The spirit of the old angsana tree

Logically, we could say that the old angsana tree survived because of the presence of a ground aquifer, and no angsana tree or any tree would have survived in a long drawn drought had there not been an aquifer.

However, Dhammaputeri chose to believe that her grandpa's angsana tree had the ability to draw water to the well.

There was a time of drought when all the wells in the village and surrounding villages had dried. Dhammaputeri could recall the lines and crowds formed at her grandpa's garden to receive water from her grandpa's well. Her grandpa's grandpa had lived on the island before it became an influx of war refugees. In fact, it was her granpa's grandpa who was the man who returned to the ruins of his grandpa's grandpa's house and found the old angsana tree fluorishing amongst the undergrowth of the land reclaimed by the forest. Her grandpa's grandpa repaired the well and rebuilt the house in which her grandpa currently lives.

She recalls her grandpa telling her that she had fallen extremely sick when she was two years old. Both shamans, her grandpa and her uncle, had exhausted all knowledge to bring her out of her sickness. So they resorted to petitioning for help from the angsana tree. Both her grandpa and uncle resorted to their respective means to petition the powers of heaven almighty to provide an indication through the spirit of the angsana tree.

They placed the infant Dhammaputeri under the tree and then a stalk of angsana leaves fell on her. They took it to mean that the angsana tree provided the cure through the leaves it had shedded on Dhammaputeri. They boiled the leaves into tea and fed the tea to Dhammaputeri. She became well just before the sun had started to set that day.