Mother Cobra Spirit Worship at Bangkuntian District, Bangkok : the Study of Belief and Ritual

Abstract

This research aims at examining narratives, symbols, functions and existence of Mother Cobra Spirit (Chao Mae Ngu Chong Ang in Thai) by documents gathered from paper sources, online data and field researches. The study reveals that there are 4 types of narratives: 1) revenge of Mother Cobra, 2) wishes fulfilled by sacred offerings, 3) Mother Cobra who come in dreams and 4) sacred Mother Cobra. All describes the origin of this female serpent spirit and insists of both “her” sacredness and miraculous powers. Ritual symbols, not only object but also act ones that related with mythical narratives, distinctly present in order to concretely form the belief of Mother Cobra. The most distinct object symbol is to show the Mother Cobra as a spirit while the most significant act symbol is to offer eggs representing the cobra’s offspring. The belief and rituals resulting from the Mother Cobra worship mainly functions as a wish fulfilling choice of urban people living into the complicated world of Capitalism. The worship, which blended many beliefs together, exists in modern media like the online data, too.