Spirit-Horses for the Boys, Hungry-Ancestors for the Girls: Spiritual Possession among the Lanten of Laos

• In Event: 272. Emotional and Intimate Variations: Historicizing and Contextualizing Affect Amid Changing Political Economies in Mainland Southeast Asia, Part 2. Sponsored by the Thailand/Laos/Cambodia Studies Group

Abstract

Spirit possession refers to the hold exerted by one/more external supernatural entities over a person. Among the Lanten (Yao Mun) of Laos, spiritual possession occurs in several contexts. Ritual experts invite ‘spirit-horses’ to ‘possess’ them during séances. Deities and ancestors temporarily occupy the body of members of a household to remind them of their ritual duties. Spiritual beings take control of a person who has invaded their domains or whose spiritual condition has been weakened. While some modalities of spirit possession are valued since they indicate a close relationship with the Lanten pantheon of deities and ancestors, others are perceived as a symptom of poor spiritual, moral and ‘emotionally disturbed’ conditions. To be ‘made crazy by spirits’ characterises mental, social and emotional disorders that affects the possessed person and their household. Lanten males have found the means to counteract social pressures by becoming a ritual expert; Lanten females experience a reduction of such pressures once they have been subject to spiritual possession. This indicates the existence of gender-based, socially acceptable mechanisms to cope with social anxiety. The present-day reduction of spiritual possessions among the Lanten youth might be due to developments such as a state-promoted "Laotisation" process for non-Lao peoples and the increased participation of Lanten youths in the emerging market/economy.
This paper discusses several cases of spirit possession, analysing their socio-cosmological contexts documented during on-going research about the role of the Lanten ritual experts, particularly the impact of current politico-economic developments in the Lao State on the Lanten society.

Author

• Joseba Estevez, University of Münster