Senin, 09 April 2012

CARA CARA MENETRALISIR SANTET

CARA CARA MENETRALISIR SANTET 
Santet tidak selalu harus ditanggani dengan jampi-jampi atau hal lain yang bersifat mistis. Ada solusi lain yaitu menggunakan cara-cara tradisional untuk menangkal santet :

solusi yang ditawarkan untuk menanggulanginyapun selalu bernapas mistis, spiritual dan religius, beberapa cara tsb antara lain;

Tidur Diatas Lantai
Tau nggak, Kenapa semua mahluk halus gak pernah menyentuh bumi? Dia pasti akan melayang sekitar 10-15 cm diatas tanah. Yap, karena sifat tanah dan api adalah sifat yang berlawanan, konon tanah/bumi mempunyai energi positif, karena itu para lelembut (Jin) gak pernah menginjak tanah akaibat pengaruh tanah terasa panas bagi bangsa mereka. Maka bila ingin terhindar dari kejahatan ilmu hitam spt santet dianjurkan untuk membiasakan tidur di lantai, Ilmu santet yang dilancarkan biasanya berjarak 50 cm diatas tanah. Untuk itu bila seseorang tidur diatas tanah akan terhindar dari bahaya santet.

Merang Ketan Hitam
menurut kepercayaan agar terhindar dari kejahatan ilmu hitam adalah dengan cara membawa merang ketan hitam kemanapun anda pergi (Merang = batang pohon yang dikeringkan dan dibakar). Secara spiritual merang ketan hitam memiliki power yang positif yang bisa menteralisir kekuatan ilmu hitam.

Palm Merah
menanam palm merah dihalaman depan rumah merupakan metode lain yang dipercaya bisa menetralisir kekuatan santet, konon palm merah merupakan tanaman yang sangat dimusuhi kaum jin yang beraura negatip

Daun Kelor
Untuk menangkal serangan ilmu hitam yang notabene adalah jin suruhan, maka letakkanlah daun kelor di pintu rumah, aura daun kelor yang berenergi positif memang sangat ditakuti mahluk halus yang beraura negatip

Tumbuhan beraura positif lainnya
Banyak sekali tumbuhan yang beraura positif kuat sekali yang dipercaya dapat mentralisir aura negatip para mahluk halus jahat, dari ribuan bahkan jutaan tumbuhan yang beraura positif yang kuat, yang paling menonjol adalah Dewandaru, Kalimasada, Bambu kuning (apalagi yang didalamnya terdapat bambu buta atau bambu tidak berongga), pohon kenanga, sirih (apalagi didalamnya ada sirih yang ketemu urat), stigi, mentawa, songgo langit, nogosari, kayu Rau dan Liwung. Tapi sayang kayu2 atau pohon tersebut masih langka dan susah banget ditemukan.


Berikut ramuan untuk menetralisir santet :

Santet Susuk konde (jawa)
Di Pulau Jawa dikenal berbagai jenis santet yang luar biasa ganas, salah satunya adalah santet susuk konde, yang mampu membuat korbannya selalu mengidap penyakit aneh, jiwanya terganggu bahkan gila, boleh dibilang inilah sebenarnya santet dengan sistem pengendalian pikiran korban secara terpadu, dan jarang sekali ada korban yang bisa disembuhkan apalagi tertolong hidupnya.
Selain santet susuk konde bisa juga santet yang sejenisnya.

Ramuan Minum :
Sediakan sepotong daging kambing kacang tanpa lemak, seekor siput sawah (keong mas) berukuran besar, jahe, lengkuas, segenggam beras merah disangrai, kapulaga dan cengkeh, Kemudian rebus kesemuanya dengan 8 gelas air kelapa dan 3 gelas air perasan parutan bangkuang. Biarkan mendidih dan menjadi sekitar 4 gelas air rebusan yang tersisa.

Siapkan pula 1600 mg N-acetyl-paminophenol (parasetamol), 1500 mg tetra ampicylin, 100 mg saliclat-lamida, 20 mg citurn acyd, 2 butir sacharin dan sejumput garam dapur. Haluskan semuannya hingga menjadi bubuk puyer, lalu bagi menjadi 4 bagian dan bungkus masing2 dengan kertas.

Cara minum, ialah setiap pagi, siang, malam sesudah makan dan menjelang tidur malam. Masing2 sebungkus puyer dan segelas air rebusan ramuan diatas ditambah sesendok makan madu. Kecuali pada saat sesudah minum ketika menjelang tidur, maka harus ditambahkan pula dengan segelas susus murni, ditambah sesendok makan santan kental yang mentah (belum direbus)

Ramuan Cairan pembalur tubuh :
sediakan secukupnya temu jahe emprit (lokal), temu ireng (hitam), sekerat temu kunir (kunyit), Parut kesemuanya, lalu campurkan sejumput ragi tapai halus dan aduk hingga rata, kemudian diamkan dengan cara memeram selama sehari semalam. Sesudahnya masukkan pula beberapa tetes minyak cengkeh dan minyak kayu putih, lalu campur hingga merata. Peras cairannya.

Cara Penggunaannya, ialah dengan membalurkannya ke seluruh tubuh, mulai dari ubun2 kepala hingga ke telapak kaki. Biasanya dibagian yang terkena santet (misal susuk konde) yang disembunyikan, sesaat setelah dilakuakn pembaluran, maka pada bagian tersebut akan mengepulkan asap dan meninggalkan luka bakar kecil. Pembaluran boleh dilakukan berulang2 pada hari-hari berikutnya, asalkan luka bakar bekas lepasnya sebagian santet terdahulu telah mengering.


Teluh pelesit matimang (kalimantan)
Santet jenis ini terkenal sangat ganas bagi masyarakat dayak di kalimantan, sebab biasanya korbannya tidak tertolong selewat 40 hari, bahkan banyak yang meninggal dunia akibat santet ini hanya dalam waktu seminggu saja. Untuk menetralisir sekaligus menyembuhkan korban berikut resepnya :

Ramuan minum :
sediakan sebonggol rebung bambu buluh, rendam selama sehari semalam dalam air kapur sirih yang sudah ditaburi segenggam garam, temulawak, daun cemara kipas (wangi), sereh dan daun salam. Rebus kesemuanya dengan 8 gelas air kelapa, segelas santan kental dan 2 gelas air perasan parutan labu siam. Biarkan mendidih dan menjadi sekitar 4 gelas air rebusan yang tersisa.

Siapkan pula 2000 mg N-acetyl-paminophenol (parasetamol), 80 mg saliclat-lamida, 20 mg citurn acyd, 20 mg amonium benzoate, 80 mg vitamin B-complexe, sebutir sacharine, sejumput garam dan sejumput tepung ketan hitam. Haluskan semuanya hingga menjadi bubuk puyer, lalu bagi menjadi 4 bagian dan bungkus masing2 dengan kertas.

