Day Two

Today is the actual day of the celebration where rituals will be performed. The temple has set up tables and tents in the common area where the villagers will bring fruits and food to worship the divine spirit.

villagers will visit the temple in the morning to pay their respect first and then return at around 2pm when the actual ceremony starts.









Just before 2pm, grandma carries the fruits and offerings to the tables. However, most people are already set up and ready for the event to start.



As the hour approaches, people wait anxiously with the offerings that the individual families have prepared.










2pm

The ritual starts now. The ceremony starts by calling out the divine spirit. There will be 4 men carrying the carriage with a little chair on, which the divine spirit will sit on. According to my mom, the swinging motion of the seat was supernatural. My grandpa was one of the men many years ago and said that the motion was self-sustaining. It means that it was the divine spirit directing the motion.







Everyone waits for the divine spirit's next instructions. Typically, the ritual starts with a tour around the 4 corners of the village to pay respect to the spirit's soldiers stationed at the various spots to protect the village. The divine spirit will then instruct the villagers what to do next, such as the burning of the paper money and when the ceremony ends.

The divine spirit will "write" his message with the poles of the carriage on a table with sand as the paper. There will be one leader directing the ritual and translating the divine spirit's instructions.




"Ok, everyone, the word has been spoken, let's get moving!"



So everyone hurries back to their stations where the carriage will visit and give blessings.

Divine Spirit's message:


Sorry I can't translate that. I wasn't the chosen one.