The Sa Chog. Violence and veneration in a Tibetan soil ritual

Abstract

The Tibetan sa chog or “soil ritual”, customarily peformed prior to the construction of a temple or house, is a Buddhist ritual for organising space. The rite calls to the surface of the earth the subterranean serpent deity (klu, related to the Indian nāga), determines its orientation in space and time, and subjugates it through a series of steps characterised by both violence and veneration. The rite is a means by which Tibetan communities preserve and contain the power of the soil in such a way that orients it towards human interests. The article makes use of numerous Tibetan ritual manuals from various authors and traditions, as well as a reported 1967 performance of the rite in Rikon, Switzerland, to outline the sa chog rite. The author identifies eight steps: the selection of the site and the performance of preliminary rites; the laying of the grid; the drawing of the serpent and the identification of the vital place; the feast offering for the deities; the stabbing of the vital place; the testing of the soil for omens; the vase offering and the release of the serpent. While no single text referenced contains all eight of these steps, the peformance of the sa chog in Switzerland as described by Van Dyke justifies taking them together as an amalgamated whole.