the meaning of the strings

no, its not some weird lao bondage thing.


Despite the importance of Buddhism to Lao Loum and some Lao Theung groups, animist beliefs are widespread among all segments of the Lao population. The belief in phi (spirits) colors the relationships of many Lao with nature and community and provides one explanation for illness and disease. Belief in phi is blended with Buddhism, particularly at the village level, and some monks are respected as having particular abilities to exorcise malevolent spirits from a sick person or to keep them out of a house. Phi are ubiquitous and diverse. Some are connected with the universal elements--earth, heaven, fire, and water. Many Lao Loum also believe that they are being protected by khwan (thirty-two spirits). Illness occurs when one or more of these spirits leaves the body; this condition may be reversed by the soukhwan--more commonly called the baci--a ceremony that calls all thirty-two khwan back to bestow health, prosperity, and well-being on the affected participants. Cotton strings are tied around the wrists of the participants to keep the spirits in place. The ceremony is often performed to welcome guests, before and after making long trips, and as a curing ritual or after recovery from an illness; it is also the central ritual in the Lao Loum wedding ceremony and naming ceremony for newborn children.

Source: U.S. Library of Congress


This ceremony is similar to a Baci, a ceremony usually associated with a "goodbye party" for people departing for destinations far away. Well-wishers tie white strings around wrists of the person leaving (or sometimes arriving, or getting married, etc.). The person so honored is not supposed to remove the strings for three days, and then he should be careful to untie them, not cut them, or the well wishes will be ineffective. But there is a deeper religious significance to such ceremonies.
The word soo in Lao means to call something back, and the word khuan means spirit or soul, which is abstract, and stays in different parts of a person as well as domestic animals. When we or animals get sick or shocked or frightened, we say: "we lost spirit," or "the spirit escaped," or "our spirit is weak."
At a soo khuan ceremony, the bamboo rice basket, which is one of the elements in the soo khuan tray, is called kong khao khuan. Kong means box or basket; khao means rice; and khuan means spirit. Peeled chicken eggs placed in the tray are called khai khuan. The old fellow in charge of the ceremony, who does the chanting, is called mor phorn, or mor khuan, which means spirit caller.
The overall purpose of arranging the soo khuan ceremony is therefore meant to call back our lost spirits, to eliminate fears from a person's mind, and to restore courage.

from: Soo Khuan Ceremony by Xay Kaignavongsa and Hugh Fincher


so.. i can actually untie the strings, and not have to bother anymore with people thinking that
1) I have converted to some strange lao cult or
2) i am into bondage.
But untying them would also feel like cutting off my ties with the village in Don Det (SiPhanDon), and Mr. Boun Son and his family, and it would be like acknowledging that my journey is at at end... I don't want that.. i can continue with a journey of the mind and spirit even in Singapore, but i also do have to admit that the strings are getting rather dirty and scruffy and tattered and washing them doesn't seem to help anymore and i hope they don't stink =P Did i mention that in vang vieng one of the strings broke/tore? maybe that's why i was so out of sorts.. tied it back on my own, but not in a baci ceremony. wonder if that affected anything...

so.. to untie or not to untie....