Cara minum, ialah setiap pagi, siang, malam sesudah makan dan menjelang tidur malam. Masing2 sebungkus puyer dan segelas air rebusan ramuan diatas ditambah sesendok makan madu. Kecuali pada saat menjelang tidur malam, ditambah kuning telor sebutir ayam kampung (lokal) dikocok bersama air rebusan ramuan

Ramuan Cairan Pembalur tubuh
sediakan secukupnya temu ireng (hitam), temu kunci, sejumput jinten hitam-ketumbar-kapulaga-pala disangrai dan dihaluskan. Temu ireng dan temu kunci diparut. Peras air jeruk nipis, sejumput tepung beras dan tepung labla (sagu kawung), sejumput ragi tapai dihaluskan. Campurkan kesemuanya hingga rata. Lalu masukkan sejumput ragi tapai dimaksud, diamkan selama beberapa jam dengan cara memeramnya. Lalu tambahkan sejumput baking soda powder kedalamnya. Setelah busa yang ditimbulkannya habis, tambahkan pula kedalamnya sesendok makan santan kental yang diperoleh dari kelapa cangkir gading (kuning) dan sejumput garam serta sedikit kapur sirih, campur kembali hingga rata, lalu peras airnya.

Cara penggunaannya sama, ialah dengan membalurkannya pada seluruh tubuh, mulai bagian ubun2 kepala hingga telapak kaki. Dan biasanya dimana kekuatan santet matimang ini disembunyikan, maka pada bagian tersebut akan terasa bagai kesemutan disertai denyut2 kejutan dan akan memerah kulitnya, yakni sesaat setelah dilakuakn pembaluran. Tentu saja pembaluran inipun harus dilakukan berulang2 dalam sehari selam dua atau tiga hari, sampai si korban bebas dari pengaruh santet tersebut.

Buhul Cacing Abin (Sumatera)
Santet ini tidak asing lagi keganasannya dan sangat terkenal bagi penduduk pulau sumatera, sebab si korban bisa menderita berbagai penyakit aneh, akibat sebagian urat syaraf motor reflesif utama yang terdapat di tulang belakang bagian punggungnya dikuasai oleh pengaruh gaib ilmu hitam tsb. Bahkan bilamana terlambat mendapatkan pertolongan, maka akan berakibat fatal, Yaitu kematian setelah menderita beberapa waktu lamanya. Tidak hanya santet Buhul Cacing abin saja, Bisa juga ramuan ini untuk santet khususnya yang terasa sakit di bagian punggung belakang.

Ramuan minum:
sediakan sepotong daging kerbau bagain paha, sepotong daging sapi bagian paha, kesemuanya tanpa lemak, Lalu sediakan pula secukupnya daun bambu kuning, dan daun bayam duri (bayam liar), bawang merah dan kapulaga. Kemudian rebus kesemuanya dengan 8 gelas air kelapa dan 3 gela air perasan parutan wortel. Biarkan mendidih dan menjadi 4 gelas air rebusan yang tersisa.

Siapkan pula 2000 mg N-acetyl-paminophenol (parasetamol), sebutir sacharin, 100 mg citrun-acyd dan sejumput garam dapur. Haluskan kesemuanya hingga menjadi bubuk puyer, lalu bagi menjadi 4 bagian dan bungkus masing2 dengan kertas.
Cara minumnya adalah setiapa pagi, siang, malam sesudah makan, dan mejelang tidur malam. Masing2 sebungkus puyer dan segelas air rebusan ramuan diatas ditambah sesendok madu.

Ramuan minyak urut
Sediakan sebonggol umbi akar, tunas anak pisang saba, lalu parut dan peras airnya. Haluskan sejumput jinten hitam Rendam bubuk jinten hitam dalam air perasan umbi anak pisang saba selama beberapa jam. Kemudian tumis air perasan itu dalam setengah gelas minyak kelapa hijau, hingga kesemuanya menjadi minyak pekat, lalu tambahkan secukupnya minyak sereh, minyak kemiri dan minyak pepermint. Cara pemakaian digosokkan pada bagian punggung bagian bawah setiap saat, terutama sehabis mandi. Bangun tidur, maupun ketika hendak berangkat tidur baik siang maupun malam. Sekian selamat mencoba.

FENOMENA ALAM INDONESIA

FENOMENA ALAM INDONESIA
Bibit badai tropis di Teluk Carpentaria di bagian utara Australia memengaruhi terbentuknya pumpunan angin yang memanjang dari Laut Jawa hingga Laut Arafura sehingga berpotensi menimbulkan hujan dan angin kencang di sejumlah daerah di Indonesia.

"Fenomena yang terjadi belakangan ini seperti hujan dan angin kencang karena adanya pumpunan angin yang memanjang dari Laut Jawa dan Laut Arafura dan ada bibit badai tropis di Teluk Carpentaria, akibatnya cuaca cukup signifikan," kata Kepala Subbidang Meteorologi Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) Hari Tirto Jatmiko, di Jakarta, Senin (19/3/2012).

Teluk Carpentaria merupakan teluk terbesar, laut terdangkal tertutup di Australia utara dan membatasi di bagian utara Laut Arafura.

Awan-awan hujan berpotensi tumbuh di Sumatera bagian Selatan, sebagian besar Jawa, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan bagian Utara, Sulawesi bagian Selatan, Maluku Tengah dan Tenggara, serta sebagian besar Papua.

Pantauan BMKG, akibat pengaruh kondisi tersebut, hujan dengan intensitas lebat berpotensi terjadi di Lampung, Bengkulu, Kalimantan Timur bagian utara, Kalimantan Barat bagian selatan, dan Kalimantan Tengah bagian selatan.

Selain itu, dampak badai tropis juga akan terjadi di Kalimantan Selatan bagian selatan, Sulawesi Selatan, Sulawesi Tenggara, Maluku Tengah, Maluku Tenggara, pantai selatan Papua Tengah, pantai selatan Papua Timur, Jawa, Bali, Nusa Tenggara Barat, dan Nusa Tenggara Timur.

Bibit badai tropis tersebut juga bisa menimbulkan efek tingginya gelombang laut yang mencapai 2-3 meter pada 19-20 Maret 2012.

Beberapa daerah yang berpotensi terkena dampak adalah Perairan Bengkulu, Laut Sawu, Laut Jawa bagian tengah dan timur, Laut Sumbawa, Perairan Kepuluan Wakatobi, Perairan Kepulauan Sermata, Laut Banda bagian utara, Perairan Bitung-Manado, Perairan Kepulauan Sangihe, dan Kepulauan Talaud.

Selanjutnya di Laut Maluku bagian utara, perairan utara Halmahera, Laut Halmahera, Laut Seram bagian barat, Perairan Kepulauan Raja Ampat- Sorong, Teluk Cenderawasih, Perairan Biak, Perairan Jayapura-Sarmi.

