The Ninth Month of the Lunar Calendar

Flakes of gold wash down the steps of the Jui Tui Shrine and into the streets where they catch the grey light of the stormy day and shimmer.We have entered the ninth month of the lunar calendar,  and Phuket's Chinese Vegetarian Festival has begun. Unsure of where exactly the festivities were, Jackie and I grabbed a quick bite after school and headed towards Phuket Town. Given how many shrines there are we were confident that with a little luck we would find something.

More and more yellow banners and flags with red Chinese script flutter in the wind as we approach the shrines. There is a trickling and then a deluge of white robbed people in the streets. The road is closed off. Down each side, dozens and dozens of food vendors have established their base and are offering a variety of vegetarian foods, most of which look adequately deep fried. We turn off the main road and work against the crowd, occasionally someone holding a sheathed sword or a small beautiful hand-ax squeezes by us.

The shrine appears on the street like a mountain breaking through the morning's mist. The bend of the flag poles and the elegant ornate design of the entire shrine complex is breath taking. The golds and reds are vibrant against the dark grey sky. Jackie and I hesitantly stand at the entrance unsure if we are allowed in, but not wanting to miss out on the experience we start moving up the steps. I feel exceptionally out of place in my silver "space suit" rain pants and my blue shirt. Jackie at least had a white shirt to help her blend into the crowd. No one seemed to be bothered by our presence, so we pushed froward. 

People are drifting around the cobbled court yard of the complex. There are men and woman in costume carrying whips and banners on poles. Children too young to be without their mothers, teenagers, middleaged people, and the elderly all present themselves to the costumed individuals. As if possessed, the costumed person covers a kneeling person with their flag and starts chanting a prayer. Snap, snap, snap cracks the whip. Closer and closer the whip cracks, sometimes directly on the skin of those kneeling before them, but no one moves, no one flinches. A group of boys stand near a small tall ornate building. The red building is wrapped with gold dragons. A small door is open revealing piles of shredded red paper, firecracker paper. The boys take turns running up to the doorway and throwing lit firecrackers inside. More often then not the boys just end up toss the firecrackers or small fireworks on the ground to watch them explode. There was something wonderful about seeing children play with firecrackers in a crowd without overbearing adults robbing them of their celebration.