Bissu shamans still letting the spirits move them<\/p>\n
Sharyn Graham, Contributor, Auckland, New Zealand<\/p>\n
As assorted officials and participants in suits and formal attire
\nclustered together in the room, a group of colorfully
\ndressed people, their faces heavily made up, stood out from the
\nrest.<\/p>\n
I was glad to see them: This was an international conference,
\nsponsored by the local Barru government in South Sulawesi, and
\nbissu transgender shamans had been hired as the welcoming
\ncommittee.<\/p>\n
It happened only last year, providing proof that these people,
\nwhose fortunes have waxed and waned along with those of their
\nBugis society, are back at center stage as honored citizens in
\nthe country's reformasi (reform) era.<\/p>\n
The Bugis of South Sulawesi are renowned as hardy seafarers, a
\npeople whose ingenuity, adaptability to adverse circumstances and
\nmettle have helped them successfully migrate throughout the
\nIndonesian archipelago.<\/p>\n
Lost in the revisionism of history -- the tidying up of facts
\nto present a version of events more "acceptable" to the sterile
\nstandards of the Soeharto regime -- is the story of the bissu.<\/p>\n
In 1998, two friends and I boarded an overcrowded Pelni ship
\ntaking us from Bali to Sulawesi. While my friends were curious
\nabout local foods and customs, I was on a mission to learn more
\nabout the bissu priests.<\/p>\n
At that point, all I knew about the bissu was what Christian
\nPelras mentions in his authoritative book, The Bugis. I knew that
\nthey used to work for the ruling raja and bestow blessings on
\npeople, becoming possessed by a spirit that descended from the
\nspirit world.<\/p>\n
During our three-day voyage, we had plenty of opportunity to
\ntalk to locals. If they did know about the bissu, they said they
\nno longer existed or were so few in number to count.<\/p>\n
I was intrigued if this was true, and if the efforts of the
\nDutch to destroy the Bugis kingdoms -- where the bissu found
\ntheir place at court -- and then the methods of the central
\ngovernment since the 1950s had indeed led to the demise of the
\nbissu in modern society.<\/p>\n
But upon arriving in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar,
\nwe met some bissu, much to the surprise of the driver provided by
\na family friend. We then decided to head up north to Segeri, the
\nreputed cultural home of the bissu.<\/p>\n
"The prominence of the bissu in Segeri dates from 1776, when a
\nprince of Lawu settled there ... and brought with him a number of
\nbissu, who were otherwise limited to the powerful courts of Bone,
\nWajo and Luwu itself," Anthony Reid writes in The Road North To
\nParepare in Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
For many anthropologists, the bissu are fascinating because
\nthey are transgender (often called transvestite) shamans, similar
\nto the berdache of Native American society and the hijra of
\nIndia. Like the reog traditional dancers of Ponorogo, East Java,
\nwho traditionally took young men as their "wives", the bissu are
\na subject of interest because they seem to confirm the presence
\nof transgender acceptance in traditional societies.<\/p>\n
But I was to learn that the Bissu are still expected to be
\nascetic, and this means that they are not permitted to marry, or
\npartake in any sexual relationships.<\/p>\n
We spent some time in Segeri, but we were informed that if we
\nreally wanted to learn about bissu and their practices, we would
\nhave to travel further north to the town of Pare-Pare.<\/p>\n
When we arrived in Pare-Pare, we were directed to the home of
\none of the highest-ranking bissu priests in South Sulawesi. He
\ninvited us to witness a ceremony.<\/p>\n
It took a week for the ceremony to be arranged as seven bissu
\nhad to travel from all over the province.<\/p>\n
On the day that the ceremony was to be performed, the bissu
\nrose early. The bissu began the arduous task of assembling all
\nthe paraphernalia and assorted foods that they would need for the
\nceremony: bales of hay, a water pond, decorations, collections of
\nrice, coconuts, herbs, and spices.<\/p>\n
This preparation took most of the day. As the sun set, and the
\nIslamic call to prayer echoed through the town, the bissu began
\nto ready themselves for the ceremony by applying ritual make-up
\nand dressing in their sacred clothing.<\/p>\n
In order to conduct the ceremony, the ultimate aim of which
\nwas to bestow a blessing on the three of us, the bissu had to be
\npossessed by an appropriate deity. In order to awaken the deities
\nand call them to earth, the bissu performed an elaborate ritual
\ninvolving chanting, music and the offering of ritual foods.<\/p>\n
Once the deities had been awakened, they descended and
\npossessed the body of the bissu. The bissu were already in trance
\nby this stage and their entire demeanor changed when they got
\npossessed by the deities; they become irritable and aggressive.<\/p>\n
In order to prove to us that they were possessed -- proof that
\nwe required so we would know the blessing would be successful --
\nthe bissu performed the ma'giri, a self-stabbing ritual. They
\ntook a sacred sword -- the most sacred swords were those that had
\nbeen passed down through many generations of bissu -- and
\nattempted to penetrate their skin with it.<\/p>\n
Some of the bissu even went to the extent of lying on the
\nfloor with the sword pressed to their throat. The other bissu
\ntried to force the sword into their palms and temple. Because the
\nsword did not penetrate the skin, we were told that the bissu
\nwere kebal (impenetrable) -- a sign that they were possessed by a
\npowerful spirit and were thus invulnerable.<\/p>\n
Now possessed, the bissu blessed us, thus ensuring that we
\nwould have a safe journey back to Australia.<\/p>\n
The next morning I got the chance to talk with some of the
\nbissu about life in contemporary Indonesia. They told me that the
\npopularity of bissu has waxed and waned over the last few hundred
\nyears. At present, however, they said that their practices are
\nundergoing a revival in popularity. This is due in large part to
\nthe new era of reformation and the increasing appeal of adat
\n(traditional custom)s.<\/p>\n
The bissu told me that in the past they used to guard the
\npalace of the Bugis kings and protect the royal family. But with
\nthe disbanding of the royal courts in South Sulawesi in 1957,
\nnoble-dominated kingdoms were abolished and replaced by the
\ncentralized national government. This meant that the bissu had to
\nchange many of their practices in order for them to have a role
\nin contemporary society.<\/p>\n
From my experience, including another year and a half studying
\nthe bissu, they are accepted in modern society, particularly
\nsince the end of the Soeharto government and the freeing up of
\nattitudes across Indonesian society. I never witnessed any overt
\ndiscrimination; in fact, bissu were actively incorporated into
\nmany social functions.<\/p>\n
While bissu still perform many traditional blessings -- for
\ninstance, bissu bless the rice fields, royal weddings and the
\nbirth of a baby -- bissu have incorporated new blessings into
\ntheir social role. As well as official ceremonies like the one I
\nattended last year, the bissu are also called upon to bless
\npeople about to undertake the haj pilgrimage to Mecca.<\/p>\n
It's been a long journey back, but the bissu have returned to
\nwhere they belong at the heart of Bugis society.<\/p>\n
The writer is a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at
\nAuckland University of Technology in New Zealand. Her doctorate
\nexplored issues of gender in South Sulawesi.<\/p>",
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