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As a full moon rises over Thailand in mid-July, signalling the beginning of Buddhist Lent, devout Buddhists steel themselves for three months off meat and booze, as well as plenty of bum-numbing meditation sessions.
At Wat Tum Phratat, a rather run-down temple amid the dusty foothills of Lopburi, 150km north of Bangkok, they get Lent off to a somewhat stranger start. This year, more than 100 self-proclaimed spirit mediums converged on the temple for what's become known as the 'Lopburi Witches' Convention'.
Quite what channelling ancient Hindu deities and dead monarchs has to do with the reflection and discipline of Lent is anyone's guess, but each year, the numbers have been swelling.
Although mainstream Buddhism frowns on occult practices, an undercurrent of animism still pervades Thailand, especially in rural areas. It's not uncommon to see people rubbing magic trees hoping lottery numbers will be revealed, visiting oracles and soothsayers, and decorating their businesses with giant lucky wooden phalluses known as phalat khik.
Some black magic specialists have achieved a measure of notoriety, not least among them Harn Raksajit, better known as Nain Ae, a monk defrocked 10 years ago for buying dead foetuses to extract their chin oil to use in a bizarre rite to summon the spirit of Khumon Tong (the Golden Child), a figure from Thai legend believed to have potent powers for attracting lovers. Harn, who publicly boasted that he had grilled more than 1,000 dead babies, was also depicted in a recent movie about black magic, and opened a school for would-be occultists last year.
Harn, who is tattooed head to toe, couldn't make it to this year's witches convention: he was behind bars, after police arrested him at his Saraburi compound for allegedly defrauding people and sexually abusing female clients.