Balian penengen: Black magic medicine man

Balian penengen: Black magic medicine man

DENPASAR (JP): The clock strikes twelve. It is midnight, but nobody wants to go home yet. Some small children are sleeping soundly in their mothers' laps, still clad in their prayer attire complete with an Udeng (a head band used when praying and in ceremonies). The midnight breeze wafts the smell of incense into every corner of the room. The atmosphere in the room is relaxed, yet solemn.

The assembly of people has just finished praying. Sitting among them is a man of around 55 years. He seems to command extraordinary authority. This man, a fisherman in Padang Bai, a village in the far eastern part of Bali, is known as Wayan Berati, a soothsayer who specializes in curing victims of black magic. In Balinese he is called Balian Penengen. Behind his simple disposition lies an unfathomable wisdom, as if he can read the thoughts of the people around him. As a Balian Penengen, he gives wholeheartedly to the call to cure people from their illnesses. As a rule, a Bali Penengen is a very good man, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. He tends to everybody who needs his help, the wicked and the good, the rich and the poor.

Wayan Berati obtained his healing talent through pica, a gift which is acquired after asking and praying from one temple to another, and usually takes quite some time. The Balinese believe that this ability to cure comes from various sources such as tradition, or heredity, taksu or pica. A Balian Penengen owes his power to the fact that he has the ability to penetrate into the mystical world beyond the here and now -- into the niskala plane of existence.

"My experience shows that most of black magic enters the body through the feet," Wayan Berati said. These items are called pepasangan -- items filled with supernatural powers or magic and buried in the soil with the aim to cause a disaster to the intended person. These items may be of bone, animal teeth, cut lontar leaves, hair, tattooed paper, a piece of cloth painted with a supernatural painting, or suchlike.

"These pepasangan items must be buried in the garden of the targeted person or hidden in a place where the targeted person will pass over it frequently," he explained.

"When people come to see me, to find out whether they have been struck by black magic or are simply victims of illnesses due to natural causes, I always use incense," said Wayan Berati. "Usually I will ask the sick people to sit on a chair with their feet raised, and the burning incense will be moved gently under their feet. If the person then cries out of pain and shivers, that is the typical signs of black magic," he continued. "Through black magic, one can pour out one's vexation, jealousy and vengeance. However, not all who come to be cured here have been struck by black magic. There are also those suffering from common diseases, and I always tell them the truth," Wayan Berati added.

The Balinese people strongly believe in niskala, things which cannot be seen, involving matters which cannot be sensed directly, but which can be felt from within. Wayan Berati said that one who is getting black magic will first dream, usually a bad dream such as being chased or threatened.

"The first thing I always ask my patient is what his dream was before his illness. The answer is, as always, having a bad dream and feeling threatened," Berati said. "I will then ask such patient to pray a lot, give them medicine in the form of flowers and herbs which must be boiled. The potion is to be drunk. Sometimes I also ask them to pound the ingredients first and boil them before they drink the extract," he continued.

"I always have spiritual contact with a patient through my prayers. In the recuperation process the patient will dream again, but this time normally a nicer dream of going to the temple or meeting someone who gives the patient holy water," he said.

Holy water accompanies every act of Hindu Balinese worship. The Balinese believe that it can cleanse spiritual impurities, fend off evil forces and give the recipient immunity against the attacks of negative or demonic influences.

"Gradually the patient will become totally cured. However, he must pray diligently. Most of my patients are of the Hindu religion and so they must pray accordingly," he said. "Look at these people, they have been cured from black magic or have had their relatives cured. I stress the importance of praying, to be near God so that the evil spirits will not be able to command us," he says with authority.

Generally the patients first consult a doctor but are not cured and they will eventually see a Balian Penengen like Wayan Berati. Their complaints might include continuous headaches, pain around the abdomen or fainting spells. "Those affected by black magic are not just physically affected, but mentally as well and as a result the person is never at ease," Berati added.

Social problems are also a reason why people visit a Balian Penengen like Wayan Berati. Although the patients may not feel any physical pain, they are ill at ease and have difficulties in their struggle for a living. Extreme social jealousy among poor people, such as public transport drivers or street vendors, drives some people to see Wayan Berati. Many of their competitors use black magic and use pepasangan aimed at causing them suffering by preventing people from becoming their clients. These black magic victims will then seek help to fend off the black magic so that they will be successful in their business. The Balian Penengen will let these victims know where the culprit put the pepasangan. When the victims are public transport drivers, they will normally find the pepasangan under the driver's seat or under the passenger's seats. Nobody wants to hail a vehicle with a pepasangan.

"It's not enough only to remove the pepasangan. Those vehicles must be purified with holy water," Wayan Berati added.

Wayan Berati always advises his cured victims against taking vengeance. Rather, he asks them to pray and many of his patients have become devoted worshipers. Wayan Berati does not expect any material rewards from his patients; it is entirely up to the them whether they wish to reward him or not.

"The most important thing is that they are safe and remember to pray," Berati said.

His patients always heed his advice. This is obvious from the large number of people who visit him and pray together in the special Kamar Suci (private praying room) in his house in West Denpasar.

-- Intan Petersen