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he tries sufficiently hard enough, all other demons too. His hempen robes, they say, are not the same as those worn by mourners but are, in themselves, a charm having the power to drive away demons. The Local Wealth God also secures the safety, if so petitioned, of those who have witnessed such misfortunes as a suicide, a killing, a funeral or a fatal accident, (all of which release, or involve, roaming spirits). The witness need only visit the temple, offer a prayer and incense to the Local Wealth God for his continued safety to be assured. In some temples he is prayed to by relatives on the 49th day after a death, when green and white paper flowers are thrown over him after being taken from the hair of mourners; a sign that mourning is over. It used to be that only filial sons performed this ritual, but nowadays it has become common for any relative to take part.
The Local Wealth God, customarily, is only given plain unflavoured boiled rice and though he may be offered ordinary meat, either cooked or uncooked, he is never offered red-dyed sacrificial meat.
The Five Demons
We move on now to one of the less frequently seen groups, the Five Demons, (五鬼), which in one Macau temple were known as the Five Demon Spirits (五鬼神). Their full title is "The Five Demon Lads who change fortune” (五鬼變財). The Five are masters each of one of the five points of the compass. (The Chinese look upon the centre as the fifth direction), and each is separately known by his direction. For example, the one for the East is called the "Eastern Chia Yi Five Demon Stellar Deity" (東方甲乙五鬼星君)
Five Demons are feared as injurious spirits who need constant propitiation. When offended, however unwittingly, they must instantly be offered a large and expensive gift, and their forgiveness sought. In one small temple in Macau they were described as the five servants of the Wealth God, and are prayed to both for "unexpected money”, and also for a good marriage (bringing in a good dowry).
They are depicted in the Under Altar in a circle as five standing individual images in human likeness, sometimes men and sometimes women, facing inward. They have been seen once circling an oil lamp consisting of a saucer in which a wick lies floating in the oil,
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UNDER ALTARS
89
he tries sufficiently hard enough, all other demons too. His hempen robes, they say, are not the same as those worn by mourners but are, in themselves, a charm having the power to drive away demons. The Local Wealth God also secures the safety, if so petitioned, of those who have witnessed such misfortunes as a suicide, a killing, a funeral or a fatal accident, (all of which release, or involve, roam- ing spirits). The witness need only visit the temple, offer a prayer and incense to the Local Wealth God for his continued safety to be assured. In some temples he is prayed to by relatives on the 49th day after a death, when green and white paper flowers are thrown over him after being taken from the hair of mourners; a sign that mourning is over. It used to be that only filial sons per- formed this ritual, but nowadays it has become common for any relative to take part.
The Local Wealth God, customarily, is only given plain unfla- voured boiled rice and though he may be offered ordinary meat, either cooked or uncooked, he is never offered red-dyed sacrificial
meat.
The Five Demons
We move on now to one of the less frequently seen groups, the Five Demons, (E✯), which in one Macau temple were known as the Five Demon Spirits (ZA). Their full title is "The Five Demon Lads who change fortune” (IZL). The Five are masters each of one of the five points of the compass. (The Chinese look upon the centre as the fifth direction), and each is separately known by his direction. For example, the one for the East is called the "Eastern Chia Yi Five Demon Stellar Deity" (¶LIA 星君)
Five Demons are feared as injurious spirits who need constant propitiation. When offended, however unwittingly, they must instantly be offered a large and expensive gift, and their forgiveness sought. In one small temple in Macau they were described as the five servants of the Wealth God, and are prayed to both for "un- expected money”, and also for a good marriage (bringing in a good dowry).
They are depicted in the Under Altar in a circle as five standing individual images in human likeness, sometimes men and sometimes women, facing inward. They have been seen once circling an oil lamp consisting of a saucer in which a wick lies floating in the oil,
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