The Dark Side Of Kuman Thong Spirit Vessel for Good Luck and Wealth

In Thailand, there is a belief that there are effigies which grant their owner luck and wealth, known as Kuman Thong, which translates into “golden child”.  They are similar to the effigies for the boy spirit Elegua in the Santeria religion in Cuba.  The charm describes the spirit of a young child or baby and they are usually made of wood, and sometimes they may even be made partly of gold.  The boy spirit is also a big responsibility to take care of.  The effigies are given a home on their owner’s shines,  and they require to be looked after well, given food, treats, and drink daily, and they are worshiped and prayed to so that they may grant the owner luck and wealth.  If the owner neglects this responsibility that they have taken up, then it’s believed that the spirit boy can become enraged and cause misfortune.  This practice has been around since the 18^th century and it was told in a Thai fairy-tale called Khun Chang Khun Phaen, and the main character gains a powerful spirit by removing the stillborn foetus of his son from his wife.

Like many good things, there is a darker and more eerie side to the Kuma Thong, and it doesn't involve any malicious curses or ghost stories, or poltergeists in which the owner of the charm is harmed, like you would expect.  In the past, the original Kuma Thongs were required to be made with a dead fetus, which were often surgically removed from the wombs of their mothers.  The dead fetus would be transported to a cemetery where a sequence of dark incantations were chanted as the fetus is being dry roasted above a fire so that the spirit can be bound to it. The name "Golden Boy" doesn’t sound too appropriate now right?  Illegal practitioners of this are also known to bless their fetuses by covering them in fat from human babies or Nam-man, which is gathered by placing a candle under the chin of the corpse of a pregnant woman then collecting the oil which comes out of her skin.  

A recent arrest was made in 2012, of a 28 year old man who was smuggling 7 roasted fetuses in order to sell them on the black market for £24,000.  In 2010, the temple Wat Phai Ngoen situated in Bangkok, was found to have collected almost 350 aborted fetuses which it had collected from an illegal abortion clinic and was helping to dispose of them, although it’s believed that some were sold off to black magic practitioners too.  Incidents like these show that despite the practices being illegal, there are still those deeply dedicated to the occult that are still willing to buy these burnt fetuses.

Do any of you have any good luck charms?  If so, do you have any which you think other people would consider strange?