Cambodia – Cambodians perform traditional ceremonies to obtain health and luck

Beliefs from the past are still influential as Cambodians perform traditional rituals within religious ceremonies in rural areas seeking luck. Raising the zodiac and the age is a ceremony that Khmer people celebrate when a person feels that s/he is having a bad zodiac sign, they always find an abbot and invite monks to perform a zodiac ceremony to prolong their life. Through religious therapies, some patients have a better life and some do not. Priest Mourn Sameth believes that this ritual and monks’ prayer can increase life and protect a person, whereas, Priest Moy Mai said that rituals cannot replace the health sector in providing the necessary care, so the traditional ceremony is only for emotional motivation. The ceremony also showed solidarity between the neighbors and the host, most of which takes place only in rural areas.