Belief

Why any of it happens.

The khwan — the spirits that make up a person, and what it means when one of them leaves. The phi: house spirits, village spirits, the ones you feed and the ones you avoid. The obligations that come with living somewhere. Khong Sip Si, fourteen rules for everyday conduct — practiced, not performed.

Some of this is older than Buddhism in Laos and some of it isn't Buddhist at all. Both layers get named. Sukhwan lives here, because it's a belief before it's a ceremony, and it's the most performed of all of them.