The lecture by Ms Marisa Granfill is based on her forthcoming book titled
Invoking the Land Gods; Understanding the Thai Spirit House.
One may see a spirit house every day, but little does the average person know how elaborate, symbolic and important is the ritual involved in erecting a spirit house. This lecture may clarify questions expatriates living in Thailand, tourists or Thai nationals may have about spirit houses and their role in Thai culture. The presentation offers an historical and anthropological perspective through a step-by-step visual and descriptive slideshow of a detailed spirit house erection ceremony. The lecturer will unravel the mystery of the spirit houses, giving a better appreciation of them and an ability to better understand Thai concepts, thereby enhancing one’s experience of being in Thailand.
The Thai spirit house tradition exhibits religious tolerance and fusion that makes Thailand unique and singularly complex. Exploring the seeming contradictions of spiritual devotion and material animism, Ms Marisa will explain how spirit houses hold a significant place for Thai people, reflecting the diversity within the culture, yet also uniting it. Through the experience of a spirit house erection ceremony, the outsider may gain some understanding of and empathy with the dynamic Thai belief system of animist, Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The spirit house ritual brings a new understanding of the spirit house and the practice of honoring it, as well as the key symbols, myths and traditions it preserves through cultural changes to modern times.
The lecture uses photography by Frank Fuller taken to capture the spirit house from different perspectives, from personal encounters to considering the spirit house as an object.
Frequent trips to Thailand with her mother led to the lecturer’s early interest in Asia. Her childhood experiences in Bangkok motivated her to travel throughout Southeast Asia as an adult, living in monasteries in Japan, China and Thailand while conducting research for her undergraduate thesis on Buddhism for Long Island University. Ms Marisa lives in Bangkok, where she directs her own clothing company.
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