There is many amulets and objects
LP Kasem designed and consecrated to protect people from all sorts of danger.
I've bee told by the local people from Lampang that LP Kasem
originally wasn't completely keen on making any Buddha images or
religious pendants - he was a devoted forest monk who was
determined to to practice meditation at quiet, remote places.
Nevertheless people started approaching him with polite demands
for help and protection. At first, soldiers from around Lampang
who were going to be send to the Cambodian or Burmese border were
often visiting his site where they received bamboo leaves with
protective spell written on them. Since it saved many of their
lives, LP slowly become famous on the field of making protective
pendants. Also his 'rakang' from BE2516 become famous over night
during a big student riot in Bangkok - when police opened fire at
them, those who wore the pendant simply weren't injured by flying
bullets.
Reputedly at about this time (~ BE 2520) LP Kasem's infamous
nephew comes into play with quite a terrible idea - to make
fortune on his uncle's popularity. He basically started pushing
on poor LP to release more and more pendants while he was running
all the business around it. This man started making serious money
but also started gambling at casinos around Cambodian and Burmese
border. People whisper the things got even worse ... but i'm a
bit shy to carry on writing about what i've heard. In the end LP
Kasem's body wasn't even burned - on the contrary - it was placed
into a glass coffin to ... make money. Most of Lampang people
were strongly against the idea but a few powerful individuals
(led by his nephew) decided the other way. So it was the other
way. It is quite interesting fact that the body has never begun
decomposing - it simply dried out .
Shortly - serious collectors are interested just in LP Kasem
amulets that were released before BE2520.
Here are a few examples of amulets i have:
• BE2516 MEDAL, so called "RAKANG"
(it refers to the amulets shape - a bell). Probably the most popular of his medals.
This batch of rians was the last batch of Luang Por Kasem's
Banjahbahramee(prosperity) batch of amulets. They were created to
raise fund for the building of a Sala at Susahn Dtailak and also
for donations to charity in Lampang province.
Story behind this amulet:
Besides, the reason of raising fund, Luang Por Kasem wanted very
much to create this batch of rians because of a woman called
Susahdah. Long time ago, there was a farm girl by the name of
Susahdah who lived near Wat Pra Keow. She loved making merits at
the temple and so every day without a rest, she would bring fruit
from her plantation to the temple for the monks. However, one
woman in the village was very jealous of her. She noticed that
Susahdah would go to the temple and so she spread the loathly
rumours that Susahdah had an affair with the monks inside. The
villagers became furious when they heard the rumours and wanted
to kill her. Susahdah pleaded her innocence, but no one in the
village believed her. Before she was executed, she made a vow
that her chastity was clean and she put a curse on the woman who
spread the rumours. The curse which had lasted for generations
and generations had it that the woman and her family would live
in poverty, without any joy.
Luang Por Kasem got known about the sad story and wanted to make
merit for her to break the curse.
Design:
Before the medals were created, Luang Por Kasem's disciples asked
him what shape they should be like. Luang Por requested
the medals to look like a bell. Since a bell makes loud sound
(dang), he wanted these medals to be 'Dang' (which means
popular in Thai). The person who wears it would become Dang
(loud), meaning become popular and prospering.
Quantity and price:
A total of 84,000 pieces of Neua Torng Daeng Rum Dtum (Copper)
and 200 pieces of Neua Ngern(Silver) were created and chanted in
BE2516. They are very 'Dang' in Thailand, and although the
large quantity had been created, they are always in demand because of
the good reasons they were chanted for and many good
experiences that were experienced by the people wearing them.
There is also many fakes on amulet-markets. The price varies
around 2000-3000B in Thailand. My my piece was for 500B. The
original pieces in perfect condition have black paint and are
being rented for about 5000B.
• BE2517 MEDAL (another very
popular piece, this one is in great condition ... the black lacquer on the surface)
Story behind this amulet and
its design:
There was a really poor family in Lampag. They were growing
watermelons on a small field they didn't even own. They were
hardly able to make money to stay alive. As they were good people
- happy despite their destiny - they often went to visit LP Kasem
to bring him some food and to simply pay respect to him. On one
day LP Kasem gave them a piece of paper with a number and told
them to bet the number on the next draw of the national lottery.
They did as he said and the number hit the jackpot. Grateful
family, who indeed received a whole fortune, decided to patronize
a new batch of amulets and thus immortalize LP Kasem's astounding
help. This batch was designed to bear a picture of a watermelon
on the backside to remind of their time of poverty. After the
consecration all the batch was being distributed for FREE
- anyone who asked was given a piece. Nowadays, there is so many
fakes of this little gift floating around the Thai market (and
they look much closer to the original than my fake obtained for
30B) that you'd really better think twice before you rent a
piece. The price in Lampang varies from 1000 to 2500B. The
limited silver mold cost about 5 times as much.
OTHER PIECES FROM MY COLLECTION:
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• BE2518 "SAWATDEE" BATCH
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• BE2512 PHOTOGRAPH
(contains LP Kasem's hair and piece of his robe)
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• BE2534
(the waterproof plastic cases are very typical for the North)
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• BE2537 PHOTOGRAPH
(contains LP Kasem's piece of his robe
and an unrolled tarkut
with a hand-written sanscript in Pali language) |
• BE2537 SHELL WITH INSERTED
TARKUT
(and something inside ...)
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• BE2527 MEDAL
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• BE2535 MEDAL
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• BE2538 TURTLE ("TAO")
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• BE2537 PICTURE WITH STAMP
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