Malay Healers and Rituals

Malay Healers t h e los t pr ofession

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This research booklet looks into the art of healing in the malay world that has deeply attach itself to the spiritual realm. It considered the benefits that the rituals carried for the community as well as its failures.

It also aims to create a new perspectives for modern muslims of today as the term ‘magic’ was greatly used and passed down to generations.

Highlighting the essence of these rituals has inspired the project outline as it aims to provide a new approach to traditional healing spaces in order to appeal to the younger and upcoming generation.

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The lost art of healing The Art of healing in our Malay World has lost its place in today’s cultural context. Based on National Archives, it became unpopular among after the 1980s and many Singaporean Muslims felt that traditional medicine methods were troublesome, unsafe and haram* Haram: something forbidden or proscribed in Islamic Law

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Back: image taken from ‘Java;s medical market’ Dukun from East Java, 1925

Figure 4 Malay Medicine Man selling his wares at street corner, 1972

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Figure 5 Top: Family photograph of a traditional Malay Medicine Maker, 1980s Bottom: Malay Medine bottles Images adapted from National Archive of Singapore

The field of Magic and divination touches many facets of the Malay Culture where spells and incantations may appear in Medical texts.

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Malay magic divination and manuscripts In the context of Islamic Age, these manuscript provide an understanding of the relationship between text and image, in the field of magic and divinatory.

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“One possible reason for the use if the term kitab to describe books on magic and divination is that they were perceived to take part of the religious corpus�

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Figure 1 Talismanic design to ward off evil spirits, Melaka, c. 1845.

Image courtesy of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

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Figure 2 Endangered manuscripts of Western Sumatra and the province of Jambi. Collections of Sufi brotherhood.

Many Sufi* surau collections possess the treatises on the works on Naqshbandiyah and Shattariyah mystical conceptions written by local shaikhs. The manuscripts describing suluk mystical ritual can be especiallly distinguished as the ritual of suluk is practiced only in the remote corners of Sumatra and is considered to be old-fashioned and unpopular among young generations of Muslims. There are also interesting examples of al-Qur’an and works on traditional medicine in Jambi (Malay dilect),

“The content of the manuscripts are often closely guarded secrets and can only be used by those who have been appropriately initiated and the texts sometimes specify the rituals that are needed to accompany the employment of the image�

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Figure 3 Manuscript in Malay language and Jawi script illustrated with magical drawings, Indonesia 1500s

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Spiritual Healing in Present Singapore Due to its unpopularity, traditional healing spaces in Singapore are also losing its business and slowly disappearing in the Malay Art Scene.

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Figure 7 Diva Element Spa, closed in 2012 despite its close relationship with Singapore’s National Heritage Board

Figure 8 Common ingredients used in the Malay Culture for healing purposes.

“HSA warns the public not to take three health products sold under the disguise of traditional medicines�

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After the backlash in 2011, many malay medicine and spiritual mediumship went through tough times keeping the skills alive. A couple of Western Medicine like Indomethacin, paracetemol, Dexamethasone, Chlorpheniramne were detacted and had corrupted its work of art. Prior to that, more people refuse to trust companies associated with any types of traditional healing methods.

Figure 9 Left to right: Raja maajun-jerat dan seret angin, Horkut Chooi Foong Hor Lok Tan, Majun Dua Istimewa

Taming the wind of desire

Psychology, medicine and aesthetics in Malay Shamanitic performance

13 Even with the controversial statements that now separates the idea of rituals from the Islamic way of living, some still turn to certain shamanitic rituals* to heal themselves and provide some sort of entertainment for the public and communities. *will be explained further

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Figure 10 Examples of Malay Performances

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Main’teri Main Puteri is a healing performance tradition found mainly in the northeastern Malaysian state of Kelantan.

It incorporates elements of dance, music, trance and ritual to cure patients suffering from emotional or spiritual illness. In the Kelantanese worldview, such illnesses are due either to an attack by malignant or unsettled spirits, a loss of semangat (soul or life-essence) or an imbalance of angin (inner wind) within a patient’s body. The principal figure in a Main Puteri performance is the tok puteri (spirit medium) who serves as both spirit-medium and healer. He is assisted by a tok minduk who acts as a spirit-interrogator and usually also plays the rebab (spike fiddle), leading the musical ensemble.

16 As the tok puteri summons, into his own body, the spirit responsible for causing the patient’s illness, the tok minduk questions the spirit to ascertain its identity and determine why the spirit is unsettled. As the spirit takes possession of him, the tok puteri dances in a state of trance.

Negotiations and offerings take place to appease the spirit to ensure that it will cease disturbing the patient. If the illness is due to loss of semangat or an imbalance of angin, the patient is encouraged to physically participate in the performance to bring about his or her emotional and spiritual release

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Kuda kepang Kuda Kepang, which originated from Java, is one of the Malay traditional dance theatre forms that incorporate trance in its performance. Brought over to Tanah Melayu (Malaya) by Javanese immigrants. Kuda Kepang performance serves both the secular and ritualistic functions.

Secular functions include the celebratory aspects of wedding receptions and ceremonies, national holidays, cultural festivals and as a welcoming gesture to honour visiting dignitaries. It is also a communal expression of camaraderie, an event organized by the village for the secular and spiritual consumption of the villagers. It binds the members of the community physically, spiritually and mystically.

In the old days, the Kuda Kepang served its ritualistic function when it was performed to cleanse the village of evil spirits. It is an effort to engage the spirits, both malevolent and benevolent, to acknowledge their presence in an attempt to rationalize the interaction of the real and the nether existence. Also it is to exhibit the prowess of the shaman to interact with a different level of mystical existence. Its entertainment focuses on its aesthetic aspects, mainly the dance movements, choreography and music.

But when performing as a ritual for thanksgiving or to exorcise evil spirits or negative energy from the village, the dance involves the invocation of spirits from the nether world, thus focusing on its mystical andmetaphysical aspects. As such the trance aspect of the dance becomes the integral focal point and core element of the performance.

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Tarian Dabus

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an islamic influence

Tarian Dabus is believed to have originated as a form of pastime during the time of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. and his friends, Saidina Abu Bakar, Saidina Omar, Saidina Osman and Saidina Ali. The Dabus dance may have been used to train and prepare soldiers for religious battles, invoking spiritual power to perform their noble task and demonstrating their fearlessness and bravery.

The Dabus dance is said to have the power to heal and prevent illnesses.

This tradition combines singing and chanting, dancing as well as the skill of the dancers to wield the ‘anak dabus’ (a spike-like instrument decorated with bells at the hilt). In the original ritual form of Tarian Dabus, the dancers fall into trance and stab themselves with the ‘anak dabus’ to invoke spiritual power and to purify themselves.

The Tarian Dabus is performed by a group of singers and several dancers.

The singers chant songs of praise to the Prophet Muhammad and other great religious figures. The chanting is accompanied by the rhythms of small rebana (hand drum). The dancers perform various Dabus movements, including Lang Sewah, Ayun Talak and Susun Sirih. The performance is usually presided over by a ‘Khalifah’.

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