. A cat has a very important role in this ceremony, because of the fact that it dislikes water. When it rains, a cat gets wet, it miaws. So the rain summoning tradition stemmed from this old belief that if a cat is to get wet (by being spashed with water), its cry is related to pleading for the clouds to break. In the rain-making ceremony Isan people make a pleading by reciting rain-making verses known as “tao mae nang maew” or “ hae nang maew”, literally meaning the parading of a female cat.