Kun (Pig)

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 Pig Jupiter is the mouth: it speaks with knowledge, but is not always trustworthy. Saturn is the heart: hot-tempered but quickly recovering, and not vengeful. Mars is the loins: liable to carnal faults; if a man, will seek the wives of others. Venus and Sun are the hands: if one must work, will get tired. Moon and Mercury are the feet: will like travel.

At 19 will leave home, and will have two sons, the second being good. Will have many friends, much wealth and many slaves.

5th, 6th or 7th month: a Pig kept by a lord, element sea water. Will have merit and much intelligence.

8th, 9th or 10th month: a Pig kept in a sty, element calm water. Good and very faithful.

11th, 12th or 1st month: a leprous Pig, element jungle water. Good-hearted and reliable.

2nd, 3rd or 4th month: a wild Pig holding a crystal in its jaws, element canal water. Good-hearted; a very good portent.

Sunday: a Pig reared by a noble. Fortunate and prosperous.

Monday: a Pig killed for eating. Sorrow and trouble foretold.

Tuesday: a rich man’s Pig. Wealthy.

Wednesday: a common Pig. Poor; not good.

Thursday: a hill Pig. Will like wandering for pleasure.

Friday: a Pig with a bad head and a broken leg. Trouble forecast.

Saturday: a well-attended Pig. An excellent 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 careless, money-wasting person, not industrious, who must depend on others; also a busybody.

Month 6 or 12, or day 2: a noble reclining on a couch. Will be great and prosperous.

Month 7 or 1, or day 3: a man paddled in a fine boat. A good person, fortunate and respected by all.

Month 8 or 2, or day 4: a man riding a cow. Will be tired, with difficulty in getting money, but able to get just enough.

Month 9 or 3, or day 5: a noble on a fine seat, with umbrella- and fan-bearers. Lucky, wealthy and respected by all.

Month 10 or 4, or day 6: a devatā riding a nāga. An angry person, never calm.

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 Pig shares its predictions with the Large Snake.

Death: will die on the patron’s behalf. Patron: will look for a patron who will love one as a relative. Fate: has demerit from a former life, and so will suffer because of others. Wealth: will obtain wealth from a woman. Travel: a slow walker, who should take great care. Employment: would do well for a patron; as an official, would become celebrated.

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 woman of a water year, with a man of: earth, fire

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

• Chuat (Rat): low official
• Chalu (Ox): yakṣa
• Khan (Tiger): devatā
• Tho (Hare): spirit (difficult to rear children)
• Marong (Large Snake): good companion
• Maseng (Small Snake): commoner
• Mamia (Horse): ne’er-do-well
• Mamae (Goat): junk captain
• Wok (Monkey): common person
• Raka (Rooster): pig keeper
• Cho (Dog): ne’er-do-well (not constant)
• Kun (Pig): deer stalker

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 man and a woman, favourable only with these years: Chalu (Ox), Maseng (Small Snake)
• A woman and a devatā, moderately favourable: Chuat (Rat), Marong (Large Snake)
• A woman and a yakṣa, most favourable, but bad if they part: Wok (Monkey)
• A man and a yakṣī, at best moderate, happy at first, then as likely to end in hatred: Cho (Dog)

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.