Page:Siam and Laos, as seen by our American missionaries (1884).pdf/508

 necessary length. The posts for the walls are arranged according to a long-observed custom. They must be in sets of threes or fives, etc.; odd numbers bring luck. The spaces between each of these sets of posts have specific names. Religious superstition takes under its guidance almost every part of the work, and when the house is done it still directs as to the day and the manner of moving in to take possession. No doors or windows are found in the eastern wall. The family sleep with their heads toward the east. Part of the main building—generally the end facing south—is reserved for an open court. The east end of this court has a wall continuous with that of the house. Along this wall is a shelf upon which are placed flowers and other offerings in worship of Buddha and the good spirits. In this outer court, if the family are religiously inclined, the priests, by invitation, occasionally conduct a merit-making service for the prosperity of the household. In cases of sickness like services are held here. Preventives of sickness or other calamity are often seen resting on the top of the posts under the plate that receives the rafters. These consist of small pieces of cloth on which are written certain symbolic characters, the cloths themselves having become charms, potent against the intrusion of evil spirits, through the incantations of what our American Indians would call "medicine-men."