
According to the CIA World Fact Book, Cambodia is 95% Buddhist; but they are not. If you ask 95% of the Cambodians what religion they are they would say Buddhist; but they are not.
Even though there are wats (pagodas) everywhere you look throughout the country, and even though these wats are home to Buddhist monks and their female counterparts, and although any Cambodian can be a monk if he chooses, the people at large know almost nothing about Buddhism nor do they care to know.
The religion I hear described by my students, my translator, and my host is a very individualized mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism, Ancestry worship, and uncategorized superstition.
Perhaps this accounts for the almost universal involvement with Spirit House worship. The only constant is that the Spirit House houses spirits. Who or what they are is very much up to each individual. The spirits may be ancestors who have not yet reincarnated or they may be good spirits that protect and bless a house or a business. The Spirit House may be home for a spirit that inhabited a grand tree that needed to be cut down to make room for a rice field. And, of course, there are the evil spirits, but we would rather not talk about them.
The mother of one of my students bought a new Spirit House last week for $50 US. He reasoned with her that she really needed to spend the money for rice but she believes it is money well spent. Some people pay as much as $3,000 for their Spirit Houses.
The landlord of the house I am staying in has a nice Spirit House in our front yard. Unfortunately his spirit has done a sorry job of protecting the house from thieves.
For the devout, the most common worship carried out with the Spirit House is to bring an offering of food every 8 days and to burn an incense stick daily. For the less devout, they make up their own schedule or let the spirit fend for itself.
Even though there are wats (pagodas) everywhere you look throughout the country, and even though these wats are home to Buddhist monks and their female counterparts, and although any Cambodian can be a monk if he chooses, the people at large know almost nothing about Buddhism nor do they care to know.
The religion I hear described by my students, my translator, and my host is a very individualized mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism, Ancestry worship, and uncategorized superstition.
Perhaps this accounts for the almost universal involvement with Spirit House worship. The only constant is that the Spirit House houses spirits. Who or what they are is very much up to each individual. The spirits may be ancestors who have not yet reincarnated or they may be good spirits that protect and bless a house or a business. The Spirit House may be home for a spirit that inhabited a grand tree that needed to be cut down to make room for a rice field. And, of course, there are the evil spirits, but we would rather not talk about them.
The mother of one of my students bought a new Spirit House last week for $50 US. He reasoned with her that she really needed to spend the money for rice but she believes it is money well spent. Some people pay as much as $3,000 for their Spirit Houses.
The landlord of the house I am staying in has a nice Spirit House in our front yard. Unfortunately his spirit has done a sorry job of protecting the house from thieves.
For the devout, the most common worship carried out with the Spirit House is to bring an offering of food every 8 days and to burn an incense stick daily. For the less devout, they make up their own schedule or let the spirit fend for itself.


