Believe It or not
Leak
The Most Secretive Magic in Bali is also the Most Misunderstood One. TEXT ERIC IMAGE AGUS
The mere utterance of the two syllables, “Le-Yak”, is enough to send chill down the spine of many Balinese. The word for most Balinese refers to a bloodthirsty figure that frequents graveyards to steal human body parts to advance its black magic skill. The notoriety of Leak even reaches outside of Bali and becomes as synonymous with the island as the Bintang shirt is with the streets of Kuta. This wide spread belief, however, is a perversion of the original concept of Leak, according to some people who are well-versed in ancient Balinese text. It is said that Leak is actually spiritual teachings studied by a select few to reach the ultimate goal of complete spiritual liberation or Moksa. The gruesome depiction is indiscriminately adopted from the image of a mythological figure; a powerful witch called Rangda. In a popular tale about black magic, Rangda—a widow who once lived in a coastal village in the kingdom of Kediri in East Java— was the grand master of Leak. The cause of this misunderstanding is that the teachings are so secretive that the purported practitioner can’t even come forth to straighten things out. Despite the supposedly false notion, the mystery of Leak and Rangda remains unsolved. On certain auspicious dates, their imageries are used in a more positive fashion at particular temples to summon the gods to impart their wisdom upon the believers. 14
the mag | issue 35