Peringatan dini juga dikeluarkan BMKG terkait tinggi gelombang hingga 2-3 meter pada 18-20 Maret 2012 WIB di Perairan Bengkulu, selatan Kalimantan, Laut Jawa bagian tengah, Perairan Kepulauan Karimun Jawa, Bawean, dan Kepulauan Kangean.

Gelombang laut setinggi 3-4 meter juga diperkirakan terjadi di Laut Bali, laut Sumbawa, laut Sawu, laut Timor, perairan utara Sulawesi Utara-Bitung, Perairan Kepulauan Sangihe dan Kepulauan Talaud, laut Maluku, laut Halmahera, perairan utara Halmahera, perairan Kepulauan Sula, laut Buru dan laut Seram, perairan Sorong, Teluk Cenderawasih, perairan utara Papua bagian tengah dan timur serta perairan selatan Pulau Buru dan selatan Ambon.

Hal yang sama juga bisa terjadi di perairan barat Lampung, Selatan Sunda, laut Jawa bagian timur, laut Flores, perairan Sulawesi Selatan, laut Banda bagian selatan.

"Kondisi gelombang tinggi ini yang menyebabkan penyeberangan di Pelabuhan Merak-Bakauheni terganggu,"

MAGICIAN AND MYSTIC

MAGICIAN AND MYSTIC
   ONCE more the Malay magician sat at the feet of Indian teachers, this time as a student of Muslim pantheism.
To India have been traced the first use of the Sufi term fana for loss of the individual self in God, and the Sufi's acquaintance with the practice of "watching the breaths" as a means of worship. The Sufi legend of Ibrahim bin Adham, the hunter prince of Balkh who gave up his throne for the beggar's bowl, is modelled upon the story of Buddha.
The Malay has two versions of the tale of Ibrahim, prince of Balkh. Long before he got them, India had taught him to fast and practise austerities in order to acquire invulnerability and other magical arts. Brahminical mantra, to which even the gods were subject, would have prepared his mind for the audacities of popular Sufism. Like the mantra, too, Sufi secrets and charms were fascinatingly esoteric, to be revealed only to the initiated. The doctrines that the disciple must honour and obey his teacher above all men and pass through several initiatory stages were not new to a race that had been under Hindu influence for centuries.
Teachers of Sufisrn came to the Malay Peninsula more than four hundred years ago. Before the end of the fifteenth century a Sultan of Malacca sent an embassy to Pasai, a small Sumatran port famous as a religious centre, offering a present of gold and two slave girls to any theologian who could say if those in heaven and those in hell remain in their respective places for ever. A Pasai pundit replied openly that they did, quoting the authority of the Quran. But the Sultan of Pasai summoned him, hinted that an embassy could not have come for such an obvious answer and suggested giving in private an interpretation of the problem, communicable only to the chosen few. The pundit took this advice and won the prize offered by Malacca. There is little doubt that his answer was on lines suggested by a work that has left its impress on many Malay charm books, the Insanu'l-kamil or "Perfect Man" of al-Jili. "You may say, if you like," writes al-Jili, "that hell-fire remains as it was, but that the torment of the damned is changed to pleasure," or, again, "the power of endurance of the sufferers in hell continues to grow-God never takes back His gifts and these powers come from God-until there appears in them a Divine power which extinguishes the fire, because no one is doomed to misery after the Divine attributes become manifest in him." The author of the Malay Annals, writing at a learned court, was not so indiscreet as to reveal this mystery to all and sundry. Nor does he give the Sufi answer to another problem propounded by Malacca to Pasai, the paradox that both the man who believes and the man who disbelieves that God created and bestowed His gifts from all eternity is an infidel. Theological discussions like these are above the head of the magician. Moreover, he has left to the foreigner to practise occasionally in Malaya that orgiastic Sufism which degrades the famous cry of Abu Sa'id, "There is nothing inside this coat except Allah." Village magicians that refrain from the black art are popular, while the Arab teacher is respected, feared and disliked, and the Indian often despised. The Malay Annals cynically record how when the Sultan of Malacca took his Arab teacher into battle against the Portuguese in 1511 A.D., the theologian clung with both hands to the howdah and exclaimed, "Let us return! This is no place to study the unity of God. "
The Shi'ah heresies and the "rash mystic pantheism" to be detected in many Malay charms has not received the attention of English students. "Such mysticism," remarks Snouck Hurgronje, "is found also in Arabian lands but only in small circles of the initiated as half secret doctrines of the Sufis, cautiously concealed on account of the hunt of official theologians for heresy and of the suspicious fanaticism of the vulgar. In the East Indies, however, it formed woof and warp not only of learned speculation but of popular belief. Tracts with drawings and tables were used in the endeavour to realise the idea of the Absolute. The four elements, the four winds, the four righteous Caliphs, the four founders of the schools of law, the four attributes of God in dogma, the four grades of progress in mysticism, the four extremities of the human body, and many other sets of four were for popular mysticism revelations of the one indivisible self of man. Through the names of Muhammad and Allah, each in Arabic spelt with four letters, were symbolised the One Being."
Every Sufi who is one with God is a saint with supernatural powers, and already it has been said that Malaya is strewn with the graves of miracle-workers. An eighteenth century history of Perak records how when a Sultan of that State fell ill vows were paid to "prophets and saints and the Poles," who stand at the head of the Muslim hierarchy and are each in his generation the axis whereon the sphere of existence revolves. The founder of the orthodox Qadiri order was among the saints invoked, but while the invocation of saints is allowed to Sunnis, it is commonest in India and among the Shi'ahs. Again, the Sufi holds that the esoteric teaching of the Quran was revealed by the Prophet to 'Ali, his son-in-law, to whom according to the Shi'ahs was transmitted the Light of Muhammad. The name of 'Ali, our "Lord 'Ali," occurs in innumerable Malay charms.
It has been remarked that the conception of the tears of the Archangel Michael creating countless cherubim in his likeness to control the rain and guard the fruits and plants of the earth exhibits a pantheistic tendency. The same may be said of the diagnosis of the Kelantan medicine-man, who finds a hundred and ninety demons for smallpox, each operating on a selected part of the body, His Lordship Buzz on the ear, His Lordship Peg on the joints, and so on. In Patani there are elders and midwives who believe that all evil "spirits were really one, pervading the whole world, only called by different names according to the environment in which the universal spirit of evil was considered for the moment. . . . As one old man expressed it, ' It may be hot here and at Mecca at the same time, and the spirit is the same.' He went on to explain that the spirit could break itself into one hundred and ninety parts, and that the great medicine-man was the person who could cause it to do this and could keep all the different parts under his control. "
Elsewhere it has been noted how the Malay magician's idea of an archetypal "world of the breadth of a tray and a sky of the breadth of an umbrella" reminds one of Ibn 'Arabi's saying that all the universe lies potential in God like the tree in the seed.
Drums and wild singing of interminable chants helped the shaman to fall into a trance wherein he trafficked with the world of spirits, just as Malay village mystics seek union with Allah by roaring His praises in chorus and swaying head and body in giddy contortions. The Brahmin ascetic attained hypnotic slumber by counting his inhalations and exhalations and concentrating his gaze on some object. Before completely losing consciousness and gaining deliverance from the cycle of existence with power (like Habib Noh of Singapore) to transport himself anywhere at will, he "hears within his body (in the heart and throat, between the eyebrows and in other parts) various sounds, those of a drum, the roaring sea, the thunder, a bell, a shell, a reed, a lyre and a bee."
The religious ascetic uses his trance to lose himself in God; the Kelantan magician to discover if a warrior will win a fight or a villager live another year. The warrior is to invoke thrice the four Shaikhs at the corners of the world, the four first Caliphs of Islam and the four archangels, the blessed saints, all miracle-working rulers dead and alive, and pray them to intercede with God to reveal the issue of the coming battle. Then he gazes at his followers. If he sees them headless, they will perish. If he sees them armless, they will suffer greatly in the fight. Or he may listen three times. If he hears no sound, his men will perish; and so on. Again: the four Caliphs have their seats in the human frame, Abu Bakar in the liver, 'Omar in the spleen, 'Usman in the lungs, 'Ali in the gallbladder. Each of them passes to his seat along different parts of the right or left nostril. "If one wants to cross a river without a boat, one consults Abu Bakar through one's breath, inhaling and then exhaling; if there is a heavy sensation, the water is deep and a boat required; if there is a feeling of lightness in the inhalation, the water is shallow." There are a number of ways of divination from observing the breaths. One more charm of which breathing forms a part must suffice:--
