Kreung Ethnicity - United Nations in Cambodia

If someone breaks this rule by entering a spiritual place and any villager
becomes wounded, sick or dies, s/he must pay tatch to the victim in a sacrifice
to the spirits. If a villager receives a sacrificial request in his/her dreams, s/he
will inform the Krak Shrok of such a request. The Krak Shrok will investigate if
there has been trespassing on sacred ground and will fine the perpetrator
accordingly (with the animal requested by the spirits). The villagers believe that
when the spirits are angry with them for failing to protect the forest/mountains
in this way, it will cause villagers to become sick, wounded, or die.
Case study 14: A historical tale
A villager said that there was a man who one day entered a mountain
forest, heard the sound of gong music everywhere, but could not find
any signs of the person responsible for the music. To him, the gong music
sounded like someone had died, as it was the kind played at funerals. When
he returned home in the afternoon, he found out that someone had in
fact died in the village. From then on, every villager heard the gong music
coming from the mountain every night. The villagers named the mountain
Gong Mount and henceforth dared not touch it. They believe that Gong
Mount has spirits looking after the mountain that cause anyone to become
sick or die if they were to touch it.
Case study 15: A historical tale
A villager said that a man, Yak Kaying, entered Beureu mountain forest
and saw a monkey sitting in the branches of a big tree. The monkey’s
penis was hanging in between the branches. He was surprised at the sight
and exclaimed aloud ‘Oh a monkey’s penis!’ When he came back to the
village, Yak Kaying became sick. He went to the fortune teller (Me Arak).
The spirit happened to be in the Me Arak’s body at the time and told him
‘I made you sick because you insulted me in my forest home; you know I am
not a child.’ Thereafter he performed a sacrifice to the spirits in the mountain
and later became better. Since then, all villagers believe that the mountain
is a spiritual place they dare not touch.
Kreung Ethnicity: Documentation of Customary Rules
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