. A cat has a very important role in this ceremony, because of the fact that it dislikes water. When it rains, cats will cry. 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.