As in most ordinations, the ritual included the sanctification of water in a monk's
alms bowl. A small Buddha image was placed in the bowl and candle wax dripped
into the water while the monks chanted. Traditionally, this holy water (nam mon) is
sprinkled on the participants, conferring a blessing on them. This water is seen as
ritually very powerful, and people always make sure to receive some of the drops
from the monk (Olson 1991). On this occasion, Phrakhru Pitak used the blessed
water in an original manner. Each of the headmen from the ten villages drank some
of the water in front of the large Buddha image to seal their pledge to protect the
forest. This use of a sacred symbol to strengthen such an oath was another innovation
which reinforced the notion of environmentalism as a moral action. It made the
protection or destruction of the forest karmic action: protecting it would confer good
merit (bun), destroying it bringing bad, the balance of which would ultimately affect
one's rebirth or even quality of living in this life. Beyond that, it drew on the belief
of the villagers in the magical powers of the holy water; while specific sanctions
were not mentioned for failing to uphold the headmen's pledge, the implications were
that breaking it would involve going against the power secured by the use of the
water.