'Wayang Tarot' takes a traditional look into your future

The "Grim Reaper" may not be a familiar figure to Indonesians. But ask them about "Batara Kala", and they will tell you a story of a beastly giant who takes a bite out of the sun and moon thus causing the eclipses.

Batara Kala is a wayang purwa (shadow puppet) figure. He is known as the evil son of Batara Guru (God) and was born out of the lust of Guru and his wife, Dewi Uma. It is said that Kala is the Kama Salah or a product of mistaken sexual desire. He is pictured as an ogre who only consumes human beings.

The philosophical significance of the story is that a child should be born out of the pure love of a man and his wife, not out of lust. Reduce the philosophy to size, and we have Batara Kala as the Grim Reaper (card XIII) in the Wayang Tarot deck.

The Wayang Tarot written by Ani Sekarningsih, a Certified Tarot Grand Master (CTGM), is "a journey into self-appraisal", based on the philosophy of the epics the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

The wayang is a series of puppets depicting the figures in the epics, with the exception of wayang orang which consists of human dancers. The stories are taken from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

The wayang performance is used to educate people about honesty, bravery, self-confidence and basic wisdom. Now and then, the wayang is also played as a tool for political propaganda.

The performance is normally held all night, and is very popular in Java and Bali, according to The Wayang Tarot Manual, a book accompanying the leaflet that comes with the Wayang Tarot deck.

Ani Sekarningsih is the first (and only, to my knowledge) Tarot Grand Master in Indonesia. In 2001, she received the highest acknowledgement from the Tarot Certification Board of the American Tarot Association.

Her affection for the tarot inspired her to create an Indonesian tarot, with the images of the wayang figures. Ani said that the wayang was no longer popular among modern people, thus she wished to preserve the art.

"The idea came to me in 1986. I want to introduce the wayang overseas before it disappears, so non-Indonesians can also be introduced to the art. Hence, The Wayang Tarot Manual is written in both English and Indonesian," said the author of several books.

In the Wayang Tarot deck (costing Rp 265,000), the name of each wayang puppet or character appears at the bottom of each card.

The card's meaning is written in Indonesian on the left side of the card, and English on the right. The manual, which is also both in Indonesian and English, explains each character briefly. For instance, Rama & Sinta (card VI, known in most other decks as "The Lovers") are the king and queen of Pancawati.

The manual is also filled with useful things for beginners, among them: basic meaning, basic comprehension of the Major Arcana, tips for reading the Celtic cross, procedure of tarot readings and code of ethics.

But I found the quality control in the production of the cards disappointing. There is a card missing in my Wayang Tarot deck: no Bagong (card number 0), instead I got two cards of Batara Kala (card XIII).

The publisher, Grasindo, said that I could get my Bagong, if I came to their office. Fine. If I lived in another country, say South Africa, would they still ask me to pick the card up at their office in Jakarta?

However, the images in Wayang Tarot are somehow less spooky than those on, say, the Tarot of the Death or Vampire decks. Card XIII with Batara Kala (with the key word: Alteration instead of its famous title, "The Death"), is not as scary as the "Angel of Death" in many decks, such as in the Rider-Waite Tarot.

All wayang images in her deck are different from most wayang sold across department stores. They are produced without the pakem (source book for the Javanese shadow play stories). Ani said she wanted to use "genuine" wayang which followed pakem accordingly.

Luckily, Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubowono X permitted her to use his antique wayang collection as the images for her deck.

"I am very proud of that collection. Wayang's philosophy of life, that is presented in my 78 cards is a way to preserve an important aspect of Indonesian culture," said Ani.

As with most of the ritual treatment of sacred objects in the palace, Ani's photographer had to perform rituals or ceremonies with ritual offerings. Each wayang required a separate ritual ceremony.

One morning, he did not pay homage to the wayang -- then an unexplained misfortune happened. His films were damaged, for some unknown reason. After that he never forgot to pay homage to the wayang dutifully.

Ani set up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clubtarot/ on Sept. 14, 2000. The group discusses tarot from A-Z and currently has 209 members.

People can post their comments in English although all the messages are written in Indonesian. Any tarot-related questions will be answered by other members or by Ani herself. One draw back though is that the majority of its members are "silent members", yet it's still interesting to join this group.

Ani also posts some useful tarot-related website links as well as a daily tarot. She also does tarot reading for Female Radio listeners (100.2 FM) at 7 p.m. daily.

If you're interested in learning more about Wayang Tarot, just click http://www.tarotwayang.com/, in English and Indonesian.

Even if you think that it is too complicated for you, you may still like to buy it for art's sake. After all, each card is a piece of artwork, which makes them a perfect souvenir. -- Susanna Tjokro

Note: Wayang Tarot is sold at Gramedia Bookstores. Club Tarot will hold a tarot conference in Bali, from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11 2003. The fee is Rp 200,000 which includes a tarot deck and T-shirt as well as lunch and snacks. If you are interested in taking part in the event, either as a participant or as a sponsor, you may contact: (021) 750 1702. Dial the same number to join Ani Sekarningsih's tarot class.