Burmese Parabaik

A Burmese folding book.

• Two-sided depicting cabbalistic diagrams in red and black ink and images of charms for divination, tattooing, and occult practices.
• Among the many figures included in the manuscript here are supernatural animals, deities and protective ogres are representations of Rahu who swallows the sun and moon to cause solar and lunar eclipses and magical tigers.
• The parabaik records spells and other magic practices – a traditional belief system of the Shan that ran parallel with their professed adherence to Theravada Buddhism.