Bissu priest endures shift of fortunes

Bissu priest endures shift of fortunes

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Save the drowning, feed the hungry, quench the thirst of the
thirsty, correct without calculating (gain). Such are the duties
of the Bissu, an ancient community of priests of an ancient, pre-
Islamic, Bugis religion in South Sulawesi.

Their purpose in life is purely selfless, wherein they are
meant to become a mediator between the male upper world, and the
female world below, hence they must be gender-less.

The Bissu claim to be neither male nor female, nevertheless
their physical appearance shows them to be effeminate males.

The Bissu High Priest of the Bone regency is Baharuddin Daeng
Tawero, a silent man in his 70s who wore a woman's headscarf when
interviewed by The Jakarta Post recently.

He and 21 others from the Bissu community were visiting the
capital last week for a performance at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM)
together with other maestros -- Cirebon mask dancer Rasinah and
Balinese Joged Pingitan dancer Ni Ketut Cenik -- organized by The
Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ).

Sitting on a hotel bed with one leg propped up under his chin,
Daeng Tawero seemed to be out of touch with his surroundings.
Staring blankly in front of him, the Bissu High Priest only
responded when given a direct question by Halilintar Lathief,
anthropologist and my Bugis language translator for the
interview.

"I had always acted as a woman since I was little, I cooked
and wove cloth, everything that is expected of a woman," Daeng
Tawero said through the interpreter.

Despite acknowledging five genders -- oroane (male), makkunrai
(female), calabai (transgender), calalai (masculine female), and
the asexual Bissu -- social denigration of the other three
genders are still prevalent in the Bugis community, and Daeng
Tawero had a difficult time in his childhood in coping with his
"peculiarities".

"I would stay home, closeted in a separate room in the house
so that others would not see me," he said.

According to Halilintar, the Makassar Wars between 1667 and
1905 created a macho image of the male so much so that calabai
and the Bissu became alienated and eventually scorned by the
dominant oroane.

Daeng Tawero's entrance into the spiritual world of the Bissu
in 1953 came from a "supernatural revelation", he said without
elaborating further. He apprenticed himself to his great-uncle
who at the time was the Puang Lolo, the second in command from
the High Priest, in Bone.

"A Bissu must have a civilized tongue, civilized behavior and
civilized walk," he explained, while adding that it is achieved
by difficult training to overcome the physical temptations that
he had to undergo for 20 years before finally being ordained as a
Bissu priest in 1973.

"No one knows when the training will end, not even the
teacher, it could be five years, 10 years, 20 years. Only when
the teacher receives divine guidance will the training end,"
Daeng Tawero added.

In the past, the Bissu played an important and crucial role in
the court system -- providing spiritual advice as well as advice
on how to govern a kingdom to the kings of ancient South
Sulawesi. Daeng Tawero was appointed Bissu priest in a court
ceremony of the Bone Kingdom with the Bissu name of Camming
Puleng, meaning "moon mirror".

In a more modern context, the Bissu is the guardian of the
Bugis tradition, keeping ancient palace rituals alive, such as
the blessing of heirlooms, conducting rituals for certain
blessings, dressing and beautifying brides, even administering
traditional medicine.

Shifting social perception following the DI/TII (Darul
Islam/Indonesian Islamic Army) rebellion in the 1950s and
following the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) aborted coup in
1965 also became the Bissu's doom, for they are considered idol
worshipers and communists.

Many were forced to embrace Islam, admit to being male, and
take on traditional male roles such as working in fields. Others
were brutally murdered, including the Puang Matowa (Bissu High
Priest) at the time who was beheaded.

"The worst humiliation for a Bissu is for their traditional
long hair to be shorn off, and many were shaved during the
Operasi Toba (repentance operation) that was launched by Islamist
puritans between 1965 and 1967," Halilintar said, adding that the
incidence left a deep scar in the Bissu so they are highly
suspicious of outsiders.

Daeng Tawero escaped this fate because he was a quiet,
unassuming person, respected because he never brought trouble or
caused any unrest. "His community protected him from the mob,"
Halilintar said.

But the damage was done, today only a small number of Bissu
survive in four areas in South Sulawesi -- Bone, Wajo, Soppeng,
and Pangkep. They were once considered a highly respected,
integral and important members of society, but are now viewed
with contempt and as outcasts by many. Being a calabai was
shameful, and a humiliation for the family.

"I don't know why I was created like this, but my family never
accepted me," Puang Lolo Angel, 35, whose Bissu name is
Sessungriu, as she wept.

The plight of the Bissu was what moved Daeng Tawero to accept
the highest title of the Bissu priest, Puang Matowa (eldest) on
Sept. 23, 2003, after the position had been vacant for 40 years.

Together with the Latar Nusa non-governmental organization --
for minimizing friction between traditional cultures and modern
religion -- Daeng Tawero now works to revive the Bissu tradition,
calling upon the approximately 5,000 transgender Bissu in South
Sulawesi to leave their sex-oriented ways to embrace the
spirituality of the Bissu priesthood.

"I saw what happened to the Bissu in the past, so much
violence, I was called on to revive the new generation. I must
not disappoint," Daeng Tawero said.