A Fertility Goddess?… I’m A Believer… Chao Mae Tuptim’s Shrine

20 years ago…After a 10 year childless marriage… And after having been told that I could never father children (courtesy of a little nuclear reactor incident)… I made a request at this shrine… And Lo and Behold!!… #1 son will be 19 soon… We had offered Chao Mae Tuptim a gift of oranges and a little wooden elephant if we had a son… Less than 2 years later, She came through. 4 years after that… we made good on our arrangement and asked for another one, please. 6 years after the first one … #2 son showed up. Best deals of my life. Straightforward…Simple… Sons for sacks of oranges… Payable ASAP… Now… as a father of 3, all of whom arrived relatively late in my life… Chao Mae Tuptim is still spoken of quite reverently around my house.
tuptim sign

My friend Alf from over at Corkscrew-Balloon.com asked whether I wanted him to take pictures of a few spots in Bangkok for old times sake… So naturally, I asked him to stop by Chao Mae Tuptim’s Shrine and take a pic or two. He came through like a champ!

tuptim_altar

Yes… Those long things are what you think they are! They’re called linghams… But they represent penises. Madame Tuptim likes them… A lot!! But what do you expect at a fertility shrine? I couldn’t imagine going to get a big wooden or stone one (although apparently there’s a market for them)… So we went the wooden elephant statue route along with the sacks of oranges.

tuptim_lingham

Someone was VERY, VERY grateful!

tuptim_ribbons

All pictures courtesy of Corkscrew-Balloon.com

There are lots more pics over at Corkscrew-Balloon... Along with a little bit of stuff Alf dug out of his archives that allude to another era in the life of TheFourEyes.

I’ve asked for and received permission from the Mama Bear to write up some reminisces of the Old Days before she took over my life. She’s gotten to the point where the memories of this high mileage old fart don’t irk her as much as they did when I still had the will to try to relive some of them! I’m working on one that maybe Alf will post while he’s still in Bangkok.

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