Malay Magic / Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula

The Malay Pantheon

(a) Gods

A careful investigation of the magic rites and charms used by a nation which has changed its religion will not unfrequently show, that what is generally called witchcraft is merely the dÉbris of the older ritual, condemned by the priests of the newer faith, but yet stubbornly, though secretly, persisting, through the unconquerable religious conservatism of the mass of the people.

“There is nothing that clings longer to a race than the religious faith in which it has been nurtured. Indeed, it is impossible for any mind that is not thoroughly scientific to cast off entirely the religious forms of thought in which it has grown to maturity. Hence in every people that has received the impression of foreign beliefs, we find that the latter do not expel and supersede the older religion, but are engrafted on it, blent with it, or overlie it. Observances are more easily abandoned than ideas, and even when all the external forms of the alien faith have been put on, and few vestiges of the indigenous one remain, the latter still retains its vitality in the mind, and powerfully colours or corrupts the former. The actual religion of a people is thus of great ethnographic interest, and demands a minute and searching observation. No other facts relating to rude tribes are more difficult of ascertainment, or more often elude inquiry.”1

“The general principle stated by Logan in the passage just quoted receives remarkable illustration from a close investigation of the folk-lore and superstitious beliefs of the Malays. Two successive religious changes have taken place among them, and when we have succeeded in identifying the vestiges of Brahmanism which underlie the external forms of the faith of Muhammad, long established in all Malay kingdoms, we are only half-way through our task.”

“There yet remain the powerful influences of the still earlier indigenous faith to be noted and accounted for. Just as the Buddhists of Ceylon turn in times of sickness and danger, not to the consolations offered by the creed of Buddha, but to the propitiation of the demons feared and reverenced by their early progenitors, and just as the Burmese and Talaings, though Buddhists, retain in full force the whole of the Nat superstition, so among the Malays, in spite of centuries which have passed since the establishment of an alien worship, the Muhammadan peasant may be found invoking the protection of Hindu gods against the spirits of evil with which his primitive faith has peopled all natural objects.”2

“What was the faith of Malaya seven hundred years ago it is hard to say, but there is a certain amount of evidence to lead to the belief that it was a form of Brahmanism, and that, no doubt, had succeeded the original spirit worship.”3

The evidence of folk-lore, taken in conjunction with that supplied by charm-books and romances, goes to show that the greater gods of the Malay Pantheon, though modified in some respects by Malay ideas, were really borrowed Hindu divinities, and that only the lesser gods and spirits are native to the Malay religious system. It is true that some of these native gods can be with more or less distinctness identified with the great powers of nature: the King of the Winds (Raja Angin) for instance; “Mambang Tali Harus,” or the god of mid-currents (the Malay Neptune); the gods of thunder and lightning, of the celestial bodies, etc.; but none of them appear to have the status of the chief gods of the Hindu system, and both by land and water the terrible Shiva (“Batara Guru” or “Kala”) is supreme. Yet each department of nature, however small, has its own particular godling or spirit who requires propitiation, and influences for good or evil every human action. Only the moral element is wanting to the divine hegemony—the “cockeyed,” limping substitute which does duty for it reflecting only too truthfully the character of the people with whom it passes as divine.

I will first take, in detail, the gods of Hindu origin. “Batara (or Betara) Guru” is “the name by which Siva is known to his worshippers, who constitute the vast majority of the Balinese, and who probably constituted the bulk of the old Javanese.”4

In the magic of the Peninsular Malays we find Vishnu the Preserver, Brahma the Creator, Batara Guru, Kala, and S’ri simultaneously appealed to by the Malay magician; and though it would, perhaps, be rash, (as Mr. Wilkinson says), to infer solely from Malay romances or Malay theatrical invocations (many of which owe much to Javanese influence), that Hinduism was the more ancient religion of the Malays, there is plenty of other evidence to prove that the “Batara Guru” of the Malays (no less than the Batara Guru of Bali and Java) is none other than the recognised father of the Hindu Trinity.5

Of the greater deities or gods, Batara Guru is unquestionably the greatest. “In the Hikayat Sang Samba (the Malay version of the Bhaumakavya), Batara Guru appears as a supreme God, with Brahma and Vishnu as subordinate deities. It is Batara Guru who alone has the water of life (ayer utama (atama) jiwa) which brings the slaughtered heroes to life.”6

So to this day the Malay magician declares that ’Toh Batara Guru (under any one of the many corruptions which his name now bears7) was “the all-powerful spirit who held the place of Allah before the advent of Muhammadanism, a spirit so powerful that he could restore the dead to life; and to him all prayers were addressed.”

