พิธีวาไม้ เป็นวิธีหนึ่งในการสื่อสารกับผีบรรพบุรุษ ในระหว่างพิธีวาไม้ ผู้ประกอบพิธี – ซึ่งมักเป็นผู้อาวุโสหรือร่างทรง – จะตั้งคำถามต่อวิญญาณ แล้วถือไม้โดยจับปลายแต่ละข้าง ยื่นแขนออกไปด้านข้างจนสุดแขน หากวิญญาณเห็นด้วยกับสิ่งที่ถูกถาม ไม้จะยืดออกเกินปลายนิ้วมือของผู้ถือ แต่ถ้าวิญญาณไม่เห็นด้วย ไม้จะยังคงอยู่ภายในระยะมือทั้งสองข้างของผู้ถือ
ในปี พ.ศ. 2567 พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติน่าน (จังหวัดน่าน ประเทศไทย) ซึ่งจัดแสดงวัตถุโบราณภายในอดีตพระราชวังของเจ้าเมืองน่านสององค์สุดท้าย ได้จัดพิธีวาไม้ที่ศาลภายในบริเวณพิพิธภัณฑ์ของหลวงเจ้าคันธา – ผีผู้พิทักษ์หลวง พิธีนี้จัดขึ้นเพื่อขออนุญาตจากวิญญาณในการซ่อมแซมศาลไม้กลางแจ้งซึ่งชำรุดทรุดโทรมและถูกปลวกกัดกิน
The wa mai ceremony is a way of communicating with ancestral spirits (phi bapburut/ผีบรรพบุรุษ). ‘Wa’ is a unit of measurement of two meters and ‘mai’ means ‘stick’. During the wa mai ceremony, the person performing the ritual – often an elder or spirit medium – will ask the spirit a question and hold each end of a stick roughly the span of the their arms stretched out to either side of their body. If the spirits agree with what was asked, the stick will extend beyond the tips of their fingers. If the spirit disagrees, the stick will remain within the reach of both hands.
In 2024, the Nan National Museum (in Nan Province, Thailand), whose collections are held in the former palace of the last two lords of Nan, performed the wa mai ceremony at the shrine of Luang Chao Khantha – a royal guardian ghost – in the museum grounds. The ceremony was conducted to request permission from the spirit to repair the outdoor wooden shrine, which was broken and decaying, suffering from termites.
Nan National Museum. (2024). พิธีวาไม้ [Piti Wa Mai]. Available at: https://www.finearts.go.th/nanmuseum/view/47640-พิธีวาไม้
Watch a wa mai ceremony being performed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vbV-JqAdto
Watch a wa mai ceremony being performed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vbV-JqAdto
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