Thread: Sart Chin - Autumn Ghost Festival

Today is the Chinese festival called "Sart Chin" (สารทจีน) in Thai, but also knows as the Ghost Festival. On this day ghosts, spirits and deceased ancestors come out of the underworld and join the living. Food offerings are made and "hell money" is burned.


Ms. B's Mom prepared the food offerings last night and asked us to do the ceremony this morning as we were the only ones home.


The offerings included cooked chicken and duck, lam yai and even bags of California prunes.


This is some of the "Hell" Money. Some of it says "Hell Bank".


Ms. B offers five incense sticks to the family shrine. The five represents the five brothers who guard the house.


A separate offering is made to the pictures of the ancestors who hang in the house. (Not sure if the hot check on the calendar gets any.) Here three incense sticks are offered. But, they are lit one at a time with a few minute interval between each; giving the ancestors time to enjoy the offering.

At the front outdoor gate of the house two incense sticks were lit to show the ancestors the way and to ask permission from the house spirits for the ancestors to enter.


Close up of the offerings. The brightly colored paper is more hell money.


Offering at the house shrine.


Ms. B burns some hell money. It was my idea to burn it there for easy disposal of the ashes.


Up in smoke.


Money from Hell Bank.

That's it. From there we went to the nursery to by turf for the new garden.

Can we have some pictures of the remains of the food after the spirits have eaten?

are you allowed to eat what the ghosts do,nt eat or do the ghosts have a doggy bag and take it back to wherever they live

After the spirits have taken what they want it is OK for humans to consume the remains. The duck and chicken are already gone. The lamyai and bananas have yet to be eaten. I saw Ms. B's Mom take a couple of bags of prunes with her when she left this morning.