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Rumours of Sorcery at an Indonesian University

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2011

Robert Wessing
Robert Wessing
Affiliation:
The Hague, Netherlands
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Abstract

Recently the Indonesian press has paid increased attention to reports or rumours of the use of sorcery by various people in order to gain or to hold onto official positions, or to influence others who hold such positions. This paper examines rumours concerning these practices in an Indonesian university, considering them both in the context of Javanese cosmological and magical beliefs, and within the social and economic realities of the university community. The conclusion is that whether or not magical attacks actually take place, preventative measures give people a feeling of safety and perhaps smooth the path to success.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , September 1996 , pp. 261 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1996

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References

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25 This would seem to answer the question raised by Wikan concerning why, if the Balinese believe that “the hour of death is fated and preordained by God”, people still fear black magic. If, in fact, that which is determined by God can be altered by appeals to His power, such efforts are certainly something to be feared [Wikan, U., Managing Turbulent Hearts. A Balinese Formula for Living (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), pp. 164–65Google Scholar].

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29 Watson calls the word dukun a “catch-all term for healer, sorcerer, magician”. In Java it is a generic term for indigenous healers while one category of them is associated with malign magic. These “sorcerer” dukun, Nitibaskara reports, are thought to use evil spirits. Because of their skills in dealing with the supernatural world of spirits and ancestors, both in finding cures and in performing magic, I add the gloss shaman to the above ones, although some (cf. Peletz) would disagree, preferring to restrict shaman to the pawang, another category of local practitioner, learned in the ways of the forest [C.W. Watson, “Perceptions from Within: Malign Magic in Indonesian Literature”, in Understanding Witchcraft, ed. Watson and Ellen, p. 194; R. Nitibaskara, “Observations on the Practice of Sorcery in Java”, in Understanding Witchcraft, pp. 125–26; M.G. Peletz, “Knowledge, Power, and Personal Misfortune in a Malay Context”, in Understanding Witchcraft, p. 152].

30 Cf. Rato, Dominikus, Buju' dan Asta: Persepsi Masyarakat Madura Sumenep Terhadap Kuburan Keramat. Seri Kertas Kerja No. 18 (Jember: Bidang Kajian Madura, Universitas Jember, 1992)Google Scholar. Berkah is usually used in the sense of blessing, a gift from God. However, Lewis writes of barakah among the Somali as a “miracle-working energy which brings life and blessing”, making it rather akin to the cosmic power (kesakten) discussed by Anderson. See “The Idea”; Lewis, I.M., “The Anthropologist's Encounter with the Supernatural”, in Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural, ed. Lehmann, A.C. and Myers, J.E. (Mountain View: Mayfield, 1989), pp. 24–25Google Scholar.

31 Cf. Woodward, M.R., Islam in Java. Normative Piety and Mysticism in the Sultanate of Yogyakarta (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1989), pp. 53–54Google Scholar.

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33 Parsons, Max Weber, p. 65.

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36 Ibid.

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43 Cf. DëTIK, “Saya Berbuat Jahat”, pp. 22–23.

44 U. Wikan, Managing, p. 246.

45 Hanna, “The Magical-Mystical Syndrome”, Pt. I, p. 5.

46 “Orang Kita”, p. 2.

47 Koentjaraningrat, , “Javanese Magic, Sorcery and Numerology”, Masyarakat Indonesia 6,1 (1979): 37–52Google Scholar; Jordaan, “Folk Medicine”, pp. 161–94.

48 Cf. Maijer, L. Th., De Javaan als doekoen. Een ethnographische bijdrage (Weltevreden: G. Kolff, 1918)Google Scholar.

49 Koentjaraningrat, “Javanese Magic”, p. 50.

50 Jordaan, “Folk Medicine”, pp. 162–63.

51 Chinta, “Dukun Santet Lenyapkan 13 Nyawa”, Liberty 40,1792 (1993).

52 Bamar Eska, Sihir, p. 133.

53 Geertz, The Religion of Java; Koentjaraningrat, “Javanese Magic"; Jordaan, “Folk Medicine”; Nitibaskara, “Observations”.