Mr. Wilkinson, in the article from which we have already quoted, deals with another point of interest, the expression sang-yang, or batara, which is prefixed to guru. After pointing out that yang in this case is not the ordinary Malay pronoun (yang, who), but an old word meaning a “deity,” he remarks, that so far as he has been able to discover, it is only used of the greater Hindu divinities, and not of inferior deities or demi-gods. Thus we find it applied to Shiva and Vishnu, but never to the monkey-god Hanuman, or a deity of secondary importance like Dermadewa. Such inferior divinities have only the lesser honorific “sang” prefixed to their names, and in this respect fare no better than mere mortals (such as Sang Sapurba and Sang Ranjuna Tapa) and animals (such as, in fables, Sang Kanchil, Mr. Mousedeer; and Sang Tikus, Mr. Rat).

“The expression batara is also limited to the greater Hindu divinities (except when used as a royal title), e.g. Batara Guru, Batara Kala, Batara Indra, Batara Bisnu, etc. Thus the expressions sang-yang and batara are fairly coincident in their application.8 But there are a few deities of whom the honorific sang-yang is used, but not batara, e.g. sang-yang tunggal, ‘the only God,’ sang-yang sokma, etc.

“Thus batara would seem to be limited in use to the actual names of Hindu deities as distinct from epithets describing those deities. “Batara Guru” would seem to be an exception—the only one—to this rule, and to point to the fact that the original meaning of guru had been lost sight of, and that the expression had come to be regarded only as a proper name.”

Occasionally, as is only to be expected, the Malays get mixed in their mythology, and of this Mr. Wilkinson gives two examples, one of the identification of Batara Guru (Shiva) with Brahma (Berahmana), and another of the drawing of a distinction between “Guru” (Shiva) and “Mahadewa,” which latter is only another name for the same divinity.

Such slips are inevitable among an illiterate people, and should always be criticised by comparison with the original Hindu tenets, from which these ideas may be presumed to have proceeded.

Mr. Wilkinson quotes an extraordinary genealogy representing, inter alia, “Guru as the actual father of the Hindu Trinity,” and also of “Sambu” (whom he cannot identify), and “Seri, who is the Hindu Sri, the goddess of grain, and, therefore, a deity of immense importance to the old Javanese and Malays.”

On this I would only remark that Sambu (or Jambu) is the first portion of the name almost universally ascribed to the Crocodile-spirit by the Peninsular Malays.9

It would be beyond the scope of this work to attempt the identification of Batara Guru (Shiva) with all the numerous manifestations and titles attributed to him by the Malays, but the special manifestation (of Shiva), which is called “Kala,” forms an integral part of the general conception, whether among the Malays or Hindus, and is, therefore, deserving of some attention.

The Malay conception of Batara Guru seems to have been that he had both a good and a bad side to his character. Though he was “Destroyer” he was also “Restorer-to-life,”10 and it would appear that these two opposite manifestations of his power tended to develop into two distinct personalities, a development which apparently was never entirely consummated. This, however, is not the only difficulty, for on investigating the limits of the respective spheres of influence of Batara Guru and Kala, we find that the only sphere, which is always admitted to be under Kala’s influence, is the intermediate zone between the respective spheres of influence of Batara Guru (as he is called if on land, “Si Raya” if at sea) and a third divinity, who goes by the name of “’Toh Panjang Kuku,” or “Grandsire Long-Claws.”

Now Hindu mythology, we are told, knows next to nothing of the sea, and any such attempt as this to define the respective boundaries of sea and land is almost certain to be due to the influence of Malay ideas. Again, the intermediate zone is not necessarily considered less dangerous than that of definitely evil influences. Thus the most dangerous time for children to be abroad is sunset, the hour when we can “call it neither perfect day nor night”; so too a day of mingled rain and sunshine is regarded as fraught with peculiar dangers from evil spirits, and it would be quite in keeping with such ideas that the intermediate zone, whether between high and low water-mark, or between the clearing and primeval forest, should be assigned to Kala, the Destroyer. In which case the expression “Grandsire Long-Claws” might be used to signify this special manifestation of Shiva on land, possibly through the personality of the Tiger, just as the Crocodile-spirit appears to represent Shiva by water.11

