Laos Essential Artistry

Carol Cassidy Video Explaining Pattern Creation on the Loom in Vientiane, Laos

As we've mentioned in other posts we are very excited to announce that we will now be carrying Carol Cassidy’s Weaves of Cambodia Rainbow Silk Scarves. If there is anyone is who synonymous with the best in Lao textiles it’s Carol Cassidy. Just type in “Lao textiles” in Google and see who is the first person/business listed. Laotextiles.com is Carol Cassidy, and her gallery in Vientiane is always a must see for anyone interested in Lao textiles.

We’ve known Carol now for about ten years and although these gorgeous silk scarves are woven in Cambodia, not Laos, all the principles we value with Laos Essential Artistry are more than upheld in the weaving and finishing of these beautiful silk scarves.

When we were in Laos in June we shot some video of Carol explaining how patterns are created on the loom, which a skilled weaver then weaves into her fabric. It seems so complex that it appears magical to watch a weaver at the loom as she weaves these incredible patterns into a textile. It's not an easy process to understand, but we think if anyone can demystify the complexity of the techniques used, it's Carol. And in fact watching this seven minute video we think will give viewers an even greater appreciation for the artistry of Lao weavers.

We encourage anyone traveling to Laos and Vientiane to visit Lao Textiles: Carol Cassidy. It's in an amazing old French Colonial Building and be sure to ask to walk out back and see all the weavers at their looms. It's an intoxicating experience!

We always stay at the Vayakorn Guest House when we're in Vientiane and it's across the street from Carol's Gallery and the photo below is taken from our room on the third floor. Her gallery includes the old French Colonial and the buildings to the right and behind it.The second photo shows a street view of Carol's Gallery.

Baci Ceremony for Bai's Dad in Ban Na Ang, Laos

We had been planning to go to Laos this last June, in part to guide Elli, the professor, for a third time as she's completing research for a book she's writing on the ritual use of Lao textiles, especially from Huaphan Province. But, in mid-May Bai's family called Bai to tell her that her father was seriously ill in the hospital and they wanted her to come quickly, as they thought he might die. So Bai left two weeks early and through the power of faith, family, Buddhist prayers and some kind of medicine the doctors had sent from Thailand as a last chance, he miraculously survived. And so after we were finished guiding Elli, a Baci Ceremony was held in Bai's parents' village to thank the village spirit who they also credited with providing an "extension" for Bai's father's life.

In this post I'm including three photos from the ceremony, with the first one showing Bai's dad (with orange towel over his shoulder) and two that show both Bai and I. The second photo shows us holding the strings that connect all of the family together (can you see the rice grains in the air thrown by friends after the mor phon announces the kwan have come back!?) and the second one shows Bai and I as family and friends are tying the bacci strings on our wrists, as in all bacci ceremonies an integral component includes pook kwan or the tying of kwan. 

The Lao Heritage Foundation website has a great definition of the the bacci ceremony on their website and they write: "Briefly the Baci is a ceremony to celebrate a special event, whether a marriage, a homecoming, a welcome, a birth, or one of the annual festivals. A mother is given a baci after she has recovered form a birth, the sick are given bacis to facilitate a cure, officials are honored by bacis, and novice monks are wished luck with a baci before entering the temple. The Baci ceremony can take place any day of the week and all year long, preferably before noon or before sunset. The term more commonly used is su kwan, which means “calling of the soul”.

Kwan are components of the soul, but have a more abstract meaning than this. The kwan have been variously described by Westerners as: “vital forces, giving harmony and balance to the body, or part of it”, “the private reality of the body, inherent in the life of men and animals from the moment of their birth,” and simply as “vital breath”.

It is an ancient belief in Laos that the human being is a union of 32 organs and that the kwan watch over and protect each one of them. It is of the utmost consequence that as many kwan as possible are kept together in the body at any one time. Since all kwan is often the attributed cause of an illness, the baci ceremony calls the kwan or souls from wherever they may be roaming, back to the body, secures them in place, and thus re-establishes equilibrium.

The baci ceremony runs deep in the Lao psyche. In different part of the country the ceremony differs slightly in meaning. In general, it is nonetheless an emphasis of the value of life, of social and family bonds, of forgiveness, renewal and homage to heavenly beings."