"To marry body and spirit draw all your breath into your heart and recite the following:-- "I am the true Muhammad. It is not I that say it. It is Muhammad. First spirit was created, then the body. Only if this night be destroyed, can I be destroyed. My being is thy being. My being is one with thy being. I vanish in the fold of the attestation, 'There is no God but Allah-He!' in the fold of my mother the Light of Muhammad until dawn." If the charm is for protection by day, then it commits the reciter to the fold of his "father the Light of Allah." "Between the two eyebrows," said Hamzah of Barus, a famous heterodox mystic of Sumatra, " that is the spot where the servant meets his God," and unconsciously he was quoting yogi ritual. Hamzah visited Pahang on the east coast of the Peninsula about the beginnning of the seventeenth century. So it is less surprising to find in a Kelantan charm book the above assertion by the Malay villager of his participation in the Islamic Logos, though it is only a mundane expedient for protecting his skin!
Less learned but equally pantheistic is the magician who, forgetting the terrific appearance of the archangels for the orthodox, cries:--
I attest there is no God but Allah!
I attest that Muhammad is His Prophet!
Ho my brethren, Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and 'Azrail!
Ye are four but with me five!
I sit on the Seat of Allah!
I lean against the pillar of His Throne!
Is this a debased interpretation of al-Jili's description of the Perfect Man? "his heart stands over against the Throne of God, his mind over against the Pen, his soul over against the Guarded Tablet, his nature over against the elements, his capability of receiving forms over against matter. He stands over against the angels with his good thoughts, over against the genies and devils with the doubts that beset him, over against the beasts with his animality. . . . To every type of existence he furnishes from himself an antitype." A literal interpretation of mysteries is all that a mind utterly untrained in metaphysics can compass. An extraordinary mixture of Hindu sentiment and imagery and of Sufi metaphysical speculations on the Perfect Man occurs in an old Perak charm for giving a person a dominant personality:--
I sit beneath the Throne of Allah;
Muhammad my shelter is beside me,
Gabriel on my right, Michael on my left,
All the company of Angels following me.
Vicegerent of Allah . . .
Only if Allah suffer harm,
Can I suffer harm:
Only if His Prophet suffer harm,
Can I suffer harm.
A hooded snake is my loin-cloth,
A musty elephant my steed:
My ear-posy the lightning,
My shadow is that of a fierce tiger.
By virtue of this charm of Awang the Preeminent
In seated assembly
Preeminent I;
Erect, walking or talking
Preeminent I;
I, lord of all mortals,
Precious stone of the Prophet,
Pearl of God.
The same manuscript contains a tremendous love-charm to be recited over seven blossoms, that must then be handed to the object of one's passion:-- "There is no God but God. I am God, the Divine Reality, ruler who blesseth all the worlds. There is no God but God, the King, the Divine Reality, the Revealed. There is no God but Allah, lord of the heavens and the earth and of the great Throne." Thirty years ago a Perak Malay was sentenced to gaol for teaching an obscene form of pantheism based on the creed-"There is no God but God. I am God. God Most High is only this self of mine."
The claim of the magician that he is God or that he is the brother of the four archangels seems hideously blasphemous to the orthodox Malay villager, a claim allied with the blackest magic of the spirit-raising shaman. But to the disciple the Malay exponent of this crude popular pantheism explains and establishes his doctrine by many far-fetched analogies. The invocations used by the Kelantan magician are full of them. He calls, for example, upon four winds of disease to go forth from the patient's body by the four doors of the organs of the mystical life. Wind in skin and pores corresponds with the first of the four steps towards union with God, that is, with the observance of the law, which is the outer mark of the religious and about which there is no secrecy. Wind in sinews and bones corresponds with the second stage, that is, the mystic path enjoined by his spiritual guide for the Sufi novice. Wind in the flesh and blood corresponds with a third stage, the plane of truth. Wind in the breath of life and the seed of man corresponds with the plane of perfect gnosis. Or again, analogies are discovered between the worlds of Sufi metaphysics and parts of the physical frame. The material world is in the tongue; the invisible intelligible world in the windpipe; the world of power (wherein lie hidden the processes of the divine nature) in the first stomach of ruminants! All this is abracadabra to civilised men, even metaphysicians. But the process of thought is clear. The archangels are four; the first Caliphs were four; the elements out of which the human body is composed are four; the limbs of the body are four. Therefore man and the archangels are one! Adam, Muhammad, and Allah can each be spelt in Arabic with four letters. Still the ever recurring number four! Therefore God and man are identical! Other mystic numbers are three, founded on Sufi speculations on the trinity of the lover, the beloved and love, and seven, the number of the stages in the Neo-Platonic theory of the emanation process of being, exemplified also in the number of the Pleiades and the days of the week. All this is puerile, but a charm from the Kelantan manuscript tract already quoted so largely, a charm called "The Fortress of the Unity of God," will show that it is wrong to suppose the Malay had no serious intellectual interests until European protection provided him with schools and colleges. The charm should be recited four times a night from one Friday to the next "with a sincere vowing of the heart to unity with Allah and the vision of Him implanted in one's heart, until His Being permeates one and one has faith: 'I am lost in the universal and absolute Essence of God'; and one is lost to self and one's self becomes absolute and universal too:--
"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Oh God! grant peace to our lord Muhammad and the household of Muhammad who watcheth over my self and my friends and all my children and all the contents of my house and my property and the possessions of my hands with a sevenfold fortress from the fortress of God Most High; its roof--'There is no God but God,' and my wall 'Muhammad the Apostle of God,' and my key 'the might of God,' which may not be opened for ever save with His permission. Muhammad is like man and unlike man; he is like a chrysolite among stones.
"Now the meaning of the term 'fortress' is that we know we come from not-being and to not-being shall return. For there is nothing evidently save the Being of God. And of a surety the Being of God never parts from His absolute essence, which carries out all His will, according to His word: ' His desire is accomplished by Himself and goes forth to no other than Himself save to not-being.'
"The meaning of the term self is 'spirit,' one of the attributes of God Most High, which parts not from His essence and it becomes an individualized idea and is called man. Now the spirit is particularized and fettered. Always the spirit yearns towards God.
"The meaning of 'the house ' is the body. The body is the place of the spirit and so the veritable place that reveals God according to the saying of the Prophet, on whom be the peace of God: 'Whosoever knows himself, knows his Lord.' The house was built of itself and though it will pass away, yet He Whose house it is, is the Reality Who with His absolute essence is eternal.
"The meaning of our 'property' is the liver and heart and lungs and gall and all that God Most High has created: according to His word:--'There is no strength in any one save the strength of Allah, lord of all the worlds both as regards things revealed and things hidden.'
"The meaning of our 'possessions' is the ten senses, firstly the outward and secondly the inner. The outward arc five: the sight of the eyes, the hearing of the ears, the taste of the tongue, the smelling of the nose, and the touch of the hand. The inner also are five: consciousness, faith, memory, perception and judgment.
"The meaning of the sevenfold 'fortress' is the creation by God Most High of man with seven attributes: life, knowledge, power, will, hearing, sight and speech. And seven parts of the body must be bowed to God in prayer: the forehead, the palms of the hands, the knees and the soles of the feet.
"The meaning of the 'lock' is because we have utter trust and union by surrendering ourselves to God Most High, according to His word: 'Hold yourselves fast to the cord of God which breaks not neither is there concealment of His will from mystical knowledge'; as said the Prophet on whom be God's peace:--'Nothing at all moves save by permission of Allah.' For we cannot behold aught if the cord break and it cannot break save by the will of God Most High, and there is no substitute for that cord.
"And the meaning of the 'key' is Muhammad Apostle of God. For God is utterly hidden; none knoweth Him save in His own person. Therefore to cherish His glory, God Most High was revealed in the spirit of Muhammad our Prophet and from that spirit God Most High created all this universe, and all the attributes of His secret wisdom were revealed. So it is that Muhammad is called the 'key,' because he opened the treasure-house that was hidden, according to His word:--'I opened that which was closed.'
"And the meaning of the protection of God is according to His word: 'God Most High is with thee wheresoever thou art,' according to His word:
God is nearer to thee than the muscles of thy neck.' "And the meaning of 'roof' is the power of God to cover any of His servants with mercy according to His will, so that he be locked away from all enemies and danger in this world and the next, neither shall the lock be opened by genie or man save with the permission of God Most High."
Was it to test the efficacy of some such charm as this that that novice on the Sufi path, Sultan Mahmud of old Malacca, took his spiritual guide with him into battle against the "white Bengalis," descendants of genies, the first European invaders of Malaya?

