Many Indonesians turn to shamans despite discouragement by Muslim

Many Indonesians turn to shamans despite discouragement by Muslim
clerics and doctors

Chris Brummitt
Associated Press
Bogor, West Java

The shaman took hold of my little finger, mumbled in Arabic, then
pronounced his diagnosis for the mysterious malaise that had
plagued me for months.

"You have walked over a grave in a jungle," he said as an
afternoon rain storm rattled the tin roof of his gloomy sitting
room. "You must have picked something up."

No diagnosis is too strange for Indonesia's shamans - known
here as dukun and who attract millions of patients despite
increased awareness of modern medical treatment.

Their work sits uneasily with religious authorities in
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. Since the
1960s, Muslim clerics have been struggling to popularize a form
of Islam that is free of the mysticism and magic that laces much
of Indonesian culture.

Conventional doctors also criticize the shamans, saying many
are charlatans who take advantage of the poor and uneducated
among Indonesia's 210 million people.

"Dukun are very dangerous," said Professor Farid Moeloek,
former minister of health and now president-elect of the
Indonesian Doctors Association. "Their misdiagnoses lead to
complications, and even death."

Despite the religious and medical objections, my Indonesian
friends persuaded me to try a dukun after more than a year of
flu-like chills and persistent tiredness.

The shaman in Bogor, a town an hour's drive from the capital,
Jakarta, prescribed a course of painful massage. He also told me
to wear a green amulet on my arm at all times and dip a piece of
paper with Islamic prayers into a cup of water and drink it.

He was the first of several shamans I visited over a four-
month period.

Another suggested the source of my troubles was the jealousy
of a curly haired colleague, and gave me a green charm to put in
my wallet and an armband to wear at all times. A third said my
illness was caused by a gang of evil spirits living in my well
and advised me to burn special incense around the clock in my
house.

None of the prescribed cures did any good. But neither did
Western medicine.

Most shamans are uncomfortable talking about their skills and
have trouble explaining exactly what it is they do. They usually
attribute their powers to God.

"Everything comes from the one above. We just harness his
power," said a 28-year-old computer engineer who calls himself
"Reno" and treats friends and their acquaintances from his home.

Diagnostic methods and treatments vary, but most shamans draw
on Hindu and Muslim beliefs and a large dollop of theatrics.

They rarely advertise their services, relying mostly on word
of mouth. Payment is often a carton of cigarettes, or a sack of
rice, depending on the wealth of the client.

Most Indonesians - including wealthy, educated ones - believe
their magic works.

"Dukun are very effective," said Permadi, an Indonesian
legislator and well-known paranormal. "Western nations don't have
a monopoly on medical knowledge."

Businessmen and politicians also visit shamans to ensure their
success or predict their futures. Prostitutes and singers seek
them out for a susuk, a small piece of gold or other precious
metal that is inserted beneath the skin and is believed to make
the wearer more attractive.

Since dukun often attribute patients' illness to a curse or a
spell, some are also willing to help a client retaliate with
black magic. An enemy's lock of hair or piece of clothing is
often all that is asked for to call down illness on the foe.

The Islamic establishment, which forbids flirtation with
superstition or practices from older religions, is alarmed at the
continuing popularity of shamans.

"Dukun have already deviated from the truth as set down in the
Koran. Most of them practice witchcraft," said Risman Muchtar,
head of religious propagation for Muhammadiyah, a group that
claims 20 million followers and runs mosques and schools across
the Indonesian archipelago.

Muchtar's task of encouraging people to stay away from shamans
has become even more difficult in an economic slump that has made
conventional medicine too expensive for many Indonesians.

For millions, particularly those living far from towns and
cities on the country's main island of Java, Islam has not made
much of an impression. Many people are still influenced by
animism as well as Hindu and Buddhist rituals and practices.

"Not all the villagers fully understand Islam," Muchtar said.
"For some, it's just a thin layer on top of what their
grandfathers taught them."