This is a picture of our very own evil spirit effigy. In this picture pala is putting a khata on the plate (blessing scarf-what you give to all the lamas, as well as give to people when they leave etc.).
We each put a spoonful of gootook on the plate to symbolize all the evil deeds and spirits that have followed us around for the last year. Then we took a handful of raw dough and pressed it on all the different parts of the body, as well as circled it around the body three times (no pressing it to the forehead, otherwise it'll take your wisdom away! ). This is supposed to rid your body from aches and pains in the coming year.
After we had all done this, pala lit the incense and sent me and Dawa off into the night. Dawa carried the plate and instructed me not to look back. We went down to the road and set the plate on the side of the road (I would say the gutter, but the road and the gutter look the same). Then Dawa twisted together "bombs" which are noisemakers that you can light like firecrackers. He lit them and we ran away, not looking back. The noise scares away the evil spirits and makes it so they won't find you for the upcoming year. Lots of people set off fireworks.
I really liked the idea of kicking off the new year well without bad spirits. Way to go, Tibet.
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