Sabtu, 07 April 2012

mystic 1

Indonesia is predomintantly Muslim but underlying that fact are a strong set of locally held beliefs, pre-dating Islam. The Balinese have made some of therse beliefs a part of their Hindu religion. The Muslims, however, have to run a double line, professing belief in Islam, while quielty going about their other proactices. An article in a guide book written by Bill Dalton talks about this.
‘Indondonesians are preoccupied with mystical and devotional matters, their spritualism eclipsing the basic rationalism of Islam. Even the President believes in a Javanese brand of mysticism and omens. Mysticism is alive and well in east and central Java, where the sultan of Yogya is still looked upon as a god. Ritul meals (selamatan) are attended by neighbors and friends to appease the spirits during important transitional events. Army generals helicopter into the camps of mystics in E.Java (Blitar) for spiritual consultations. Witch doctors (dukun) exorcise evil spirits from granaries, temples, cars, hotels, swimming pools. Thieves use black magic to rob houses.
There are devils, ghosts which steal children (wewe) and lure young men (puntianak). On Ambon, white-magic priests (mawang) work harmoniously alongside the Christian and Muslim religious leaders of a village. The staunchly Islamic Makassarese of S. Sulawesi worship large stones, flags, swords, umbrellas, and plows, presenting regular offerings of food and betelnut, and even on more important occassions, animals are even sacrificed to them. Catholics of Yogya use gamelan music to celebrate mass, and some Christians of Torajaland (Sulawesi), sacrifice bulls to the memory of the dead raja. It’s far easier to learn when religions began in Indonesia, than it is to know when they ended.’
Any time there is a disaster happening, or about to happen (volcano about to erupt etc.) villagers will instantly perform local ceremonies to the gods of the mountain, and lay offerings. I think its cool and provides a mental link between the people and their local environment.

You might like:

JAVANESSE MYSTICAL MOVEMENT

                     JAVANESSE MYSTICAL MOVEMENT 

Introduction

North Indian shamans
North Indian shaman
There are numerous forms of mysticism. The majestic grandeur of nature evoked an intuitive awe in man and a feeling of unity. Some time in history members of the homo sapiens species began directing their attention inside themselves as they received indications of a magical and spiritual nature.
In early cultures groups formed around a person who seemed through some strange play of nature be possessed with extraordinary powers and insights. Some call them medicine man, or shamans.
In modern culture mysticism is seen as the practice of communion and adoration of man of his divine nature.
It takes all forms, though. On this page an introduction to Javanese mysticism, the origins of which little is known as its early adherents committed little to writing.

ANTHROPOLOGY AND JAVANESE MYSTICAL MOVEMENT 

During the last decades Javanese mysticism has become more and more of interest to anthropologists. They base their books, articles, doctoral theses, etc. partly on Dutch studies during their colonial past, partly on their own observations during field-work. Java is particularly fascinating because its culture bears traces of various religions.

