Virginity is one of the most valuable things in a girl that Cambodian society still holds on to these days. It is believed that the girl’s family will experience a never-ending series of bad luck if she loses her virginity before the marriage. The bad luck comes from no other than the deceased ancestors of the family themselves. Many people believe that it is true because they have seen it happen and the elders take this issue very seriously. I have heard about this a few times but we shall dig deeper into this belief together today.
History
Based on the beliefs from the olden days, each person is born with guardian spirit(s) that will protect them. The spirits are their ancestors who will watch over them and give blessings to those who follow the traditions. Sometimes these spirits will also punish the person if they disobey the parents or break the traditions. So when a family member becomes sick for no reason, people will go find a séance to see what’s wrong.
Symptoms
The symptoms resulting from the deceased ancestors are exhaustion for no reason, incommunicable, chest pain, insomnia, etc. Some “patients” suddenly feel bad for themselves and cry sometimes too. The noticeable thing about these symptoms is that they occur at the same of time the day all the time. It could be in the afternoon or night, and the punctuality of those symptoms is unbelievably the same.
Once the séance found out that it is the doing of the deceased ancestors, they will have to find out more. There are different types of doings that the ancestors caused such as:
- Adultery: refers to a married man who has an affair with a married woman or a widow/divorced woman.
- Intercourse Before Marriage: meaning the young couple gets intimate before marriage, disobeying their parents and families.
- Internal Conflict: when family members have arguments and they stop talking to each other for days or a long time.
If any of the 3 types occurs in the family without any solutions, the spirits of the ancestors will be very angry. Then they will make the family members sick as a warning or punishment for the problems of their family. Whatever happens simply warns the family to not be careless and take action immediately before things get more serious.
Solutions
The solution requires the medium (seer) to foresee and recommend the right solutions. This is to ensure that the methods and praying are effective so that the ancestors will no longer punish the family members. For example, if it is the second type, then the couple will have to get married. There could be other solutions depending on the demands from the ancestors.
Final Words
This belief has been around for decades or even centuries, and people have been practicing it for a long time. This is why it is still ingrained in many people’s beliefs up until now. Although not as common as before, this kind of belief still exists among residents in rural or remote areas. And once again, the choice to believe or not is up to you to decide.
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