaga’s singing about being a “holy fool”, fighting BB guns and fire crackers for our ears' attention. The irony was too much; it was so over the top that my feelings of contamination and confusion evaporated a bit, lost in this place reeking of hypocrites and smoke. So I thought, to hell with it. Gaga, ladyboys, the Thai Navy band full of teen boys in skinny white pants and gelled hair, people walking across coals, and little kids eating snow cones? This is a carnival, not a religious event, and I might as well enjoy it for what it is.

Miléna and I saw the waitress from our favorite place on White Sand Beach at the Festival yesterday, and she approached us again today, supplying us each with a pack of incense, two candles, and three pieces of paper with a simple red and yellow design on the center of each piece. She then explained to us how we could go into the temple (shrine?) and make three prayers at each altar. 

 After happily traipsing barefoot through the mud to a number of different altars we bade farewell to our waitress friend Moogee and went on to see what all the fuss was down by the carnival games. Big stuffed animal prizes, that’s what!! I got excited, and decided to wisely invest 20 baht in throwing darts at balloons. I would have tried harder had I known 7 hits got me a big furry lion instead of the lollipop my 4 hits got me, but hey… for the first carnival game of my life, not too shabby.

After taking in the spectacle, Miléna and I gathered with a bunch of people to patiently wait for the coal walking to begin. Anyone can join in and walk on the coals, but it is mainly just those in trances who participate. Ranging widely in size, age, and gender, the number of entranced individuals grew vastly, as they stood shaking and trembling gathered behind the coals. After an hour of impatient waiting they began running across the coals, as you can see in the video below.

While we were waiting  guy around our ages came over and befriended Miléna and I. Obviously wanting to practice his English, he gladly answered all of my dumb questions about the festival while in exchange I learned that he was a university student in Bangkok, majoring in English and social linguistics. Hence the whole working on his English thing. He is a practicing Buddhist, but from what I could gather he only meditates occasionally, and will someday maybe do a monkhood for a period of time (an act which is actually quite customary for Thai men approaching adulthood). He shared with us a little bit of information about the Festival and the entranced individuals (his aunt was one of them, bedecked in sparkly pink), but the most interesting information I felt would be impolite to ask, particularly after he told me that “religion is sensitive” for Thai people. Okay, got it.

As we were leaving Miléna said, “you could write a whole thesis on this!” I responded that I had just been thinking the same thing. How does a custom like this one develop? I mean, something that was started by a troupe of Chinese actors is obviously going to be more smoke and mirrors than substance anyway, but who are the people that participate in this festival? Who believes in it? And who are the people in trances? What are their personalities like? And their socioeconomic statuses? Their education levels? What motivates people to believe in witchcraft in the first place? What place does this old tradition have in today’s Gaga-ed, techno-crazed, consumer-driven world? The meshing of ancient mysticism and current pop culture is amusing, but really not that unsurprising to me. Both are rooted in the allure of sensationalism, and so perhaps I would be hard-pressed to find any true spiritual meaning behind this Festival at all.

Of course, that does not in any way mean attending the Festival was unfulfilling. We accepted it for what it was and thoroughly enjoyed the scene, even getting a bit caught up in the frenzy as entranced individuals with rolling eyes lunged madly at our section of the crowd. So, does it matter if it’s real or not? Maybe, if I were in Widener or looking at a brain scan of one of the entranced individuals, but tonight? Not at all.

What Would Buddha Do? Not much, I would guess. Sit and smile at all the little people in his Buddha way, probably. And something tells me Buddha would smile at how the Festival stirred questions in us. At how we wonder aloud what’s so purifying about deep fried vegetables and syrup-y tea. At the act of broad acceptance and non-judgemental questioning. Mua-ha... at the risk of becoming too contradictory, I'll stop now.