Draw the northern star chart on a bowl of water would let an ajran see what is ahead of him/her.
These days,
people practise Thai magic secretly worshipping Phra Ngan, Kumanthong or Lokkok
(human or animal stillborns) in an enclosed room. But not many people know that
Thai magic is actually a natural magical system that requires constant contact
with Mother Nature; especially the earth.
For
example, an arjan would pray to Mitra (sun god) in the morning and that he/she
would walk barefooted on the ground daily to stay in contact with mother earth.
So, an arjan should also come out from his/her secret room and perform ritual
under the open sky.
When an
arjan performs ritual in an enclosed room, then the effects of four elemental
spirits would not be so obvious. But if he/she would come out from his/her hiding,
then an arjan too need to take care of the elemental spirits and spirits of the
zodiacs too.
The
traditional method is first to draw an astrology yant as shown above on a bowl
of water and call upon spirit of each zodiac sign in turn. When this is done,
the bowl is put in the center of a large yant depending if it is an odd or a
single day. After that the arjan can start to summon the elemental spirits of
all 4 directions in a clockwise direction starting from the east: NA MA PA THA.
It is said that after an arjan has called upon elemental spirits of all 4
directions, his/her power will spread in all 4 directions too. In the event
that there is a danger, the arjan only needs to look into the water bowl and
whatever he/she wants to know shall be present on the surface of the water.
I would
treat the Thai way of calling 4 elemental watchers similar to the western way
of the conjuration of 4 or the like. Please don’t overlook this process
especially if one intend to work outdoor as the elemental spirits too can
create problems to an arjan when he/she is not careful. An earth gnome will
block an arjan’s spirit guides making the magic to be rebound to the arjan
him/herself. Taoist would call this condition as ‘earth sha’ (土煞) and it will take a long while for
the arjan to recover.
So, by
chanting NA MA PA THA or performing the conjuration of 4 rituals, all elemental
doors are opened and the magic spells will work freely. This is the same in
other schools in the east and west alike.