Thai amulets, amulet market and Gay amulets.
Thai amulets, amulet market and Gay amulets.
Thinking about amulets and how they might be of use or interest.
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The following are Buddhas which would be put into a case and worn around the neck.
Amulet Market in Bangkok
It is an area of small shops selling amulets, maybe a hundred with alley ways through them. The amulets aren’t expensive at all. Some of the spaces were air conditioned, and there wasa coffee shop next to it, so there were places you could cool down and drink a cold beverage.
I supply a close up map and a further out map in this post. If you are viewing Bangkok on Google maps and use the term amulets this is the market that shows up.
There is no organized guide to it that I could find to it. You just have to walk around and look at different shops. I very much wanted Naga rings, but didn’t come across any.
There might of have been other markets, but Google maps and the guides directed you to this market.
Photographing isn’t welcomed in the amulet market. It is a place with people competitively selling. There are videos on YouTube which you can view.
The market did have its own shrine.
Amulets I purchased at the market.
The above has seven Buddhas and one Trimurti. (Indicated by the green arrow.) Trimurti is a Goddess, which I reported before, that Gays pray to have good fortune in love. Three of the above Buddhas have a Naga protecting him. (They are indicated with a blue arrow.)
This comes from the story of the Buddha’s life, when he was in his final contemplation under the Bodhi Tree in which he achieved enlightenment. A rain was coming and the king of the Naga, Muchalinda extended his hood over the Buddha so the Buddha was protected from the rain. For a brief summary of Muchalinda protecting the Buddha, is the following link.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucalinda
This is a link for a discussion about the Naga.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C4%81ga
Often the amulet and the case for the amulet are sold seperately. So you purchase the figure and then choose the casing for it. They use a compressive foam then to hold the figure in place in the case.
The figures and the amulets are quite detailed. These are two Buddhas. Where I purchased two pieces, it was that one was to be given to my spouse.
Backside. The amulets have detail on both sides.
Buddha protected by the Naga. I thought these would be good amulets from protection from the homophobic Christians of Dallas, Texas. Notice the red foam holding the figure in place. There are different color foams to go with different designs.
Another Buddha protected by the Naga.
Backside
A Buddha.
Backside
In this case they had only one of each type, and I told my spouse to pick one, but also I liked the all gold one best, however, if he wanted it he could have it. He chose the red one.
Two Buddhas.
The backside.
Trimurti
Backside
I purchased these amulets also, but without cases. I am going to do some type of arrangement where they are sort of in a small figurative temple.
A book on amulets
“Capitalism, Magic, Thailand: Modernity with Enchantment,” by Peter A. Jackson, ISEAS Publishing.
Gay Amulets
If you you search on Google you will find Gay amulets for sale. They were about 5 to 10 times the price of a similar amulet in the market in Bangkok.
This is a typical online entry.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/113716352134
I don’t know if they are authentic or just for tourists. Some of the heterosexual amulets I saw at the amulet market were indicated as being created for tourists by some of the YouTube Thai amulet commentators. I can’t judge whether it was true or not.
The Gay expats in Thailand hadn’t even heard of it prior and were no help to me. Again, they are physically in Thailand but not informed about Thai Gay culture.
There were also Gay Yantra clothes for sale online. I had bought two of these type cloths at the Temple of Love discussed in an earlier post.
This particular one was adopted as the photo for a Gay Thai expat groups once I brought it to their attention by asking for help in tracking down clothes in Bangkok. They hadn’t heard of it prior.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325638664271
I have no idea how authentic this cloth is, or whether it is for tourists.
At the amulet markets I didn’t see too many yantra cloths for sale, which is somewhat disappointing since they seem very interesting. I did get this at the Temple of the Golden Mount framed.
It was hard to know what was for sale at a temple by the temple itself and what the items meant. Probably they might have been right in front of me, but the language barrier was preventing me from knowing what was available.
It could be that most tourists weren’t interested in knowing anything about the temples except where to get the best selfie.
Discussion
I felt the Buddha protected by the Naga would be a good amulet for the protection of the LGBT here in Dallas, and Texas in general where we are under siege.
Also, it could be a symbol of the LGBT in the alternative religious to Christianity resisting homophobia.
What a rich collection, this is prosperous sign. the new name also *wink*wink*. Goes well with our pghallus statue.
*Note: I like to use google lens to snap a photo to get an explanation about some items.