'Kresna', wayang puppet
Wayang shadowplay puppet 

<I>Kresna</I>
The original religion of Java was animistic. Prevailing was the belief in powers, nature-spirits and souls of the deceased hidden in the unseen world. The selamatan is considered to be part of that folklore. This gathering is held at specific dates such as the third, seventh, fortieth, hundredth, and thousandth anniversary of the decease of a relative. The food eaten is meant to be a sacrifice for the soul of the dead person. After a thousand days the soul is supposed to have disintegrated or reincarnated. Prof.J.M.van der Kroef writes: "The homeostasis sought via the selamatan has an animistic background which is part of the Javanese cosmology: man is surrounded by spirits and deities, apparitions and mysterious supernatural forces, which, unless he takes the proper precautions, may disturb him or even plunge him into disaster."
Anthropologist Clifford Geertz divides the Javanese population in three main groups: the abangan, the priyayi and the santri. The Abangan (Agami Jawi) are nominal Muslim, but to a great extent they are guided by the ancient belief, the kejawen. Dr.S. de Jong: "Flora and fauna have like man a soul. The animal and vegetable soul is deeper sunk in material existence than the human soul. Therefore certain plants and animals may be harmful...The Godhead towers above in serene rest and offers no assistance. The abangan remain two possibilities: surrender -rela-, and worship -bekti. The primitive main concepts recur in 20th century mystical groups, may have never been absent."
In the 5th century Hinduism was introduced in Java and struck root. One thousand years later it was followed by Islam. The form of Islam that reached Java had already undergone Ishmaili Shi'ah influences. In Java it was again adapted to suit the existing Hindu and animistic elements. Sufi mysticisme was embraced particularly, because it coincided with the existing way of thought. Sufi brotherhoods - tarekats - of the Sufi orders of Naqshabandiyya, Qadiriyya, and Shattariyya were formed and spread slowly.
Towards the middle of the 19th century opportunity arose for the Muslim population to have more contact with their fellow-believers. This led to a reform movement to rid Indonesian Islam of Hindu-Javanese elements. The Santri belong to this part of the population. They condemn such diversions as Wayang performances and selamatans. They reject the belief in the unity of man and God, in rasa(feeling) over akal(reason).


Eling, the deepest aspect of the inner life of the Javanese

Mysticism may be said to permeate Javanese life and consequently its vocabulary. Certain Javanese words are hard to understand for us in all their shades of meaning. One is "culture". Another is "jiwa," which may mean life, but also enthusiasm, spirit, inner self, thought, feeling, mentality, essence, and implication.
Eling (pronounced "ailing") is another one of these frequently used terms that defy translation. The word can only be understood by looking at its context. Javanese will understand it intuitively. It may mean "one of the jiwa's powers", "an ethical value", or "a level of depth in religious awareness".

Eling as one of the jiwa's powers

Basically eling means "remember." With reference to the powers of the jiwa the word covers everything ever experienced physically or spiritually. Next to the faculties of the jiwa of sight, hearing, speaking, and thinking, eling connects earlier experiences to what is being experienced now, making one aware that personal experience is an ongoing process. The I, who was in bad shape financially last year, is now making money. Memory underlies all personal identity. Not only that, it means being conscious of the consequences of our actions and our individual responsibility. Therefore, eling in its basic meaning is of great importance to the concept of self-awareness, considered of great importance in Javanese philosophy. Another meaning of "eling" is a return to consciousness after fainting.

Eling as an ethical value

When a person loses self control, as in sorrow, anger, or disorientation, the Javanese will usually advise that it is necessary to eling. In other words not be overwhelmed by feelings, mixed-up thoughts, or anger. In this case, eling means to regain self control. Self control to the Javanese is of high value, if not the highest. In this context, eling has more the meaning of consciousness than remembering. It refers to a high level of self-awareness that enables the individual to observe and control all movements of the self, both inner and outer - its actions, words, and thoughts. By being on guard we enable ourselves to remain in the state of eling
In his life the Javanese must be willing and able to see into the depths of everything he encounters and to remain always in a state of eling. It requires the highest level of awareness to observe and maintain control over all the movements of the outer and inner selves. This involves two-way traffic. Being in a state of eling his words and thoughts will attract attention as being important and thus will be heeded.
He will be prevented from falling for the five forbidden things: getting drunk, smoking, opium, stealing, gambling, and whoring. Not only that, he will be saved from an overly materialistic outlook of desiring only for his own benefit.
Being attracted to inward and outward pleasures is in conflict with eling and prevent the Javanese from staying in that state. That is why he is advised to eat and sleep less in order to reduce the conflict in himself caused by the nafsu (passions). This will help him to become more aware and capable of self control.
Other dangers are lying, boasting, and hypocrisy - all ways of showing off the ego and overstepping the boundaries of self control. A Javanese saying states it well: "We have to learn to feel pain when we are glad and gladness when we are in pain." Then we can be said to have become eling.
The method for achieving this is based on inner quietness.

Eling as a level of depth in religious awareness

In this context eling refers to a high level of religious awareness or experience. This is based on meneng (being silent) and wening meaning clarity, purity, transparency. This requires that the role of the ego be reduced so that the person is no longer vulnerable to arrogance, pride, outward pleasures, or material gain. If the aspiring Javanese trains himself by means of silence, he will see more clearly with his inner eyes, making it possible to see the essence of things, to remove the veil of mere appearances and temporary values. Once he reaches this stage of eling he will draw closer to God. There will no longer be a separation between subject and object, microcosm and macrocosm, or creature and Creator. The sweetness will no longer be separate from the honey.

At a still higher level of eling all names and forms will vanish. There will be only emptiness. This is called the experience of ilang (lost), suwung (vacant), sirna (gone), komplang (empty), also called "dead in life". It requires a strong faith to overcome all obstacles and fear.
To conclude, Eling is a much used word in Javanese because of its close connection to the deepest attitude of the Javanese to his inner life. It is operative not only in religion, but also in everyday life and in their ethical norms. So religious and mystical life, which is usually considered exclusive and individual, permeates the way Javanese people live from day to day. The inner levels neng, ning, and eling are not reserved for religion and mystical observances alone, but are embedded in the Javanese way of life. They are in the background of their dealing with ordinary problems involving ethics, education, economics, philosophy, security, and politics. The Javanese try to solve problems with a clear eye and an inner calm that arises from their deepest inner attitude: eling.
(Subagio Sastrowardoyo, (free) translation Mansur Medeiros)
How a good Javanese should deport himself properly against the background of mysticism has been laid down in two books in the nineteenth century: Wulangreh (Lessons in behaviour), by Paku Buwana IV) and Wedhatama (Excellent teaching), by R.Ng. Ranggawarsita. Both are very similar short works in tembang (fairly modern Javanese song lyrics). They are still being read and reprinted.

Priyayi

The above observations are particularly true for the priyayi type Javanese. To this group belong the descendants of the aristocracy of the Javanese courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, who the Dutch won over to become members of the appointive civil service in colonial times. Nowadays they constitute the intelligentsia of Java. They have their roots in the Hindu-Javanese courts of pre- colonial times. A noble and pure character is attributed to them. They were the bearers of the mystic court-traditions taught to them by highly revered guru's.