We thus reach a point of exceptional interest, for hunting, being among the old Hindus one of the seven deadly sins, was regarded as a low pursuit, and one which would never be indulged in by a god. Yet I was repeatedly told when collecting charms about the Spectre Huntsman that he was a god, and, explicitly, that he was Batara Guru. This shows the strength of the Malay influences which had been at work, and which had actually succeeded in corrupting the character, so to speak, of the supreme god of this borrowed Hindu Trinity.12

The Batara Guru of the Sea, who by some magicians, at all events, is identified with Si Raya (the “Great One”), and, probably wrongly, with the God of Mid-currents13 (Mambang Tali Harus), is of a much milder character than his terrestrial namesake or compeer, and although sickness may sometimes be ascribed to the sea-spirit’s wrath, it is neither so sudden nor so fatal as the sickness ascribed to the wanton and unprovoked malice of the Spectre Huntsman, or Spirit of the Land.

Fishermen and seafarers, on the other hand, obtain many a favour from him, and even hope to make friends with him by means of simple sacrifices and charms.

Si Raya (or Madu-Raya) is said to have a family, his wife’s name being Madu-ruti, and his children “Wa’ Ranai,” and “Si Kekas” (the scratcher), all of whom, however, have their own separate spheres of influence. The “Great One” himself (Madu-Raya) rules over the sea from low-water mark (at the river’s mouth) out to mid-ocean; and if his identity with “’Toh Rimpun ?Alam” is accepted,14 his place of abode is at the navel of the seas, within the central whirlpool (Pusat Tasek), from the centre of which springs the Magic Tree (Pauh Janggi), on whose boughs perches the roc (garuda) of fable, and at whose foot dwells the Gigantic Crab, whose entrance into and exit from the cave in which he dwells is supposed to cause the displacement of water which results in the ebb and flow of the tide.15

The only other divinities (of the rank of “Mambangs”) which are of any importance are the “White divinity,” who dwells in the Sun, the “Black divinity,” who dwells in the Moon, and the “Yellow divinity,” who dwells in the Yellow Sunset-glow, which latter is always considered most dangerous to children.

When there is a decided glow at sunset, any one who sees it takes water into his mouth (di-kemam ayer) and dislodges it in the direction of the brightness, at the same time throwing ashes (di-sembor dengan abu) saying:—

Mambang kuning, mambang k’labu,

Pantat kuning di-sembor abu.

This is done “in order to put out the brightness,” the reason that it must be put out being that in the case of any one who is not very strong (lemah semangat) it causes fever.

(b) Spirits, Demons, and Ghosts

The “Jins” or “Genii,” generally speaking, form a very extensive class of quite subordinate divinities, godlings, or spirits, whose place in Malay mythology is clearly due, whether directly or indirectly, to Muhammadan influences, but who may be most conveniently treated here as affording a sort of connecting link between gods and ghosts. There has, it would appear, been a strong tendency on the part of the Malays to identify these imported spirits with the spirits of their older (Hindu) religion, but the only Genie who really rises to the level of one of the great Hindu divinities is the Black King of the Genii (Sang Gala16 Raja, or Sa-Raja Jin), who appears at times a manifestation of Shiva Batara Guru, who is confounded with the destructive side of Shiva, i.e. Kala. This at least would appear to be the only theory on which we could explain the use of many of the epithets or attributes assigned to the King of the Genii, who is at one time called “the one and only God”; at another, “Bentara (i.e. Batara), Guru, the Genie that was from the beginning,” and at another, “the Land Demon, the Black Batara Guru,” etc.

The following is a description of this, the mightiest of the Genii:—

Peace be with you!
Ho, Black Genie with the Black Liver,
Black Heart and Black Lungs,
Black Spleen and tusk-like Teeth,
Scarlet Breast and body-hairs inverted,
And with only a single bone.17

So far as can be made out from the meagre evidence obtainable, the spirit thus described is identifiable with the Black King of Genii, who dwells in the Heart of the Earth, and whose bride, Sang Gadin (or Gading), presented him with seven strapping Black Genii as children.18

Plate 2.—Spirits.

Models of the White and Black Genii (Jin Puteh and Jin Hitam)

Page 94.

Altogether there are one hundred and ninety of these (Black?) Genii—more strictly, perhaps, one hundred and ninety-three, which coincides curiously with the number of “Mischiefs” (Badi), which reside in “all living things.” The resemblance, I may add, does not end here; for though the Genii may do good, and the “Badi” do not, both are considered able to do infinite harm to mortals, and both make choice of the same kind of dwelling-places, such as hollows in the hills, solitary patches of primeval forest, dead parasites on trees, etc. etc.

