Incense, flowers are powerful communication tools
Mysticism has become a part of modern people's lives. Those seeking advice from psychics include educated people and even those who are religious, such as Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Al Munawar. Less than two weeks ago, the minister made headlines when he ordered a treasure hunt at a protected heritage site in Bogor, West Java, following the advice of a psychic. Agil said that if the treasure was found, it would be able to cover the country's foreign debt of US$130 billion. The Jakarta Post is running a series of stories surrounding mysticism. This story and a related one on page 8 were written by Muninggar Sri Saraswati.
While cellular phones and the Internet are the most popular methods of communication by urbanites, there are some who choose kemenyan (incense) and flowers.
Do not be surprised by this revelation.
Some people here burn incense and put flowers sprayed with perfume to communicate with spirits of the dead to gain peace of mind, solve problems in life or cure diseases.
"You might think I am old-fashioned, but I don't care as I believe in it," said Soenaryo, 43, who was buying incense and flowers in Jatinegara market, East Jakarta on Friday morning.
He spent Rp 4,000 on a small package of incense and Rp 6,000 on a bag of flower petals.
The employee of a private company in the Kuningan area of South Jakarta, Soenaryo told The Jakarta Post that he started seeing a spiritualist five years ago when he was facing a problem at his company.
"Nobody could help me at the time. A friend of mine suggested that I see a spiritualist and I did. The spiritualist told me that I have to burn incense and put a plate of flowers and two eggs in my room while I meditated," Soenaryo said.
Although he felt a bit awkward, he obeyed the order and requested the spirits of his ancestors to ask God to help him. Amazingly, Soenaryo found a solution to the problem and he was promoted. He has since become a loyal client of the spiritualist's, who lives in Paseban, Central Jakarta. He has also regularly provided offerings, particularly when he has a problem in life.
"It's only a medium to God, which you might think is strange," said Soenaryo, adding that he makes the offerings every kliwon, or once every Javanese five-day week.
Another customer, Warti, told the Post that she bought incense and flowers for her employer, a middle-aged woman who is a banker.
"She has given offerings and burned incense for two years, when her marriage was in trouble. She usually does it in the morning. She also takes baths with petals in the water at night," said the maid, who buys the items for her every Friday.
Marni, an incense and flower vendor, said that business had been brisk since she opened shop 10 years ago, with most people buying the items usually for funeral rituals.
"The number of people buying these items for mystical purposes started to increase during the economic crisis," she said, referring to the Asian crisis which hit the country in 1997.
Another vendor at Rawa Belong market, West Jakarta, agreed.
"There are not as many people buying flowers and incense for mystical purposes as those who buy them for funeral rituals, but they are loyal customers. They come once a week or twice a month," said Tedi, who has been in the business for over eight years.