The Belief of Nat and the Establishment of Social Space of Nat Kadaw in Myanmar

Abstract

This article analyzes changes in people-and-ghost schemas that have influenced beliefs about Nat Kadaw and the establishment of social space in Myanmar. It uses documentary research methods, on which digital ethnographical analysis was applied from collected information from academic sources, research papers, theses, and documentary films that have appeared in electronic media over the past decade. Data analysis was conducted based on a compilation of concepts linked under the schema of people-and-ghost relations and neo-animism.

The findings reveal that, firstly, the schema of people-and-ghost influenced the belief about Nuts and the organization of a new set of relationships. Meanwhile, rulers used the belief in Nuts and mediumship rituals as political tactics to establish new power relations. Ordinary people used their beliefs in Nuts and Nut worship rituals to raise their requests for things that the state and rulers could not satisfy. Them Nut worship ceremony revealed the relationship between the schema of people-and-ghost with social practices in ritual spaces that were not human-centered. This new form of relationship moved beyond binary oppositions in a way beyond the physical borders but expanded the perimeter widely to include social and imaginary areas. Secondly, the appearance of Nat Kadaw in the Nut worship ceremony ritual reflected the change in the schema of gender that has been integrated into the schema of people-and-ghost. These changes impacted the reformation of the concept of life in a new social world that was fluid and connected to the context of a world without borders; the new conditions for becoming a Nat Kadaw; and a new set of relationship patterns in the ritual space which led to a new form of selfhood of Nat Kadaw being an important social actor.