Some of the most familiar sites in Southeast Asia are the ‘spirit houses’. These miniature homes look like ornately decorated doll houses. Sometimes they have small figurines sitting inside of the building. In Thailand, the figurines often times resembled their king, who is supposed to be divine (even though he is on the brink of death, occupying the 1st floor of the Bangkok hospital). Everywhere I go, I ask the people about the significance of the houses. The answer is always a little bit different. Perhaps it is because the spirit houses are part of an ancient folk religion. They predate both Buddhism and Hinduism in these regions.
Here is a summary of what I’ve been able to discover about these houses: When a new building is constructed, the spirits that occupied the land become angry with you because you are moving in on their property. So, you bring in a monk and have him chant and dedicate the building. Then you invite the spirits to occupy the spirit house. Fresh offerings are made daily. I often see sticky rice, oranges, water, and even soft drinks. If you fail to appease the spirits, they will enter the house and torment you. Our host in Thailand recounted a story of her 80 year old neighbor frantically scaling the fence to find safe haven in the missionary’s home after a spirit entered her house to hurt her. It’s no wonder why the spirit house is always placed as far away from the building as possible. It can always be found in the furtherest corner of the property.
Most businesses also have spirit houses. The same offerings are presented for prosperity in their finances. I’ve noticed that if the size of the building grows, so does the spirit house. Large hotels make it a point to construct massive spirit houses for all of their guests to see. Even the old olympic stadium in Phnom Penh has a massive spirit house.
Obviously, to any westerner this all seems mythical and ridiculous. I’m not mystical person, and I don’t believe offering sacrifices to your spirit house will give you a leg up in business or prevent an evil spirit from entering your home. I think the stories surrounding the houses and their function are purely folk lore. However, something that I have learned while abroad is that the spiritual realm is very real, and the spirit houses are representative of real bondage that many people experience here on a day to day basis. I do believe in evil spirits. Jesus was constantly in opposition to their work, and I don’t see any reason why that should have changed today. The houses are a frail attempt to deal with a reality that haunts many of these societies. In Laos, children in the villages actually summon the spirits to come play with them when they are bored. During one of our church services, the pastor made it a point to explain to some of the other pastors in attendance that when a spirit comes to you and tells you that he is one of your ancestors, then it’s really just a lying demon. I used to think ancestor worship was just an act of veneration, I didn’t occur to me that demons were actually manifesting themselves in the guise of peoples’ past relatives. Now that’s a spooky message, and it’s certainly one I’ve never heard in the US.
It is no surprise then that people are excited to hear that Jesus has all authority, and all power, over all of these spirits. He even delegates that power to us. There is freedom from bondage in Jesus!
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:17-20
