In Contact with the Dead: Nora Rong Khru Chao Ban Ritual of Thailand

Nora is a performance tradition in which dance, drama, ritual, and magic are intertwined to create a bridge between the mundane world and the supernatural. An ancestral rite known as nora rong khru chao ban is an important part of a living tradition in a certain southern villages of Thailand. For three days, the nora master prays, sings, dances, and acts out a dance-drama, while directing the ritual sequences invoking the ancestral spirits to descend from their heavenly realm to enter the trance mediums. The ritual not only gives opportunities for the nora practitioners to have a significant social and artistic function, but it also serves as a social/cultural/spiritual net that brings about an ideal of "communitas."