Whiskey and Revelry

The Karen people of Thailand regard the incorporeal presences of the other world not as fearsome characters, but as protectors. This faith is exemplified by their deeply reverent New Year's rituals, which have been orally communicated from their ancestors for generations: each household offers the spirits their last glass of homemade rice whiskey. This offering is made by whoever owns the house, although all the occupants are involved in the solemn chanting that commences. Like many other cultures which provide food and drink to the departed members of a society, the Karen make an important symbolic link between sustenance and sacrifice--and these concepts have thusly become embedded in their annual traditions.

In addition, this value system is reflected in Karen agricultural practices. Local wisdom guides their cultivation system, and the goal of this system is to preserve the harmony between human beings and their natural environment; rice is yielded through rotational farming methods that are sustainable and ecologically-sound. Coexistence between the land and between their spirit-guardians is of paramount importance to the Karen.

Further, the Karen people's method of preparing sticky rice for consumption—in which two methods of cooking rice are employed, which symbolize both the male and female villagers—highlights a distinct difference between the traditional Karen and traditional American perspective on food.

The United States relishes opportunities to lavishly celebrate by eating. However, as we are a less spiritually-centered country, the act of sharing food has become less an issue of reverence and sacrifice, and more about rampant consumerism. We are quick to ignore the spiritual components of cooking—even on major food-oriented holidays such as Thanksgiving, the secular focus is on how much food will be bought, how it will be prepared, and the status earned by being a successful host or hostess. Unlike the Karen, such festivities do not evoke a spirit of reverence; rather, they exist within a vacuum of consumerist culture. And yet, can this be considered a ritual in and of itself? Void of spirituality, has our national pastime—over-consumption—become as prized an activity as the sharing of Karen whiskey?