Nats, spirits, must be appeased to bring good fortune and not wreak evil. The invoked spirit takes possession of the medium, but sometimes also of participants, who then go into a trance. If is the lecherous drunkard, a favorite spirit for these festivals, who takes possession of a female visitor, it can be most embarrassing for her, in prudish Burma. Mediums now-a-days are often gays and transvestites, this being one of the few professions they can openly practice.
