La très catastrophique visite du zoo

Joël Dicker

Description

In Thailand, the dead are never truly gone—they are remembered, revered, and, once a year, invited back home with open arms and open altars. Feeding the Dead: Annual Offerings and Rituals takes you into the heart of one of Southeast Asia's most emotionally resonant and spiritually rich traditions: the act of nourishing ancestors with food, prayer, and remembrance.

Blending cultural anthropology, religious studies, and firsthand accounts, this book offers a deep exploration of Thai ancestral food rituals, revealing how seasonal ceremonies such as Ghost Month, Sart Thai, Chak Phra, and Loi Krathong serve as sacred bridges between the living and the dead. With every steamed banana-leaf parcel and cup of jasmine rice, families communicate across time—expressing gratitude, grief, and enduring connection. These are not merely Buddhist death customs, but rituals of healing, identity, and spiritual generosity.

At the core of these ceremonies lies a belief: that food carries memory, and memory carries spirit. Through richly detailed narratives, Feeding the Dead shows how Thai spiritual ceremonies use offerings not to appease angry ghosts, but to embrace beloved ancestors as guests. Whether through the flicker of incense, the echo of chants, or the scent of grilled pork and sticky rice, these rituals reinforce familial bonds while navigating the universal experience of loss.

For readers interested in Thai culture, Buddhism, ghost beliefs, and ritual practices from Southeast Asia, this book is a rare window into how everyday actions—cooking, gathering, offering—become sacred. You'll learn about the role of food in Thai spiritual belief, how different regions interpret the idea of "nourishing spirits," and why these acts remain vital in today's rapidly changing society.

As part of the Sacred Thai: Ghosts, Beliefs, and Rituals in Thai Culture series, this volume stands on its own while contributing to a broader understanding of the emotional and ritual life of Thailand. Readers of previous volumes like Laying the Dead: Thai Funeral Customs and Calling the Soul: The Sookwan Ceremony will find this book a natural companion—one that moves from the funeral pyre to the family table, where memory is passed on in spoonfuls and silence.

Inside, you'll discover:

The spiritual significance of Ghost Month and its connection to Chinese-Thai beliefs How food-burning ceremonies combine grief, comfort, and intergenerational love What dishes are prepared for spirits, and why certain ingredients matter Why festivals like Sart Thai and Chak Phra are more than cultural performance—they're acts of sacred continuity Personal stories from Thai families who keep these traditions alive in modern cities and rural villages alike The subtle differences in ancestral worship between Thailand and neighboring cultures, and how this shapes Thai identity Reflections on the power of ritual meals as tools for spiritual healing

This book is ideal for:

Cultural enthusiasts exploring Thai or Southeast Asian traditions Readers drawn to spiritualism, ritual studies, and customs & traditions Thai diaspora reconnecting with ancestral roots Travelers or students studying Thai Buddhism and folk belief Fans of nonfiction that reveals how ritual can be both profoundly ordinary and deeply sacred

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