54 Accounts of sorcerers and sorcery from the wider Southeast Asian context exist as well, notably those by Winstedt, Lieban, and Watson and Ellen. Much of the data in these is quite similar to that found in Java [Winstedt, R., The Malay Magician being Shaman, Saiva and Sufi (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1951)Google Scholar; Lieban, R.W., Cebuano Sorcery, Malign Magic in the Philippines (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977)Google Scholar; Watson and Ellen, Understanding Witchcraft].

55 Fury uses santet as the most general category and subdivides this into tenung or teluh, the magic used to kill, guna-guna or pelet (love magic) and gendam, used to cheat or rob someone [Fury, , “Santet. Kriminalitas Dunia Gaib”, Liberty 39, 1766 (1992): 15Google Scholar; cf. SJs, SS and Fury, , “Cinta, Seks dan Guna-guna”, Liberty 39,1774 (1992): 15Google Scholar]. Koentjaraningrat and Geertz give slightly different categories, probably reflecting variant local usages (Koentjaraningrat, “Javanese Magic”, pp. 45, 49; Geertz, The Religion of Java, pp. 107–108; see also Wikan, Managing Turbulent Hearts, pp. 86–87, 299–302n. 20–32). The most elaborate classification of magic from Banyuwangi is made by Kusnadi, who divides magical practices into four categories: black, yellow, red, and white. A victim of black magic, he writes, loses life and property, while red magic makes the victim insane without killing him or her. Yellow magic makes people feel good toward us and white magic is used to undo the effects of the red and black varieties [Kusnadi, , “Santet dalam Pandangan Orang Osing”, Surya 7, 290 (1993):10Google Scholar]. It should not be assumed that these various categories can easily be reduced to a binary opposition of black and white magic. As Mizayaki points out, this clear distinction does not exist in Javanese, although it does occur in Indonesian where, I suspect, it was introduced via contact with the west. Magic may be used for good or evil, but the powers involved, like the kesakten discussed by Anderson, are in principle amoral; “the knowledge and the technique … can be ‘black’ or ‘white’ according to their purpose” [Miyazaki, Koji, “The King and the People. The Conceptual Structure of a Javanese Kingdom” (Ph.D. diss., Leiden, Rijksuniversiteit, 1988), p. 97Google Scholar; cf. Nitibaskara, “Observations”, p. 123; Anderson, “The Idea of Power”].

56 Other famous centres in the area are Sumenep on Madura, Bali (cf. Wikan, Managing), Puger on the south coast of East Java, and Blitar.

57 Cf. Wikan, Managing Turbulent Hearts, p. 258.

58 Cf. Koentjaraningrat, “Javanese Magic”, p. 45; Fury, “Santet”, p. 15.

59 Geertz, The Religion of Java, p. 95. Reports of suspected sorcerers being killed or injured regularly appear in the news. Between Aug. 1990 and Feb. 1993 I noted more than 30 such items.

60 Bamar Eska, Sihir, pp. 139–48, 167–68, 177–78; cf. Douglas, M., “Witchcraft and Leprosy: Two Strategies of Exclusion”, Man 26,4 (1991): 723–36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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62 Cederroth, S., “Javanese and Sasak Folk Beliefs. The Changing Role of Diviners in Two Indonesian Villages”, in Agrarian Society in History. Essays in Honor of Magnus Morner, ed. Lundahl, M. and Svensson, T. (London: Routledge, 1990), p. 170Google Scholar. Inversions are an almost defining and moreover very old characteristic of sorcery on Java. Poerbatjaraka reports on the tale Calon-Arang, set in the time of King Erlangga (928–1049) in which the witch Calwanarang, in order to achieve her worldly goals, reads backwards a book that is otherwise a “guide to the excellent path. It was extraordinarily good, leading to perfection; a complete, perfect doctrine.…” These words could today be used to describe the Koran. Calwanarang, however, literally inverts it, transforming its power to evil. She and her acolytes are furthermore described as conducting nude ritual dances in a graveyard, with unkempt hair, making obscene gestures and offering raw meat and blood, including that of humans, all antithetical to civilized Javanese behavior, though often ascribed to sorcerers today [Poerbatjaraka, , “De Calon-Arang”, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Landen Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië 82 (1926): 150–59Google Scholar]; cf. Chinta, “Dukun Santet”, p. 21.

