Cho (Dog)

The Brahmajati, the Thai book of destiny, reads a child’s future from the year of birth. Its method is the Chinese “fate calculation”, which the Thai may well have known since at least the thirteenth century, when they adopted the twelve-animal cycle; Indian learning added the planets of the week and the picture of the body as a small universe. Quaritch Wales, who called for a representative selection of the manuscripts in the National Library in Bangkok to satisfy himself of the general authenticity of the printed editions, notes that the text reflects old Siam: a freeman served a feudal patron, Brahmans were greatly respected, and slavery was finally abolished only about 1900. The portent for the month of birth can often be virtually the opposite of that for the day, and that is just what appeals to the Thai reader: one can be set off against the other, leaving, of course, a favourable balance.

According to the Brahmajati, for one born in the year of the Dog Mercury is the mouth: it cannot speak pleasantly, except to serve its own ends. Venus is the heart: brave-spirited, it would like to serve the rulers and enjoy scenes of battle, but is handicapped by bodily weakness. The Moon is the loins: weak sensuous desires. Jupiter and Saturn are the hands: skilful and expert in crafts. Sun and Mars are the feet: no desire for travel.

Liable to facial sores and to indigestion. Will have adequate wealth and enough slaves; garden cultivation would be profitable. Will have one son as a support. Misfortunes likely in the 11th, 13th and 25th years.

5th, 6th or 7th month: a domestic Dog, element sweet earth. Unfortunate when young, but will succeed later.

8th, 9th or 10th month: a sporting Dog with an owner, element mud. Faithful, fortunate and very intelligent.

11th, 12th or 1st month: a fox, element mountain-top earth. Clever, and of combative spirit.

2nd, 3rd or 4th month: a market-place Dog, element clay for wattle. Of a combative spirit; will be able to maintain oneself.

Sunday: a hunting Dog, which must work and get tired.

Monday: a hermit’s Dog. Good ability and knowledge.

Tuesday: a mangy Dog. Miserable, finding food with difficulty.

Wednesday: a well-attended Dog. Rich; very good.

Thursday: a mad Dog. Speaks angrily and is of evil disposition.

Friday: a Dog reared by a noble. Will be wealthy.

Saturday: a Dog that must be chained. If male, a ne’er-do-well.

A simpler system, very popular in the illustrated manuscripts, uses the year only as a calendar and trusts in numbers. The months are taken in pairs, beginning with months 5 and 11, each with a day of the week, or two days in the first case, to accommodate the odd seventh day (the days are numbered from Sunday, day 1). One looks up both the month and the day of birth: if both are good, very good; if one is good and one bad, take the mean; only if both are bad is the outlook truly depressing.

Month 5 or 11, or day 1 or 7: a fierce person, but one who brings up children well. Can make a living, but will have marital trouble.

Month 6 or 12, or day 2: a man riding a nāga. A quick-minded person who will have power; wealth, but not contentment.

Month 7 or 1, or day 3: a noble on a fine seat, with umbrella- and fan-bearers. Fortunate, great and prosperous.

Month 8 or 2, or day 4: a mahout riding an elephant. Will like travel and depend on a good patron, but will not be rich.

Month 9 or 3, or day 5: a young man riding a horse. A quick worker and a fast traveller; will do good government work and attain rank.

Month 10 or 4, or day 6: a devatā seated on a dais. Fortune, prosperity and happiness of every kind.

The Treatise of the Seven Numbers trusts only the power of seven numbers. For the year of birth its seven classes are death, patron, fate, wealth, travel, and private and state employment. The years go in pairs: the Dog shares its predictions with the Hare.

Death: when the time comes, will die of poison. Patron: will look far and wide for a patron, and be received by a distant one. Fate: will have great learning, the fruit of merit acquired in a former life. Wealth: will have much silver and gold, but also an angry nature. Travel: a speedy traveller, but safe only with a friend. Employment: will have a good patron thanks to a woman’s help, but would make a poor official.

The Thai treatises judge a marriage in several ways. One compares the birth elements, with metal always counted as iron: most pairs are favourable, and only the unfavourable ones are listed. Another treatise looks at the animals of the two birth years: from it a girl could learn what her suitor would become if he married her. Quaritch Wales prints it in full because it gives an illuminating picture of the range of social positions theoretically open to anyone of the freeman class, and concludes that what a man makes of his life work depends in part on his wife.

According to one well-known system, marriages between men and women are favourable only for a few pairs of years, because for many people mixed marriages are contemplated between humans and partners who are actually devatā or demons (yakṣa or yakṣī) in disguise: a thought that is second nature to a Thai reader raised on the Ramakien.

• A man of a earth year, with a woman of: water, wood
• A woman of a earth year, with a man of: fire

Birth elements: most combinations are favourable, and only the unfavourable ones are listed. Metal always counts as iron.

• Chuat (Rat): army officer
• Chalu (Ox): Indra
• Khan (Tiger): official
• Tho (Hare): boat hirer (poor)
• Marong (Large Snake): good companion
• Maseng (Small Snake): noble
• Mamia (Horse): treasury official
• Mamae (Goat): robber chief
• Wok (Monkey): boat hirer
• Raka (Rooster): horse keeper
• Cho (Dog): market overseer
• Kun (Pig): ne’er-do-well (not constant)

Birth animals: what the husband is likely to be. From this table a girl could learn her suitor’s future position, if he married her.

• A yakṣa and a yakṣī, happy though apt to quarrel at times: Wok (Monkey)
• A yakṣa and a yakṣī, only moderately satisfactory: Raka (Rooster)
• A yakṣa and a yakṣī, where disputes gain the upper hand: Khan (Tiger)
• A man and a yakṣī, at best moderate, happy at first, then as likely to end in hatred: Chalu (Ox), Maseng (Small Snake), Kun (Pig)

Mixed marriages: for many people, a partner may actually be a devatā or a demon (yakṣa, yakṣī) in disguise; and since none of them is immortal, they too follow the fortunes of their year of birth.