As to the origin of these Genii, one magician told me that all “Jins” came from the country “Ban Ujan,” which may possibly be Persia;19 other magicians, however, variously derive them from the dissolution of various parts of the anatomy of the great snake “Sakatimuna,” of the “First Great Failure” to make man’s image (at the creation of man); from the drops of blood which spirted up to heaven when the first twins, Abel and Cain (in the Malay version Habil and Kabil) bit their thumbs; from the big cocoa-nut monkey or baboon (berok besar), and so on.

The theory already mentioned, viz. that the Black King of the Genii gradually came to be identified with Kala, and later came gradually to be established as a separate personality, appears to be the only one which will satisfactorily explain the relations subsisting between the Black and White Genii, who are on the one hand distinctly declared to be brothers, whilst the White Genie is in another passage declared to be Maharaja Dewa or Mahadewa, which latter is, as we have already seen, a special name of Shiva.

This White Genie is said to have sprung, by one account, from the blood-drops which fell on the ground when Habil and Kabil bit their thumbs; by another, from the irises of the snake Sakatimuna’s eyes (benih mata Sakatimuna), and is sometimes confused with the White Divinity (’Toh Mambang Puteh), who lives in the sun.

The name of his wife is not mentioned, as it is in the case of the Black Genie, but the names of three of his children have been preserved, and they are Tanjak Malim Kaya, Pari Lang (lit. kite-like, i.e. “winged” Skate), and Bintang Sutan (or Star of Sutan).20

On the whole, I may say that the White Genie is very seldom mentioned in comparison with the Black Genie, and that whereas absolutely no harm, so far as I can find out, is recorded of him, he is, on the other hand, appealed to for protection by his worshippers.

A very curious subdivision of Genii into Faithful (Jin Islam) and Infidel (Jin Kafir) is occasionally met with, and it is said, moreover, that Genii (it is to be hoped orthodox ones) may be sometimes bought at Mecca from the “Sheikh Jin” (Headman of Genii) at prices varying from $90 to $100 a piece.21

Besides these subdivisions, certain Genii are sometimes specifically connected with special objects or ideas. Thus there are the Genii of the royal musical instruments (Jin Nemfiri, or Lempiri, Gendang, and Naubat), who are sometimes identified with the Genii of the State (Jin Karaja’an), and the Genii of the Royal Weapons (Jin Sembuana), both of which classes of Genii are held able to strike men dead. The only other Genie that I would here specially mention is the Jin ?Afrit (sometimes called Jin Rafrit), from whom the “White Man” (a designation which is often specially used in the Peninsula as a synonym for Englishman) is sometimes said to have sprung, but who belongs in Arabian mythology to a higher class than the mere Genii. Before leaving the subject of Genii, I must, however, point out the extremely common juxtaposition of the Arabic word “Jin” and the Malay “Jembalang.” From the frequency with which this juxtaposition occurs, and from the fact that the two appear to be used largely as convertible terms, we might expect to find that Jin and Jembalang were mere synonyms, both applicable to similar classes of spirits. The process is not quite complete, however, as although the expression Jembalang Tunggal (the only Jembalang), is found as well as Jin Tunggal, the higher honorific Sang Raja or Sa-Raja is never, so far as I am aware, prefixed to the word “Jembalang,” though it is frequently prefixed to “Jin.” Of the other members of the Malay hierarchy who owe their introduction to Muhammadan influences, the only ones of importance are angels (Mala’ikat), prophets (Nabi), and headmen (Sheikh).

I will take them in this order.

Of the angels, unquestionably the most important are Azrael (?Azra’il or ?Ijrail), Michael (Mika’il), Israfel (Israfil, Ijrafil, or Serafil), and Gabriel (Jibra’il or ’Jabra’il, often corrupted into Raja Brahil). There can be no doubt that the foregoing are meant for the names of a group of four archangels, the name of Israfel corresponding to Abdiel, who generally occupies the fourth place in our own angelic hierarchy.

Their customary duties are apportioned among the four great angels as follows:—

Azrael is, as with us, the angel of death, who “carries off the lives of all creatures”; Israfel is “lord of all the different airs” in our body; Michael is the “giver of daily bread”; and Gabriel is a messenger or “bringer of news.”

Sometimes, again, a White Angel (Mala’ikat Puteh) is mentioned, e.g. as being in “charge of all things in the jungle,” but what his specific duties are in this connection does not transpire.

In an invocation addressed to the Sea-spirit, however, we find four more such angels mentioned, all of whom hold similar charges:—

Chitar Ali is the angel’s name, who is lord of the whirlpool;
Sabur Ali is the angel’s name, who is lord of the winds;
Sir Ali is the angel’s name, who is lord of the waters of the sea;
Putar Ali is the angel’s name, who is lord of the rainbow.

