Wok (Monkey)

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 Monkey the Moon is the mouth: it speaks with knowledge and is always striving to learn; agreeable to monks and nobles. Mercury is the heart: well suited for litigation. Saturn is the loins: strongly sensuous, liking women’s company and apt to have a plurality of wives; if a woman, probably addicted to vice. Mars and Jupiter are the hands: not without skill, but a slow worker. Venus and Sun are the feet: not wishing to travel.

If a trader, will succeed. Will have the support of four sons, one of them an official.

5th, 6th or 7th month: an excellent Monkey, element soft iron. A mild disposition, not very helpful to others, but will develop.

8th, 9th or 10th month: a forest Monkey, element alluvial iron. Faithful and good; will succeed.

11th, 12th or 1st month: a Monkey of the mangroves, element good iron. Of a military disposition; will have many servants and slaves.

2nd, 3rd or 4th month: a wind Monkey, element purified iron. Hard to rear, but will have a good disposition and repute.

Sunday: a Monkey reared by a lord; very good.

Monday: a common Monkey, likely to be poor; not good.

Tuesday: an imprisoned Monkey. Misfortune and troubles indicated.

Wednesday: a Monkey reared by a hermit; well informed, very good.

Thursday: a Monkey brought up by a chief Brahman. Intelligent and clever.

Friday: an excellent Monkey. Very fortunate.

Saturday: a chained Monkey. Will probably suffer; not good.

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: does violence without fear of sinning. A bad worker and poorly off; not good.

Month 6 or 12, or day 2: a seated noble with umbrella- and fan-bearers. Will be lucky, have dignity and much happiness.

Month 7 or 1, or day 3: two men fighting. Will have trouble, be wicked and find it hard to make a living.

Month 8 or 2, or day 4: husband and wife quarrelling. Miserable, with a sad married life; will not stay long anywhere.

Month 9 or 3, or day 5: a woman riding an ox. Very tired, and dependent on others.

Month 10 or 4, or day 6: a devatā riding a nāga. Active-minded and harsh-speaking, but will hold a position of power.

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 Monkey shares its predictions with the Ox.

Death: likely to be separated from the spouse. Patron: will go where a patron gives a good welcome. Fate: likes talking about others. Wealth: will receive property from an important Brahman, or be helped by one to get it. Travel: would travel quickly. Employment: not suited to be an official, and in the service of a patron liable to be punished for the misdeeds of others.

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

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

• Chuat (Rat): attap palm dealer
• Chalu (Ox): boatman
• Khan (Tiger): fishmonger
• Tho (Hare): royal guru
• Marong (Large Snake): Indra
• Maseng (Small Snake): good man
• Mamia (Horse): rich man
• Mamae (Goat): cattle grazier
• Wok (Monkey): yakṣa (hard to rear children)
• Raka (Rooster): kindly person
• Cho (Dog): boat hirer
• Kun (Pig): common person

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: Cho (Dog), Raka (Rooster)
• A yakṣa and a yakṣī, only moderately satisfactory: Khan (Tiger)
• A yakṣa and a female devatā, some children but apt to quarrel, getting on only moderately; the only pairs at all favourable: Mamia (Horse)
• A woman and a yakṣa, most favourable, but bad if they part: Tho (Hare), 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.