Tho (Hare)

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 Hare Mercury is the mouth: miserable, unable to speak pleasantly. Venus is the heart: audacious and eager to help the nobles; physically too weak to maintain oneself, but beloved by some. The Moon is the loins: little sensuous desire, and no wish for concubines. Jupiter and Saturn are the hands: skilful at craftsmanship. Sun and Mars are the feet: will like travel.

Trouble at the ages of 11, 12 and 15; owing to physical weakness, will probably suffer from sores on the face and some stomach trouble. However, will have slaves and sufficient wealth. Agriculture should give good results. Will have one son for support.

5th, 6th or 7th month: the Hare lives in the moon, element dry wood. If poor, will be free; if good, prosperous.

8th, 9th or 10th month: a blind and broken-legged Hare, element heart wood. Will be famous.

11th, 12th or 1st month: a lame Hare, element scented wood. Apt to be poor and to suffer in hands and feet, but will do well later.

2nd, 3rd or 4th month: a Hare that has had a bad fall, element hill-top wood. Will be cunning.

Sunday: a Hare fleeing fire. Trouble to be expected.

Monday: a Hare reared by a devatā; very good.

Tuesday: a common Hare. A miserable outlook.

Wednesday: a broken-legged Hare. A troubled outlook, with the food supply difficult.

Thursday: a Hare that runs quickly before its young. A quick-tempered person.

Friday: a Hare with many attendants. A great future.

Saturday: a Hare brought up by a lord. Wealthy, with excellent prospects.

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: happy and well-off.

Month 6 or 12, or day 2: a noble riding a fine horse. Great good fortune.

Month 7 or 1, or day 3: a man sitting in a boat paddled by a servant. Will have wealth and slaves and never feel tired.

Month 8 or 2, or day 4: a woman who, like Vessantara’s wife, heads for the jungle. Sorrow and trouble, from the need to leave home and go elsewhere.

Month 9 or 3, or day 5: two men fighting. Very quarrelsome and content to be a ne’er-do-well; often in litigation, so troubled in mind; not at all good.

Month 10 or 4, or day 6: a man riding a nāga. A brave person who should do well in government service, though of poor health.

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 Hare shares its predictions with the Dog.

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

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

• Chuat (Rat): rich man
• Chalu (Ox): treasury official
• Khan (Tiger): junk (ship) trader
• Tho (Hare): rich man
• Marong (Large Snake): farmer
• Maseng (Small Snake): Brahmā-devatā
• Mamia (Horse): quarreler
• Mamae (Goat): cripple
• Wok (Monkey): royal guru
• Raka (Rooster): army officer
• Cho (Dog): boat hirer (poor)
• Kun (Pig): spirit (difficult to rear children)

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, best, with children, though liable to quarrel and part: Chuat (Rat), Marong (Large Snake)
• A woman and a yakṣa, most favourable, but bad if they part: Wok (Monkey), Raka (Rooster)

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.