Communicating with Spirits: Bridging the Nether World of Spirits and the Real World in Healing Performances

Authors: S. Ishak, M. G. Nasuruddin

Abstract:

Traditional Malay performances are carried out for both entertainment and curing purposes. In curing rituals, the men and women serving as shamans, communicates with the spirits and beings from the nether world to facilitate the curing process. The dependency on engaging with these other-worldly beings however, have raised religious issues of being syirik, namely practicing in rituals which are religiously forbidden. This study aims to observe how ritual leaders attempt to negotiate the fine balance between what has been religiously forbidden and the psychological and sociological needs of the patient. Two curing rituals, the main peteri and the malibobou were chosen to exemplify the communication between the physical and spiritual realities. In both rituals, the healers engaged in procedures of curing as they attempted to diagnose sicknesses and proffer cures with the help of the spirits. The main peteri was conducted by a male shaman, the tuk teri whereas the malibobou was conducted by a female ritual specialist, the bobohizan. Main peteri and the malibobou both ended with ritually thanking and sending off the spirits back to their nether, invisible domains. These curing rituals heal not only the sick individual, but by extension, the village community. Therefore, there is a need to reconcile these rituals with religious tenets, beliefs and sociological-political-cultural dimensions.

Keywords: Traditional healing, trance, spirits, main peteri, bobohizan.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1339157

References:

[1] Solehah Ishak. 2012. Text, Theatre and Malay Aesthetics. University Technology MARA: Shah Alam.
[2] Amran Kasimin. 2006. Unsur-Unsur Menurun dalam Persembahan Teater Melayu Tradisional. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka
[3] Solehah Ishak, “Main Puteri: Satu Permainan dan Produksi Lakon” in Solehah Ishak (ed) 2010. Seni dan Budya Kelantan. Persatuan Muzium Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur.
[4] Interview with Odun Linjunan in Kampung Panjut, Sabah, June 29, 2013.
[5] Interview with Moses in Kampung Panjut, June 29, 2013
[6] Interview with Odun Linjunan in Kampung Panjut, Sabah, June 29, 2013.
[7] Field research the Bobolian ritual in Kampung Panjut, Sabah, from June 28-July 02, 2013.
[8] Field research on Main Peteri in Tumpat, Kelantan from August 29-Sept.01, 2013.