Sunday, May 8, 2011

Animist Cab

In addition to idolizing gods that resemble humans and animals, many Thais worship trees, plants, and other entities from the natural world. These animist beliefs have their origin in ancient times, so it's fascinating to see these practices carried on today in the modern day context of taxi cabs. In this particular case, branches from a sacred bodhi tree have been tied together with various strings and cloth that function as blessings. But when I see these bound and twisted branches and consider the possibility that it contains a soul, I can't help but think that it must be in agony.