Another good definition comes from the book Rice in Laos published by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. " One of the most popular traditional ceremonies involves the ritualistic tying of holy cotton threads to ensure blessings of the spirits on specific persons, activities, or places. It is believed to restore the natural order of things and bring communities closer together. The ceremony originated in the Hindu tradition and began to mix with Buddhist traditions in Laos 500 years ago. It is performed by a mor phon who is usually an elder who has spent some time as a Buddhist monk. The mor phon and invited guests sit around a baci center piece, which is a decorated flower arrangement on a base made of folded banana leaf sections. A long chain of cotton threads is placed in the hands of guests connecting them to each other and to the centerpiece. The mor phon then lights candles on the centerpiece and begins to chant Buddhist scriptures in the Pali language. On conclusion of the chanting, the mor phon and other guests tie cotton threads on guests’ and each other’s wrists. These cotton threads as well as the centerpiece have been prepared by the women of the group in advance of the ceremony. Thre threads used in the baci ceremony are usually white as Lao people believe that white represents friendship and kindness. However other colors can be used, (often times black in Thai Daeng villages in Huaphan Province). While tying on the threads, good wishes are offered to the recipient. The form of these good wishes is very flexible and may b offered in any language."

And for Bai and I participating in a baci ceremony like this, especially this one honoring her father's miraculous recovery, is indeed life affirming. For people who don't know us and access our website, I think a post like this shows that our business is much more than a business, but really a reflection of what we value and Laos Essential Artistry mirrors our commitment and connections to Laos in so many ways.

Favorite Laos Photos

Laos is a colorful country, to say the least, reflected in the beautiful natural-dyed colors in our gorgeous silk Lao textiles to the colors of vegetables you can see in many of the village markets. We love this shot of the hot peppers, purplish egg plants and the reds and greens of the cherry tomatoes. The Lao actually prefer their tomatoes a little unripe (greenish color) as they have a more sour taste. And the Lao love sour!

Offerings to Buddha in Laos

I was recently reading through one of our many books on Laos, Impact: The Effects of Tourism on Culture and the Environment in Asia and the Pacific Tourism and Heritage Site Management in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR The book was published by UNESCO, Bangkok, 2004. You would think it's fairly technical from the title, but it has a lot of great information about Luang Prabang and Theravada Buddhism I haven't read anywhere else. In the chapter titled Heritage there was a description of what the typical offerings to Buddha symbolize. I often wondered why at tak bat, and here at home, Bai always is buying fruit that she places on her alter on "Buddha days." Now I know why and it makes sense. And the description adds more significance to one of my favorite photos I took on my first trip to Laos in November 1998 of a young girl at Wat Phu wanting us to buy incense and flowers to offer to the Buddha shrine at the sanctuary at the top of the hill.

Offerings to Buddha

"Offerings to Buddha images are made to remind us of the Buddha’s teachings. It is common to see a variety of offerings in Luang Prabang. These include the following:

Candles, which are offered to drive away darkness. They symbolize enlightenment and the light of knowledge which dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Incense, which provides a fragrant smell and symbolizes pure moral conduct. It reminds us to conduct ourselves well.

Water, which symbolizes purity, clarity and calmness.

Fruit, which symbolizes the fruit of enlightenment, which is our goal, and is representative of all actions having a reaction.

Flowers, which represent impermanence because their beauty and smell eventually whither and die.

Lotus flowers, which represent the potential or actuality of enlightenment as the lotus grows out of mud and rises above the water. Likewise, the Lord Buddha rose above his suffering and defilements to gain enlightenment."

We are planning a tour to Laos in June 2010 and understanding the importance of Theravada Buddhism in Laos will be a key component of our tour. We will post more information about the tour on our blog and out tour section on our Laos Essential Artistry Home Page.

Dok Champa Silk Flower Pins

 

Giving back in meaningful ways is an essential part of our philosophy at Laos Essential Artistry. Over the last seven years we have primarily supported literacy efforts through donating money for book box libraries given to rural schools through the Reading Promotion Program sponsored by the National Library of Laos and most recently by sponsoring book parties through Big Brother Mouse and buying books published by Big Brother Mouse, giving them to students and teachers during our travels in remote Huaphan Province.

