Hei Neak Ta, or the spirit parade mixes Chinese ritual and local folk traditions in Cambodia, a country where beliefs in the spirit world run deep.
Believers invite spirit-possessed mediums into their shops and homes to bless them with good luck or to banish illness or bad fortune.
The mediums force needles and spears through their cheeks and cut their tongues, using their blood to write mystical diagrams known as yantras on paper slips before distributing them to the crowd.
Photo: AFP