Wayang shadowplay performance
Priyayi conserved and cultivated the art of dance, drama, music and poetry. Sunan (=king) Kalidjogovan(also called Kalidjaga) is credited by some to have given the ancient Wayang play its present form. Before it was part of the Javanese ancestor-worship. The shadow figures represent the spirits of the dead. Subsequently the Hindu epics Mahabharta and Ramayana were introduced and integrated in Wayang performances.
The language used is often based on Sanskrit words: Susila = chaste,ethical; Budhi = Buddhi = intelligence; Dharma = norm, customary observance (J.Gonda).
In mysticism, as we have seen above, these words take on a different meaning. To live according to one's dharma and the rules of social order is to fulfil "the will of God"(kodrat).
In Javanese mysticism one learns that it is good to honour one's superiors...justice and well-being are expected to flow from above, to originate from a bapak who in his turn derives his power for protection from a higher bapak, etc., until one reaches the realm of supernature and the leader "by the grace of God"
.
All of nature is endowed with souls. Prof.van der Kroef notes: Monistic identification is carried to great lengths: vegetable and animal "essences" shape human personality and destiny (e.g. after eating goat's meat "the goat's tendency to get lost will be manifested in the man as the desire in all circumstances to follow his own impulses") and pantheistic unity is accepted as a matter of course (e.g. "in the world of fishes there are many that serve God with faith and, moreover, are not neglectful in the manner of their prayers...").

Two characteristics of Javanese mysticism

The Javanese mystical tradition is known for its syncretism. In the course of its history it absorbed all the religious traditions that reached Java and gave it its own interpretation.
The aim of the Javanese mystical tradition is that of experiencing unity with God. Among the techniques to achieve this is the dihkr (repetitive prayer), fasting, sleep deprivation, and withdrawal from the world. The purpose of ascetism being purification, facilitating direct communication with the divine world.

Dissent between mystical movements

Between the three groups of abangan, priyayi and santri had always been an area of tension. The Santri accused the other two groups of mixing Islam with Javanism. Prof.van der Kroef: "Conflict, even violence ... has repeatedly occurred between adherents of these groups, frequently involving a clash between provisions of the local adat (customary law) and hukum (Islamic law)...".

The mystical Baduys

In West Java, near the city of Rangkasbitung, South Bantam, lies the mysterious Baduy territory. Outsiders may not enter it. The Baduys guard zealously the mysteries of Javanese mysticism from the dawn of Javanese history. They were respected and consulted by the Javanese Sultans on East Java in olden times as well as the recent rulers of Indonesia. Their territory has no direct goverment interference and as money is taboo there no taxes are levied there.
In the heart of Baduy country, enclosed by a jungle, lies the megalitic sanctuary Sasaka Domas, or Many Stones. No one is allowed to come near it.
The Baduys are regarded as one of the last surviving mandala communities on Java. Members of these communities lived an ascetic life, based on guide lines of the old Sundanese -Hindu/Buddhistic/animistic beliefs, known as Kejawen. It withstood the Islamizing of the country. The Baduy call their religion Sunda Wiwitan [earliest Sundanese]. They were almost totally free of Islamic elements (except those imposed over the past 20 years), they also display very few Hindu characteristics.
Based on a system of taboos, the Baduy religion is animistic. They believe spirits inhabit the rocks, trees, streams and other inanimate objects. These spirits do good or evil depending on one’s observance of the taboos. Thousands of taboos apply to every aspect of daily life.Their lives are governed by interdictions as to possessing property, keeping cattle, laying out sawahs (rice fields), cultivating new products, etc. Their priest-kings are not allowed to leave the territory, to pass the night outside their village, or to communicate with outsiders. The Baduy grow all their own food and make their own tools and clothes. They reject any introduction of artifacts from outside.
Outsiders are not allowed to enter the inner domain which is inhabited by forty families dressed mostly in white. Population is strictly limited. When the limit is exceeded, the surplus population is sent away to live outside the community as Outer Baduy. Though they try to observe the taboos of the Inner Baduy, there is much pressure on them to relax the rules. Even so, they maintain their identity as Baduy to a remarkable degree.
The Indonesian government has attempted to socialize them, and this effort was claimed to have led to a greater openness among the Baduy to the idea of communicating with the outside world. It remains to be seen if this opening up will not lead to a loss of this precious enclave of Javanese mysticism.


Postwar spiritual movements

In colonial times the Dutch Government kept a sharp eye on these movements including the tarekat Sufi brotherhoods who often stirred up uprisings fired by messianic and millenarian expectations. The Indonesian Government followed this policy because it was afraid of communist infiltration into these groups. To keep an eye on them it required the mystical movements (aliran kepercayaan ) to be registered.
In 1947 Subud was registered in Yogyakarta as being founded in Semarang in 1932.
The Bureau for Supervision of Religious Movements (Pakem) under the Ministry of Religious affairs had in 1964 360 movements registered. In 1982 there were 93 groups with in total 123,570 members in Central Java alone.
Pangestu claims to have 50.000 members, Sapta Darma 10.000.
Some aliran kebatinan (another name for spiritual movements) who lean towards Islam dislike being equated with the more obscure Javanese sects who are not averse towards guna-guna, Javanese black magical practices. These groups are formed around a teacher, who claims to have received enlightment (Wahyu).
Hundreds of such groups are known to exist. Their gurus usually claim originality for their revelation or intuitive insight while rejecting knowledge from books or the influence of tradition. When the guru dies, the group often dissolves.

Sumarah
A dissertation (D.G.Howe) and a thesis (Paul Stange) have been devoted to this brotherhood. Its founder, Sukinohartono, was opened by Subud helper Wignosupartono. The latter was known for his healing powers and was also the first person to be opened by Pak Subuh, founder of Subud. Sukinohartono had himself a revelation thereafter in 1932. He underwent a series of experiences from 1935 until 1937. After an intense cleansing Sukino was given to understand that he would receive guidance through hakiki and the angel Gabriel. He was taken in sequence through nine spiritual stages. Stange: "The dimensions he passed through parallel the realms discussed in classical mystical literature, mirror the descriptions found in wayang and Sufism."
Sukinohartono reported a.o. encounters with Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad. In 1949 Sukinohartono had another revelation. Neighbours related that they had seen a wahyu celestial light fall on Sukino's house during the night. Sukino also received "clear guidance to the effect that he had to lead humanity toward total submission to God."
In Sumarah there were two levels of practice: kanoman and kasepuhan. Kanoman exercises took three principal forms: karaga, meaning automatic movement; karasa: sensitizing of intuition; and kasuara: spontaneous speech. These were understood as being the result of the movement of God's power within the candidate.
For elders and those mature in spirit was a second initiation: the kasepuan silent meditation. The latter became the standard practice. The kanoman exercise came in disregard after 1949. The same applied to the separation of the sexes and facing Mecca during the exercise. In the early days there was also an intense "checking" of members' progress.
On their website Sumarah is explained as follows: "Sumarah is a philosophy of life and a form of MEDITATION that originally comes from Java, Indonesia. The practice is based on developing sensitivity and acceptance through DEEP RELAXATION of body, feelings and mind. Its aim is to create inside our self the inner space and the silence necessary for the true self to manifest and to speak to us. The word Sumarah means total surrender, a confident and conscious surrender of the partial ego to the universal self. The total surrender is to Life."
Recently meditation workshops all over the world have sprung up. See Sumarah Meditation International Network links below.
Subud
Subud has a place apart amongst these kepercayaan. In most movements meditation is being practised. Subud appears to lean most to the Sufi tarekat tradition, yet bears santri and priyayi influences. Their spiritual excercise, the latihan, appears to be quite unique, however. I have yet to come across a similar exercise in the descriptions of other disciplines. Of course, if one were to term the latihan "ecstatic" several other parallels may be found in other countries and in history (early Christianity).


