Throughout Thailand it is common to see spirit houses. Spirits (phi) can be malevolent and need to be mollified. They inhabit everything from trees, rivers and caves to public buildings and private homes, and can take over people, if they are so inclined. To keep the phi from bothering human inhabitants, each building has a spirit house in its vicinity, as a dwelling for spirits.
Usually built atop a short column and designed to look like a wat (temple) or traditional Thai house, spirit houses are about the size of a doll's house. The ornamentation reflects the status of the humans' building, so when the main building is remodeled, the spirit house is often also upgraded to keep the spirits happy and prevent them from moving into the remodeled building.
Daily offerings of incense, lighted candles and garlands of jasmine are placed inside the spirit house or on the surrounding platform to keep the phi happy. A disgruntled spirit is a dangerous spirit, and can cause sickness, accidents or even death. (Rough Guide to Bangkok by Paul Gray and Lucy Ridout)
Excellent composition Naomi, I like each one of the shots, but while set up all like that it looks amazing. It should be in a Travel magazine :) Well done! -- Kind regards, Rafael
Thanks for your comment, Ken. Earlier today I had looked at, but didn't comment on your Gargoyle and Much Loved images. Both nicely done, but quite different from each other. I especially like the colors in Much Loved, how you used PS to isolate the gargoyle face. Thanks again for your comment. -- Naomi
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{K:71879} 5/1/2005
