Mamia (Horse)

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 Horse Saturn is the mouth: it likes to speak kindly. The Moon is the heart: it wants to aim high. Jupiter is the loins: the indication is for constancy. Sun and Mars are the hands: not a very skilled worker. Mercury and Venus are the feet: not given to much travel.

When young will be beloved by the parents. Between 21 and 25 will have to leave home to make a living. At 31 and 63 will suffer misfortunes.

5th, 6th or 7th month: a king of horses, element lightning. Intelligent and good-natured.

8th, 9th or 10th month: an unfortunate Horse, element slow fire. If a woman, will be a vagrant and a scandal-monger.

11th, 12th or 1st month: a domestic Horse, element fire in stone. Will never be wealthy.

2nd, 3rd or 4th month: a lame Horse, element fire in crystal. Will achieve high rank and be wealthy.

Sunday: a noble Horse. Will have much power.

Monday: a Horse cared for by a devatā. Fortunate and successful.

Tuesday: a Horse reared by a warrior. Will be wealthy.

Wednesday: a common and badly behaved Horse. Unfortunate.

Thursday: a noble’s Horse; rich but very tired.

Friday: this Horse’s mother died. Miserable, without shelter.

Saturday: a Horse with damaged nerves or muscles; a troubled outlook.

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 mild teacher, grateful to a benefactor. Will do well enough to maintain oneself.

Month 6 or 12, or day 2: a mahout riding an elephant. Will have difficulty making a living.

Month 7 or 1, or day 3: husband and wife quarrelling. Very poor, and will find it hard to make a living; apt to quarrel or to indulge in extra-marital relations.

Month 8 or 2, or day 4: a devatā riding a fine horse. Fortunate, but must travel a great deal.

Month 9 or 3, or day 5: a lord carried in a palanquin. Fortunate in every way.

Month 10 or 4, or day 6: a devatā riding a nāga. Quick-minded but apt to leave work unfinished. Will be adequately well-off.

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, but the Horse stands alone: only it and the Small Snake are not paired.

Death: when the time comes, will die because of wealth. Patron: will seek a patron who will treat one as a relative, preferably a wealthy lord. Fate: will suffer from the demerit of a previous life. Wealth: will have property that is liable to be damaged. Travel: if travelling, likely to fall behind. Employment: would serve a good patron well with the help of a pandit, or would do excellent official work.

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 fire year, with a woman of: water, earth, wood
• A woman of a fire year, with a man of: metal (iron)

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

• Chuat (Rat): army officer (good)
• Chalu (Ox): mahout (good only later)
• Khan (Tiger): cook
• Tho (Hare): quarreler
• Marong (Large Snake): low official
• Maseng (Small Snake): rich man
• Mamia (Horse): purohita (royal chaplain)
• Mamae (Goat): noble
• Wok (Monkey): rich man
• Raka (Rooster): high official
• Cho (Dog): treasury official
• Kun (Pig): ne’er-do-well

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 male and a female devatā, very happy, with many children: Chuat (Rat), Marong (Large Snake)
• A man and a female devatā, excellent though liable to temporary separation: Chalu (Ox)
• A yakṣa and a female devatā, some children but apt to quarrel, getting on only moderately; the only pairs at all favourable: Raka (Rooster), Wok (Monkey)

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.