63 Woodward, Islam in Java, pp. 228, 232–33.

64 Bamar Eska, Sihir, Geertz, The Religion of Java, p. 95.

65 Jordaan notes that among the Madurese, “Illnesses that are thought to be caused by supernatural agents are often those which occur suddenly and for no apparent reason, like fits and loss of consciousness. In other instances it concerns illnesses marked by grave and dramatic symptoms, such as coughing blood, abdominal swellings, paralysis. Failure in finding immediate symptomatic relief from herbal and/or modern medicines will strengthen the suspicion of a supernatural cause” (Jordaan, “Folk Medicine”, p. 223).

66 According to a member of the law faculty, the Biro Bantuan Hukum is part of the law college and handles large sums of money paid by successful clients. The head of the BBH is chosen by the dean, in which the old politics play a role as well.

67 Bamar Eska, Sihir, pp. 107–109, 247.

68 Geertz, The Religion of Java, p. 110.

69 Cf. Peletz, “Knowledge, Power”, p. 150.

70 Wikan, U., “Illness from Fright or Soul Loss: A North Balinese Culture-Bound Syndrome?”, Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 13,1 (1989): 32CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

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74 Dominikus Rato, Buju'; Herm, Eir and SJs, “Memburu Pangkat Lewat Tirakat”, Liberty 39,1775 (1992): 14–19Google Scholar.

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76 Bamar Eska, Sihir.

77 Cf. Bunga Surawijaya and Wahyu Muryadi, “Kiai-kiai”.

78 Ibid., p. 46.

79 Cf. Geertz, The Religion of Java.

80 Note that the informant contrasted abangan with Madurese, who are locally known to be rather steadfast in their professed belief in Islam, making a perhaps unintended statement about the Javanese and their adherence to the tenets of the religion.

81 L. Golomb, “The Relativity of Magical Malevolence in Urban Thailand”, in Understanding Witchcraft, p. 34.

82 Nitibaskara, “Observations”, p. 127.

83 Ibid.

84 Cf. Syarifuddin, Ayiek, “Misteri Orang Jawa”, Liberty 37,1715 (1989): 55Google Scholar.

85 Cf. DëTIK, “Saya Berbuat Jahat”, p. 23.

86 Fury, “Santet”, p. 16; Jordaan speculates that it may be the bitterness of the papaya leaf that wards off sorcery. Elsewhere he points out that among the Madurese “bitter blood” gives one immunity from disease (Jordaan, “Folk Medicine”, pp. 202, 314). Serai or sereh is also known as Andropogon Nardus, L. and Andropogon citratus. The Javanese believe that this plant hardly ever blooms on Java and someone who finds a blooming serai may expect a great amount of luck [Ochse, J.J., Indische groenten (Batavia: Departement Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel, 1931), p. 300Google Scholar]. While no direct connection can be made, it is interesting that lemon grass is thought to ward off sorcery because in Aceh the jeruk purut (lime, Citrus hystrix) is thought to have the power to keep evil spirits away [Alfian, Ibrahim, Perang di Jalan Allah: Aceh 1873–1912 (Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan, 1987), p. 49Google Scholar].

87 Cf. Hanna, “Magical, Mystical”, pt. 1, p. 5.

88 Ibid., p. 7.

89 Fury, “Santet”, p. 16.

90 See photograph in Jordaan, “Folk Medicine”, pp. 146–47. Similar shirts are used in Thailand. Cf. Rajadhon, P. A., “Thai Charms and Amulets”, Journal of the Siam Society 52,2 (1964): 171–97Google Scholar.

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93 “Allah! There is no God save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous” [Pickthall, M.M., The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York, Mentor, n.d.), p. 57Google Scholar]. An Indonesian translation of the Koran comments that the kursi in this verse is interpreted by some of the commentators to mean God's knowledge (ilmu) while others interpret it as His power or might (kekuasaan) [Al Qur'an dan Terjemahannya (Jakarta: Departemen Agama Republik Indonesia, n.d.), p. 63Google Scholar, n. 161].

94 Geertz, The Religion of Java, pp. 106–107.

95 Bailey, Stratagems and Spoils, p. 59.

96 Bossevain, Friends of Friends, p. 8.

97 Wikan, Managing Turbulent Hearts, p. 83; Bowen, “Return to Sender”, p. 187.

98 Beattie, J., Other Cultures (New York: Free Press, 1964), p. 280Google Scholar.

99 Lieban, Cebuano Sorcery, p. 117.