Nat Worship and Ecology
The widespread traditional belief among rural folks that there are forest guardian spirits called taw saung nats (တောစောင့်နတ်) and mountain guardian spirits called taung saung nats (တောင်စောင့်နတ်) appears to act as a deterrent against environmental destruction up to a point. Indiscriminate felling particularly of large trees is generally eschewed owing to the belief that they are dwellings of tree spirits called yokkazo (ရုက္ခစိုး) and that such an act would bring the wrath of the nat upon the perpetrator.
Read more about this topic: Nat (spirit)
Famous quotes containing the words nat, worship and/or ecology:
“nat every wight he sholde go selle
Al that he hadde and yive it to the poore,
And in swich wise folwe him and his fore:
He spak to hem that wolde live parfitly—
And lordinges, by youre leve, that am nat I.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“You don’t know what you might be if you would look beyond the ball, the opera, the fashion-plate—and right over the heads of the perfumed, mustached bipeds who call themselves men and worship at your feet.”
—Mattie Chappelle, U.S. women’s magazine contributor. The Revolution (April 28, 1870)
“... the fundamental principles of ecology govern our lives wherever we live, and ... we must wake up to this fact or be lost.”
—Karin Sheldon (b. c. 1945)