Hocus-pocus and all that jazz

Hocus-pocus and all that jazz

Believe it or not, black magic, which has its roots in animism, is still very much alive in these modern times. It is practiced in many parts of Indonesia under different names. The Jakarta Post is presenting the following story on black magic and what people think of it, as well as several related articles on Pages 2 and 7.

By Johannes Simbolon

JAKARTA (JP): Mexican writer Miguel Covarrubias recalled in his famous book Island of Bali, first published in 1931, how he once witnessed leyak, the bad spirit of Balinese black magicians, at a demonstration.

The performance, he recalled, was organized by a Balinese prince. Only foreigners were invited. Yet, the news spread across the island and on the appointed night not only invitees, Dutch colonial officials, but also Balinese went to the cemetery where the demonstration was held.

The prince banned all flashlights. The crowd anxiously waited for a lengthy period before the leyak appeared.

Covarrubias wrote, "After an endless wait, the crowd gasped when a greenish light became visible at one end of the graveyard. As it approached it looked more and more suspiciously like a piece of banana leaf with a light behind it. A Dutch official next to me, who had retained his flashlight, aimed it suddenly at the ghost, who disappeared behind the low mound of a convenient new grave. The undaunted prince contended indignantly that the leyak was frightened and would not appear again...Thus ended our only opportunity to make acquaintance with a leyak."

He wrote from the typical viewpoint of a Westerner who is suspicious of anything that has to do with the supernatural.

No matter what people say, up to the present time most, if not all, Balinese still believe there is a leyak.

The Batak people also believe in it and call it begu ganjang.

Each ethnic tribe has a name for it. In Java its name is santet, which most people now know it as.

Some anthropologists say the belief is the essence of animism, the belief that human beings become good or bad spirits after death and become part of the supernatural world. They help or trouble those still alive.

The knowledge of the traditional community about the spirit is admirably rich, but simultaneously seems ridiculous to modern people. It is believed that the ghost of a man who dies in a traffic accident will be different in character and name from that of a woman who dies during childbirth.

Ghosts are believed to have a king, thus there is social hierarchy, as there is in mankind.

Some people have an ability to "enslave" bad spirits and use them to kill or hurt other people. These people are called black magicians, while those collaborating with good spirits are called white magicians.

A common story among people on the street has it that people are required to do horrible things, such as rape a great number of virgins, married women, etc. in order to obtain the power of black magic.

This is confirmed by Ki Ageng Selo, a soothsayer who claims to be a white magician.

Other soothsayers, like Anton Rudolf Nico, say beside using bad spirits, black magicians can also make use of their bioelectric energy.

According to Anton's theory, with bioelectricity a sorcerer can send the invisible "energy" of objects like pins, broken glass and nails, through wind or soil to a targeted victim. The invisible "energy" then materializes in the victims' bodies, causing pain or death.

This theory corresponds with the popular story that pins, broken glass and nails are among the items commonly found in the bodies of black magic victims.

Ki Gendeng Pamungkas, believed to be the country's top black magician, supposedly uses a very different method. He reportedly does not use any mediums nor reads mantras, but makes use of what he calls "telepsychokinetics", i.e. the mental power to urge victims from a distance to commit "suicidal" deeds.

From all appearances, his victims have no obvious signs of being the targets of black magic. Instead it appears that they die from natural causes, like heart attack, stroke, excessive cholesterol, etc.

Some modern religions dismiss it all as nonsense. Yet, some religions teach that bad, harmful spirits really exist. They are not the ghosts of the deceased as animists believe, but the creation of God.

The perception of modern, western-style education about it is all but clear: it is purely nonsense on the basis of the adage that everything can be considered real if it can be proved real by scientific methods.

As would be expected, the belief in black magic is especially strong in rural areas or backward communities where education is still poor and the fruits of modernity are rare.

Traditional communities have practices which are passed on through generations to counter black magic. They carry amulets or plant certain flora in their yards to protect them from evil spirits.

Now, as more progressive societies no longer pass on traditional knowledge about protection against black magic and the law fails to protect them from this "evil", they in their hopelessness take the law into their own hands.

The belief in black magic, whether it is true or baseless, has caused painful social problems.

Last July, a five-member family in Jambringan village, Pamekasan regency, Madura were ostracized by their fellow villagers because they reportedly practiced black magic.

They were accused of killing 58 people since 1971. The family denied the accusation.

The family were forced to take shelter at the local police station and dared not return to their home village.

They were lucky, since in many cases accused black magicians are beaten to death by mobs. Each year sees a handful of people killed by the masses on such charges. Many times law enforcers fail to bring such mobs to court because all of those involved, usually many members of a village, claim to have been equally involved in the murder and the police find it extremely uncomfortable to imprison them all.

Rural people do not have an exclusivity on black magic. Urban people also believe in it despite perhaps having had a good education and an adherence to some certain religion.

Some urbanites secretly or openly consult with paranormals anytime they have an "incurable" sickness. Some even hire them as advisors or protectors.

These days more people among the educated group publicly declare their belief in sorcery. It is obvious by their efforts to include the outlawing of sorcery in the new criminal code, now being drafted at the House of Representatives.

As part of the process of law making, a seminar was held in 1993 at the Jakarta Police Academy, where witch doctors were invited to exhibit their skills.

Gendeng, who was among the sorcerers, amazed the seminar participants when he dramatically cast a spell from a distance on one of them. The man was thrown back two meters from his seat and was unconscious for about an hour.

Thus, is black magic real, an illusion, or maybe a big mystery of nature which science has yet to solve?