On our last trip we made the effort to learn more about the work of an important growing organization in Laos, AFESIP Laos [Acting for Women in Distressing Situations] that is dedicated to fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children and women in Lao PDR. Nicholas D. Kristof, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner columnist for The New York Times since 2001 has been writing about the trafficking of children and women for many years and in several of his columns he has written about the Somaly Mom Foundation in Cambodia, and it was Somaly Mam who was the original founder of AFESIP in Cambodia and she recently visited the AFESIP Center in Savanakhet, Laos on July 3.

We are impressed with the work AFESIP Laos is doing and want to offer the opportunity for our customers to purchase Dok Champa Silk Flower Pins that are handcrafted by the rehabilitated women who have been vocationally trained and professionally employed by LOPPA (Lao Organic Product Promotion Association) through ASE (AFESIP Social Enterprise). AFESIP Laos combats the causes and consequences of trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls. In addition to providing holistic care and recovery for those rescued, AFESIP offers vocational training to support sustainable community reintegration and these beautiful Dok Champa silk flowers pins are just one of many fair trade products they produce.

The Dok Champa Silk Flower Pins are available for $5 each or are free with every order over $100 and we will include one free with each purchase of one of our Carol Cassidy Weaves of Cambodia Rainbow Silk Scarves. Please note that he materials used to create the Dok Champa Silk Flower Pins are synthetic, not real silk, but "silk-like."

The Dok Champa (Plumeria) is the national flower and official symbol of Lao PDR. The waxy flower with a sweet scent can be found in many colors: red, yellow, pink and multiple pastels. For the Lao people, Dok Champa represents sincerity and joy in life. The flower is often used as a decoration in ceremonies or made into a garland to welcoming guests. The Dok Champa blooms everyday and lasts a long time. The trees are planted throughout the country and in particular, can be seen near the monastic areas.

Below are several photos I’ve taken of Dok Champa flowers in Laos over the year. Aren’t they beautiful!?

Buddhists request forgiveness at Horkhaosalak Festival in Vientiane, Laos

In the article we're reprinting from the Vientiane Times about a recent Buddhist festival, the observation is made that "Temples around the country were crowded with women of all ages wearing the traditional sinh (long skirt) combined with colorful silk blouses." It is interesting to note that it's not just old women wearing sinhs, but women and girls of all ages. Women wearing a sinh represent the best in Lao culture and we're proud at Laos Essential Artistry to be the only online business in the United States promoting and selling Lao Sinhs. Lao sinhs are Lao textiles and most Lao sinhs are handwoven out of silk. Our silk Lao textiles represent some of the best textiles being woven in Laos. Laos Essential Artistry is just a click away.

_____________________________________________________________________________ "The sounds of Saiyanto, a Buddhist chant, wafted from the temples of Vientiane last Friday as monks and novices gathered to celebrate the Horkhaosalak Festival.

Monks receive gift baskets at That Luang temple.

Believers took time from their jobs and studies to join in the festivities at their local temples.

Though Buddha departed from our world more than 2,500 years ago, his teachings remain to remind followers to make merit for themselves and their ancestors on important days in the Buddhist calendar .

Each year on this occasion the faithful get up early to take gift baskets to the temple by 7am. Offerings may include fruits, sweets, dried fish and meat, salt, sugar, rice or flowers, varying from family to family.

Temples around the country were crowded with women of all ages wearing the traditional sinh (long skirt) combined with colourful silk blouses. Young men were in formal clothing.

Their faces beaming with happiness, long ranks of believers stood on the temple grounds, embracing their silver bowls, waiting to place their offerings on long tables to be received by monks.

At 8am senior monks recited the five commitments to encourage lay people to make merit and give blessings.

After that they were welcomed to give their alms directly to the monks. At every corner of the temples, believers poured water from small bottles to ask Ngamae Thorani (a spirit guardian) to tell the spirits of their relatives it was time to receive their offerings.

If fortunate enough to have the time, festival participants sat on the sala (where monks and novices eat) to listen to the legend of the Horkhaosalak Festival.

Many see sharing a breakfast together after the monks and novices eat as a way of building solidarity amongst the community.

A resident of That Luang Neua, Ms Daomani, said the festival was an important opportunity to make amends with ancestors, relatives and the spirits of those whom she might have ag grieved in the past.

She hopes her actions during the festival will help the spirits grant forgiveness for her errors in this and past lives, and that she will be blessed with good health, success and protection.

However, she said she was aware these actions were symbolic, and that if you wanted to have better health and success in work, love or your studies, it depended on your own efforts.

