Nat (spirit)

Nat oun (Suxorimus) hung on a post in a house.

The nats (Burmese: နတ်‌; MLCTS: nat; IPA: [naʔ]) are spirits worshipped in Burma (or Myanmar) in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest (i.e., spirits of trees, water, etc.). Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths (စိမ်းသေ, lit. "green death"). They may thus also be called nat sein (နတ်စိမ်း; lit. green spirits). The word 'sein', while meaning 'green', is being used to mean 'raw' in this context. There are however two types of nats in Burmese Buddhist belief.

Nat spirits are termed lower nats or auk nats (အောက်နတ်), whether named or unnamed, whereas ahtet nats (အထက်နတ်) or higher nat dewas inhabit the six heavens.^[1] Much like sainthood, nats can be designated for a variety of reasons, including those only known in certain regions in Burma. Nat worship is less common in urban areas than in rural areas, and is practised among ethnic minorities as well as in the mainstream Bamar society. It is however among the Buddhist Bamar that the most highly developed form of ceremony and ritual is seen.^[2]

Every Burmese village has a nat sin (နတ်စင်) which essentially serves as a shrine to the village guardian nat called the ywa saung nat (ရွာစောင့်နတ်). An offertory coconut (နတ်အုန်းသီး) is often hung on the main southeast post (ဥရူတိုင်) in the house, wearing a gaung baung (headdress) and surrounded by perfume, as an offering to the Min Mahagiri (Lord of the Great Mountain), also known as the ein dwin (အိမ်တွင်းနတ်) or ein saung (အိမ်စောင့်နတ်) (house guardian) nat. One may inherit a certain member or in some instances two of the 37 Nats as mi hsaing hpa hsaing (မိဆိုင်ဖဆိုင်; lit. mother's side, father's side) from one or both parents' side to worship depending on where their families originally come from. One also has a personal guardian spirit called ko saung nat (ကိုယ်စောင့်နတ်).^[3]

Nat worship and Buddhism

A nat kadaw dressed as U Min Gyaw at a nat pwè in Mingun, August 1989

Some disagreement in fact exists in academic circles as to whether Burmese Buddhism and Burmese spirit worship are two separate entities or just different dimensions of a single entity. Many Burmese themselves would say it is merely superstition and tend to downplay its role in society. Since the institution of the official 37 Nats was founded by King Anawrahta (1044–1077) of Bagan, albeit with later alterations, it has been argued that this may be interpreted as a process of Burmanisation and establishment of Bamar supremacy in the Irrawaddy valley after the unification of the country and founding of the First Burmese Empire was achieved by the king.^[2] Worship of nats predates Buddhism in Burma. With the arrival of Buddhism, however, the nats were merged, syncretistically, with Buddhism.

Nat worship and ecology

Mount Popa from Kyaukpadaung road, the smaller precipice Taung Kalat with its nat shrines atop to left of picture

The widespread traditional belief among rural folks that there are forest guardian spirits called taw saung nats (တောစောင့်နတ်) and mountain guardian spirits called taung saung nats (တောင်စောင့်နတ်) appears to act as a deterrent against environmental destruction up to a point. Indiscriminate felling particularly of large trees is generally eschewed owing to the belief that they are dwellings of tree spirits called yokkazo (ရုက္ခစိုး) and that such an act would bring the wrath of the nat upon the perpetrator.^[4]

Popular nat festivals

Mount Popa and Taung Kalat to left of picture seen from a distance across a dry riverbed

Offerings of alcohol and liquor to U Min Kyawzaw nat at a nat pwe in Amarapura

The most important nat pilgrimage site in Burma is Mount Popa, an extinct volcano with numerous temples and relic sites atop a mountain 1300 metres, located near Bagan in central Burma. The annual festival is held on the full moon of Natdaw (December).^[5] Taungbyone, north of Mandalay, is another major site with the festival held each year starting on the eleventh waxing day and including the full moon in the month of Wagaung (August).^[6] Yadanagu at Amarapura, held a week later in honour of Popa Medaw (Mother of Popa), who was the mother of the Taungbyone Min Nyinaung (Brother Lords), is also a popular nat festival.^[3]

