There are two major types of Lek Lai :

1 : Alchemical Lek Lai made by some Venerable monks and Ajarn
from some sacred minerals and rares metals.
Those Lek Lai can have various colors and powers.
Such Lek Lai can be molded as amulets, ritual weapons
and also can spontaneously take some weird shapes during the ritual.

2 : Natural Lek Lai that are extracted from Holy caves during secret religious ceremony.
Some of those Lek Lai are types of hematite and other types of minerals.
again natural Lek Lai can have various colors, aspects and powers.
They can be kept rough or carved into amulets or various sacred objects.

The following information has been translated from a text of Venerable Acharn Boon,
from a fragmentary ancient text. The passages do not always follow a logical sequence
and I have done my best to make the text understandable all the while staying faithful to the original - nonetheless I must excuse myself in advance for any error arising
due to my ignorance. These writings are not available anywhere else and I thank you
in advance for not copying and/or pasting them except for private use.
It is evident that the prayer texts recorded in these writings are for informational purposes
only and IN NO CASE are they to be taken up and used by a person not qualified
to undertake the harvesting of Lek Laï himself !

How to seek out Lek Lai :

The ancient texts spell out that, if one wishes to find Lek Lai, one must take into account the following factors: a proper cave must be utterly free of bat droppings or those of any other of animal; its temperature should be cool (a rarity in Thailand!) and this cave must be in a deserted place, seldom or never intruded upon by humans. Take a gun and shoot at the area where you suspect the presence of Lek Lai - no bullet will issue forth no matter how many times you try! (Note: I was startled to find a reference to guns in a text set forth as ancient but, hey, I'm only the translator!)

After having found the place where the Lek Lai is, you will have to make offerings to the forest spirits, the spirit(s) of the cave and/or the local divinity who guards this place.
The offering should consist of the following :
- A pig's head
- A duck
- A chicken
- A fish
- A piece of meat
- Two fresh coconuts
- Two bunches of bananas
- A desert bowl full of red and white sticky balls, and nuts (Note: only those who have been to Thailand will know what he's talking about: a local desert, very special...)
A handful of assorted nuts
- Black sesame
- White sesame
- Food
- Other sorts of deserts
- White alcohol
- Betel
- Betel wine
- Cigarettes

All this should be offered to the local spirits and divinities if one is sure they're non-vegetarians. In the case of a vegetarian divinity, offer only vegetable offerings, vegetarian food, alcohol and cigarettes. (No, I'm not joking! Some local spirits are known vegetarians!)
It would be good to wrap the leftovers in banana leaves and leave them on the ground so that the lower spirits might also be fed...

You must place all this food atop a table in two equal heaps, then light nine incense sticks
and nine white candles, reciting :

"Na-moh Sak-khen khum noom teew-wa-daa"
Then "Sab-pae tham maa naa lung ah phi ni way sa ya eh gaa ya no,
ah yung pik kha way muk tha satta nung vi soot ta yaa"

Then say : All you divinities and spirits of this place and its surroundings, spirits of the jungle and spirits of the mountain, I invite you to come and partake of all the food and fruits
as you like. I ask of all the divinities whose name I have uttered and those whose name
I have not uttered due to my ignorance to grant me joy and peace, as well as the capability to do what I have to do. I and my companions want to discover lek lai and take it away with us to venerate it and change our accumulated merits. If the lek lai grants me wealth and fortune I will give 40% for charitable works and help to other humans. The other 40%
I will give to the Sangha and Buddhist temples. I will keep for myself only 20%.
If I do not do all these precisely as I have said, may the gods punish me with death.

Lek Lai flowing from a rock.

If there should occur a dispute over the possession of Lek Lai between monks and people
of a high spiritual level, and they don't know whom the Lek Lai spirits have decided to back, these people should take the following vows in a loud voice: "I, (name, first name),
I want to have this Lek Lai and if you are the divinities protecting this Lek Lai say the word "hai" (in Thai, this word means "give"). The one must stand by and repeat "Hai"
if one hears it. A person of little merit will never be able to attract Lek Lai,
not even be able to see it, not even an image !

A roll of Saï-Sin cord blessed by Venerable Luang Phor Sao.

How to protect oneself during the harvest of Lek Lai using Saï-Sin cord :
(Note: Saï-Sin cord is made up of nine white cotton threads which Buddhists monks use,
among other things, to make bracelets for their faithful and also to protect places
from evil spirits.)

At the moment you want to call forth the Lek Lai from the stone in which it lives because sometimes the power of the spirit or of the divinities which inhabit the Lek Lai an accident or problems during the ceremony. Sometimes this can even end up in deaths, thus one must be prudent and to the greatest extent possible, wear amulets and protective talismans. It is good to string Saï-Sin cord around the rock where one expects to find the Lek Lai and to keep oneself about two meters away from it.

