Nats have human characteristics, wants, and needs. They are flawed, having desires considered derogatory and immoral in mainstream Buddhism. During a nat pwè, which is a festival during which nats are propitiated, nat kadaws (နတ်ကတော် "lord-consort", i.e. "medium, shaman") dance and embody the nat's spirit in a trance. Historically, the nat kadaw profession was hereditary and passed from mother to daughter. Until the 1980s, few nat gadaws were male. Since the 1980s, persons identified by outsiders as trans women or gay male transvestites have increasingly performed these roles.
Music, often accompanied by a hsaing waing ("orchestra"), adds much to the mood of the nat pwè, and many are entranced. People come from far to take part in the festivities in various nat shrines called nat kun or nat naan, get drunk on palm wine and dance wildly in fits of ecstasy to the wild beat of the Hsaing waing music, possessed by the nats.*
This image is not part of the Fog Fest Invitational show at the Sanchez Art Center. It is included as a part of my Blog as a supplement on the subject of Nat beliefs in Myanmar.
*Wikipedia
A nat kadaw (spirit medium) at a nat pwè (spirit festival) at Mingun, Myanmar by Wagaung, published in Wikipedia Commons
The Nat shrine, located at the base of the summit of Mount Popa, contains statues of the 37 chief nats of Burma. Some are Hindu gods, while others derive from local Burmese legend. There are two Nat festivals each year, one in the summer and one in the winter, which feature various animist practices including trance mediumship (spirit possession). Photograph uploaded by Michael Gunther on Wikipedia Commons
Statues of Nats can be found in Thailand at monasteries founded by monks from Myanmar/Burma. They point with an upraised arm in the direction of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.