Nats have human characteristics, wants, and needs. They are flawed, having desires considered derogatory and immoral in mainstream Buddhism. During a nat pwè, which is a festival during which nats are propitiated, nat kadaws (နတ်ကတော်, lit.: nat lady, i.e. mediums) dance and embody the nat's spirit in a trance. Historically, the nat kadaw profession was hereditary and passed from mother to daughter. Until the 1980s, few nat gadaws were male. Since the 1980s, transgendered gay men and transvestites have increasingly performed these roles.^[7]

Music, often accompanied by a hsaing waing (orchestra), adds much to the mood of the nat pwè, and many claim to be entranced. People come from far and near to take part in the festivities in various nat shrines called nat kun or nat naan, get drunk on palm toddy and dance wildly in fits of ecstasy to the wild beat of the Hsaing waing music, convinced that they have become possessed by the nats.^[5]

Whereas nat pwes are annual events celebrating a particular member of the 37 Nats regarded as the tutelary spirit in a local region within a local community, with familial custodians of the place and tradition and with royal sponsorship in ancient times, hence evocative of royal rituals, there are also nat kannah pwes where individuals would have a pavilion set up in a neighbourhood and the ritual is generally linked to the entire pantheon of nats. The nat kadaws as an independent profession made their appearance in the latter half of the 19th century as spirit mediums, and nat kannahs are more of an urban phenomenon which evolved to satisfy the need of people who had migrated from the countryside to towns and cities but who wished to carry on their traditions or yo-ya of supplicating the mi hsaing hpa hsaing tutelary spirit of their native place.^[2]

List of official nats

Traditional offerings of bananas and coconut at a nat shrine

Me Wunna with her sons Min Gyi and Min Lay at Mount Popa

King Anawrahta of Bagan (1044–1077) designated an official pantheon of 37 Nats, after he had failed to enforce a ban on nat worship. His stratagem of incorporation by bringing the nats to his Shwezigon Pagoda in positions of worshipping the Buddha, and by enlisting Thagya Min at the head of the pantheon above the Mahagiri nats, eventually succeeded.^[5][8] Seven out of the 37 Nats appear to be directly associated with the life and times of Anawrahta.^[8] The official pantheon is made up predominantly of those from the royal houses of Burmese history, but also contains nats of Thai (Yun Bayin) and Shan (Maung Po Tu) descent; illustrations of them show them in Burmese royal dress. Listed in proper order, they are:

See also

• Hungry ghost
• Lên đồng
• Preta

References

• 'King Mae Ku: From Lan Na Monarch to Burmese Nat', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, Ancient Chiang Mai Volume 1. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012.
• Salek, Kira (May 2006). "Myanmar's River of Spirits". National Geographic Magazine. pp. 136–157.  |accessdate= requires |url= (help)
• U Kyaw Tun et al. (2005-01-15). "Nat in My Classroom!". Tun Institute of Learning. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
• Temple, R.C. (1906). The Thirty-seven Nats-A Phase of Spirit-Worship prevailing in Burma. 
• Hla Tha Mein

External links

• Images of the 37 nats at NYPL Digital Gallery
• Nat belief and Buddhism Photo essay by Claudia Wiens
• The Nats - Online Burma/Myanmar Library
• Friends in High Places Preview of a documentary film by Lindsey Merrison
• Nat Dance YouTube
• Mintha Theater Dance theater in Mandalay, Burma.
• Spirit of Burma 2006
• Nat Pwè recordings
• The Nat Spirits and Burmese Animism Windows on Asia, Michigan State University
• Myamar Cyclone Brings Rise in Centuries-Old 'Nat' Worship The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2008, video and photo slideshows
• Festival brings noise and colour to Taungbyone Zaw Win Than, The Myanmar Times Vol. 22 No. 430, August 4–10, 2008
• Myanmar Nat Pwe in Bago Flickr photos by Boonlong1
• Amarapura Nat Pwe Flickr photos by Burma lay
• My House Nat Can Whip Your House Nat Ethan Todras-Whitehill, Student Traveler, 2006-11-24
• An account of the Taungbyone 2010 nat pwe spirit festival at Arcane Candy Part 1 and Part 2
• Myanmar's River of Spirits Kira Salak, National Geographic. May 2006