Presentday Javanese mysticism

As seen above Indonesian mysticism developed in many forms, some clouding its deep inner essence.
It is regrettable that younger Indonesian generations seem to have lost interest to develop their innate gift to transcend sensory reality to tune into their deepest spiritual nature, especially in the present strive between religious factions. Syncretism, characteristic of Javanese mysticism, is known to bridge outer differences and foster understanding between all people.
May be the day will come that the tremendous value of Javanese mysticism will be rediscovered. Its great tradition may need to be transplanted in order to be brought into blossom again.

Incense, flowers are powerful communication tools

If the above gives the impression that mysticism has disappeared from Javanese life the Jakarta Post ran a series of articles on mysticism in August 2002. Some of its contents:
Mysticism has become a part of modern people's lives. Those seeking advice from psychics include educated people and even those who are religious, such as Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Al Munawar. Less than two weeks ago, the minister made headlines when he ordered a treasure hunt at a protected heritage site in Bogor, West Java, following the advice of a psychic. [In Indonesian, "psychic" = "kejiwaan."]
Agil said that if the treasure was found, it would be able to cover the country's foreign debt of US$130 billion. The Jakarta Post is running a series of stories surrounding mysticism. This story and a related one on page 8 on August 26,2002, were written by Muninggar Sri Saraswati.
While cellular phones and the Internet are the most popular methods of communication by urbanites, there are some who choose kemenyan (incense) and flowers. Some people in Java burn incense and put flowers sprayed with perfume to communicate with spirits of the dead to gain peace of mind, solve problems in life or cure diseases.
The employee of a private company in the Kuningan area of South Jakarta, Soenaryo told The Jakarta Post that he started seeing a spiritualist five years ago when he was facing a problem at his company.
"Nobody could help me at the time. A friend of mine suggested that I see a spiritualist and I did. The spiritualist told me that I have to burn incense and put a plate of flowers and two eggs in my room while I meditated," Soenaryo said.
Although he felt a bit awkward, he obeyed the order and requested the spirits of his ancestors to ask God to help him. Amazingly, Soenaryo found a solution to the problem and he was promoted. He has since become a loyal client of the spiritualist's, who lives in Paseban, Central Jakarta. He has also regularly provided offerings, particularly when he has a problem in life.
"It's only a medium to God, which you might think is strange," said Soenaryo, adding that he makes the offerings every kliwon, or once every Javanese five-day week. Another customer, Warti, told the Post that she bought incense and flowers for her employer, a middle-aged woman who is a banker.
"She has given offerings and burned incense for two years, when her marriage was in trouble. She usually does it in the morning. She also takes baths with petals in the water at night," said the maid, who buys the items for her every Friday.
Marni, an incense and flower vendor, said that business had been brisk since she opened shop 10 years ago, with most people buying the items usually for funeral rituals.
"The number of people buying these items for mystical purposes started to increase during the economic crisis," she said, referring to the Asian crisis which hit the country in 1997.
Another vendor at Rawa Belong market, West Jakarta, agreed. "There are not as many people buying flowers and incense for mystical purposes as those who buy them for funeral rituals, but they are loyal customers. They come once a week or twice a month," said Tedi, who has been in the business for over eight years.

Trances in modern Indonesian society

Spiritual fervour - going into a trance - is a rather common phenomenon in Indonesia, particularly among factory workers.
All over the Indonesian archipelago there are reports of schoolchildren, young women and factory workers going into mass trances or speaking in tongues.
National television showed in February 2008 eleven students and five teachers going into mass trance in a classroom. About 50 female workers at a garment factory near Jakarta were reported to have gone into a collective trance in June 2007, weeping and jerking their bodies around.
Religion, education and development have done little to halt widespread acceptance of the supernatural in Indonesia. In Indonesia, trance is tied up with culture, explained Lidia Laksana Hidajat, from the psychology faculty of Jakarta's Atma Jaya University.
Lina, 23, said she has been possessed many times in the past six years, always by the same "jinn" or evil spirit. Its face is exactly the same face as my older sister but the body is hard to make out. It calls my name but if I follow it, it disappears, she said. Lina said that mass trances were so common at the Malang cigarette factory, where she worked, that she quit eventually .
Indonesian media reported a group trance among workers at Bentoel's cigarette factory in Malang, Java, in March 2006. Hidajat interviewed 30 of the affected women, who say they were sitting in rows in a long hall, rolling the cigarettes by hand when it happened. They were working in silence. That's one of the requirements of a trance to happen - it's usually quiet and when they are engaged in monotonous activity, she said.
Suddenly, one of the workers started screaming and her body went stiff. The one next to her started crying and went stiff too, triggering a domino effect. A Muslim leader was summoned, but his prayers had no effect. The exhausted women fell asleep and when they awoke they remembered nothing.
Hidajat found there were common factors between the trance victims she interviewed.
Often they are people who are very religious or under pressure. They were also from low socio-economic backgrounds, she said.
Eko Susanto Marsoeki, the director of Malang's Lawang Psychiatric Hospital, said overwork was closely linked to mass trance incidents in factories. Often it is a form of protest that will not be dealt with too harshly, he said.
When more than 30 students at Kalimantan's Pahandut Palangka Raya High School fell into a trance in November, they blamed a spirit in a nearby tree. During the morning flag-raising ceremony, one of the girls started screaming and couldn't move. Soon her friends joined in until more than 30 of them were screaming and fainting, the deputy principal, Friskila said. Some of the girls woke from the trance after a student played a Muslim prayer ring tone on her mobile phone. Others were taken by their parents to local witchdoctors.
Friskila, however, favours a less superstitious explanation.
They are bored, tired and then this happened, she said. They all got a day off school.