By Ounkham Pimmata
(Latest Update September 7 , 2009)

Horkhaosalak Festival in Laos: a time to remember ancestors

Older people become an alarm clock for their family members on the important Buddhist day, Horkhaosalak, often rising as early as 4am for the festival.

An activity not familiar to the youth of our society, it's apart of daily routine for the older generation to wake early and provide food, candy and fruit as alms to monks and novices in their community.

This is particularly true during the Horkhaosalak Festival. Members of the older generation get together to fold banana leaves for khaotom and place other offerings into baskets the day before the festival begins.

Older people in each community will go to temples to help monks decorate the centre hall, or sim, and prepare places to welcome devotees.

Offerings include fruit, sweets, dried fish and meat, salt, sugar, rice, or flowers, depending on the family. It has become the festival's symbol, passed down and practiced from generation to generation.

During the festival, markets in Vientiane are bursting with colour due to the various baskets made up by vendors and put on offer for the convenience of believers.

They believe offering these alms directly to monks and novices at temples makes merit to ancestors who have passed away to encourage their rebirth.

A monk at Ongteu temple said the custom of offering a basket to monks follows the legend of the son of a rich family whose father died when he was child. When he became an adult, his mother selected a beautiful woman to marry him.

Unfortunately she was unable to get pregnant, so her mother-in-law decided to look for a new spouse for her son. Eventually, the man's new wife became pregnant and his first wife grew afraid that this child would inherit her husband's property. To ensure that the child did not receive the inheritance, she poisoned the first as well as the second child.

During her third pregnancy, the man's second wife decided to live with her relatives, but his first wife still seeks vengeance, and gets it. Before the second wife dies, she prays to be reborn as a giant to eat her murderer's children.

The two go through several rebirths, each time seeking revenge. Until they are born in Buddha's period, the second wife is reborn as a giant and the first wife is Nang (Ms) Kulatida who marries a rich man.

When Nang Kulatida has children, the giant changes herself to a normal woman so they won't fear her. She succeeds in gobbling up Kulatida's first two children.

Upon the birth of her third child, Kulatida and her husband seek refuge from the giant at Phraxetavanmahavihan temple and ask Buddha for help.

Buddha tells Phra Anon to invite the giant standing outside to enter and listen to teachings about the mistakes of revenge. Buddha then orders Nang Kulatida and her husband to take care of the giant.

From then on, the giant is looked after by Nang Kulatida in her field. Each year the giant gives advice on planting rice. This makes Nang Kulatida's family rich from selling rice and she brings alms to the temple in a basket eight times per day.

This is one reason why Lao people respect this custom.

Aunt Keo explains with a wide smile that each year she prepares several kinds of offerings for her basket.

She joins her children on the afternoon of the festival's eve to make khaotom. The next day she gets up at 4am to cook food and prepare offerings for the important Buddhist day.

She believes that the festival is an important opportunity to apologise to ancestors, relatives and other spirits who they may have faulted in this or past lives. They request forgiveness from those spirits along with blessings of good health.

The Horkhaosalak Festival is an annual tradition, which falls on September 4 this year. The festival usually takes place after Horkhoapadapdin Festival, during the tenth month of the Buddhist calendar.

Getting up bright and early on this Friday will help you touch on Lao tradition and culture. You have an opportunity to see women wearing traditional skirts, or sinhs, combined with colourful silk blouses. Young men wear formal but stylish clothing.

They carry baskets and silver bowls with offerings on their way to temples in their communities.

At temples you can see believers put a small piece of paper into the basket, this is called Salak.

Salak means lucky draw in Lao. People coming to the temples write the names of their family members on the paper. They believe this helps to haven guardians to remember their goodness.

The baskets containing the pieces of paper will be brought to the stage where monks sit. The monks then read the names. When someone's family member is called they will bring Horkhaosalak and baskets directly to the arms of the monk.

They believe these offerings will go to their specific relative spirits.

It is common to see many people pay homage to the wisdom of Buddha.

They ask the spirits of the dead to protect their house and family and to ensure good health, even if they don't have enough time to go to the temple.

After the end of a special ceremony at 9am, monks recite the teachings of Buddha and tell the history of Buddhist Lent.

Sharing a breakfast together after monks and novices eat is also a way of building solidarity amongst the community.

From the Vientiane Times

By Ounkham Pimmata
(Latest Update September 4 , 2009)