Soo Khuan Ceremony

    by Xay Kaignavongsa and Hugh Fincher

This ceremony is similar to a Baci, a ceremony usually associated with a "goodbye party" for people departing for destinations far away. Well-wishers tie white strings around wrists of the person leaving (or sometimes arriving, or getting married, etc.). The person so honored is not supposed to remove the strings for three days, and then he should be careful to untie them, not cut them, or the well wishes will be ineffective. But there is a deeper religious significance to such ceremonies.

The word soo in Lao means to call something back, and the word khuan means spirit or soul, which is abstract, and stays in different parts of a person as well as domestic animals. When we or animals get sick or shocked or frightened, we say: "we lost spirit," or "the spirit escaped," or "our spirit is weak."

At a soo khuan ceremony, the bamboo rice basket, which is one of the elements in the soo khuan tray, is called kong khao khuan. Kong means box or basket; khao means rice; and khuan means spirit. Peeled chicken eggs placed in the tray are called khai khuan. The old fellow in charge of the ceremony, who does the chanting, is called mor phorn, or mor khuan, which means spirit caller.

The overall purpose of arranging the soo khuan ceremony is therefore meant to call back our lost spirits, to eliminate fears from a person's mind, and to restore courage.

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