How to place the Saï-Sin cord :

You will need 9 or 19 pieces of wood, which should come from this part of the forest and have the form of walking sticks. (Note: a little word play on a Thai phrase meaning "Can I have it?" which one can say in nine different ways.) The tenth stick should be bigger than the first nine and must absolutely be carved from a hard wood engraved with the Pali word "Lerh"
("to retain"), then recite :
"Namo Tassa Bagawatto Arhahato Samma Samputhassa"
"Namo Tassa Bagawatto Arhahato Samma Samputhassa"
"Namo Tassa Bagawatto Arhahato Samma Samputhassa"
"Pha gaa sean thoo thaa-chuu-chok kon soh kor krai mai dai thong hai gor khor khor"

Then, taking in hand the biggest of the walking sticks
(which signifies that this is the one who wants the Lek Lai), one recites :

"Phut thang pra sit may tham mung pra sit may sang khang pra sit may"
all while attaching, along the lines of a directing an activity (in order to protect the place) :

"Phut thoo phut thang na gun thang ah ra hung phut thoo"-"Tham moh tham mung na gun thang ah ra hung tham moh"
"Sung koh sang dhang na gun thang sung koh"
"Na moh phut tha ta na ma pa ta ya pa ga sa pha ma na uh ga sa na thu put ta gun na"
"Tham ma gun na sung ka gun na"-"Ih must sa ming mong kol jak ga waan tung perth thit, phut ta prasit phen gum-peang-gaew djet chan"
"Ih rah khaa tha ra saa kaa yaa duu lair rak saa duay tham ma pra sit sung kung pra sit"
"Na moh na mud gum jhad ork phai sat-truu yaa glai sea mah mon thon"

The protective cord being in place, the Master in charge of the ceremony and all his helpers should be clothed in white, have a clear spirit and do a short meditation before the ceremony itself.

The spell to cut Lek Lai:
"Om sa waa hoom maa ma ma na rak kha jit thang phan tha nung"
Na rong hai moh kram-kruan, pha yuu mai dai ka ork maa waa phen kaa
pha-jau. Na moh phut tha ya thid sa ah ra hung"

Lek Lai harvesting ceremony in a cave.

If the spirit of the master or the monk conducted the ceremony is higher and stronger than
that of the spirits protecting the Lek Lai, then the Lek Lai will slowly melt and flow outside the rock toward the top of the cave (one can also use honey to attract more Lek Lai).
When the Lek Lai has come forth from the rock and is in the midst of taking sustenance
from the honey, but before the cutting, the monk must conduct a ceremony tying the Lek Lai
to the base of the rock with Saï-Sin cord - or the Lek Lai will flow back into the rock !

He must recite thus :
"Namo Tassa Bagawatto Arhahato Samma Samputhassa"
"Namo Tassa Bagawatto Arhahato Samma Samputhassa"
"Namo Tassa Bagawatto Arhahato Samma Samputhassa"
"Ih puuk thi mud phi rud soh therng pha kherng kah sung mih"
"Na moh na muh hai mud aw pai phut tha phut than sung mih"

Thai ritual dagger Meedh Moh composed of bleu magic iron Lek Namphi,
perfectly suited for the harvest of Lek Lai.

While attaching the cord, one must have a Meedh Moh ritual knife at hand, and recite :

"Na orh moh nim phut kaw thaa kaad ya-rid dej pi nart kaad duay ma ah uh,
na ma pa ta na moh ta sa tad na ta sa kard"

The one cuts the Lek Lai using the ritual knife or sometimes with a tuft of hair
from a virgin girl which has been dipped in the blood of the family's first born.
After having cut the lek lai, one must invite it with the following prayer :

"Saa thu sor si sor siang kah kor siang thai rer si thang lai hai kaw maa yuu nai vi marn tii riak waa Leklai (there add the specific name of the Lek Lai you harvest)
"Jat thu pho thang ah ra hung pho tha jat thu ma ya eh hi eh hi"

"Phut tho may na tho, tham mo may na tho, sung koh may na tho sa ka pa ja phu cha ja buu chaa tarn puu duu lea rak sa tard un sak sit song rit ah nu paab"

"ih sa wa su ih thi phi so pha ka wa lek lai ja reon maa, ja reon ying, ja reon dii sing dii dii tang lai lung lai kaw maa haa ka pa jau sam ma sam mah sam mah sam ma, ma ah uh"

Visit to a Lek Lai cave in Wat Tham Lek Lai.

The temple is located in a rather remote area and the road to go there is very basic.

Along the road at the entrance of the Temple is a long line of spirit's houses.

Those big chunk of Kod Lek Lai the monks showed me proudly
look much like some Lek Namphi ore to me...

They also showed me this ordinary looking grey stone, telling me it was Phiset mak mak
(very special) but i have no clue whats so special about it .

The entrance of the lek lai cave is very abrupt,
lucky there is an (old and wobbly) metal stair.

The entrance of the lek lai cave seen from inside.

Inside, yet one more spirit's house.

Your webmaster at the Lek Lai cave.

Some of the gallery are very narrow, no guide, no security, and more often than not the lights are out of order....the visit is absolutely nothing like an aseptised cave visit in Europ.

Deep inside the Lek Lai cave the monks have arranged this basic platform
to come here to meditate.

Some trees from the surface send roots very deep in the cave to get some water.

Lots of bats live in this Lek Lai cave.

With no apparent reason, thousands of orbs show on this picture taken inside the cave.

This space was arranged for the ceremony when the monks call forth the Lek Lai.

It is in the square area that the Lek Laï manifest when called by the monks.

Learn more about the various types of Lek Lai.