No doubt the names of many more of the subordinate angels might be collected, as we are repeatedly told that they are forty-four in number.

Of the prophets (Nabi) there are an indefinite number, the title being applied to many of the more prominent characters who figure in our own Old Testament (as well as in the Koran), but who would not by ourselves be considered to possess any special qualifications for prophetic office. Among the more famous of these I may mention (after Muhammad and his immediate compeers) the prophet Solomon (sometimes considered—no doubt owing to his unrivalled reputation for magical skill—as the king of the Genii, whose assistance the hunter or trapper is continually invoking); the prophet David, celebrated for the beauty of his voice; and the prophet Joseph, celebrated for the beauty of his countenance. Besides these (and others of the same type), there is a group of minor prophets whose assistance is continually invoked in charms; these are the prophet Tap (Tetap or Ketap?), “lord of the earth;” the prophet Khailir (Khaithir or Khizr), “lord of water;” the prophet Noah, “lord of trees;” and the prophet Elias, “planter of trees.”

Khizr is often confounded with Elias. He discovered and drank of the fountain of life (whence his connection with water), and will consequently not die till the last trump.

Next to the prophets comes the “Sultan” (Sultan), or “King” (Malik), both of which Arabic titles, however, are somewhat rarely used by Malay magicians. Still we find such expressions as Sa-Raja (Sang-Raja?) Malik (King of Kings) applied to Batara Guru.

Next to these royal honorifics comes the title of “Headman” or “Sheikh.”

There are, it is usually stated, four of these Sheikhs who are “penned” (di-kandang) in the Four Corners of the Earth respectively, and whose names are ?Abdul Kadir, ?Abdul Muri, a third whose name is not mentioned, and ?Abdul ?Ali.22

Sometimes they are called “Sheikh ?Alam” (or Si Putar ?Alam), and are each said to reside “within a ring-fence of white iron.” Hence we obtain a perfectly intelligible meaning for the expression, “Ask pardon of the Four Corners of the World,” i.e. of the Sheikhs who reside therein, though the phrase sounds ridiculous enough without such explanation.

The only other Arabic title which is perhaps worth noticing here23 is that of “Priest” (Imam), which we find somewhat curiously used in an invocation addressed to the sea-spirit. “Imam An Jalil is the name of the ‘Priest of the Sea.’”

In the invocation addressed to the Sea-spirit we find the expression:—

“Jungle-chief of the World is the name of the Old Man of the Sea.”

There can, however, be little doubt that this “Old Man of the Sea” is a mere synonym for Batara Guru.

A set of expressions to which special reference should perhaps be made consists of the titles used by the wild jungle tribes (Sakais), the use of which is important as confirming the principle that the “Autochthones” are more influential with the spirits residing in their land than any later arrivals can be, whatever skill the latter may have acquired in the magic arts of the country from whence they came.

“Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, Munshi, in his Autobiography, has an interesting passage on the beliefs of the Malays on the subject of spirits and demons, beliefs which are much more deeply-rooted than is generally supposed. He does not, however, differentiate between national customs and beliefs, and those which have come in with the Muhammadan religion. And indeed it is not easy to do so. Here, everything is classed under the generic term sheitan, which is Arabic, and we find the rakshasa of Hindu romances and the jin and ?efrit of the Arabian Nights in the company of a lot of Indo-Chinese spirits and goblins, who have not come from the West like the others:—

“I explained to Mr. M. clearly the names of all the sheitan believed in by Chinese and Malays; all ignorance and folly which have come down from their ancestors in former times, and exist up to the present day, much more than I could relate or explain. I merely enumerated the varieties, such as hantu, sheitan,24 polong,25 pontianak, penanggalan,26 jin,27 pelisit,28 mambang,29 hantu pemburu,30 hantu rimba, jadi-jadian,31 hantu bengkus,32 bota, gargasi, raksaksa,33 nenek kabayan,34 himbasan,35 sawan,36 hantu mati di-bunoh,37 bajang,38 katagoran, sempak-kan, puput-kan,39 ?efrit,40 jemalang,41 terkena,42 ubat guna.43 Besides all these there are ever so many ilmu-ilmu (branches of secret knowledge), all of which I could not remember, such as gagak,44 penundok,45 pengasih,46 kebal,47 kasaktian,48 tuju,49 ?alimun,50 penderas,51 perahuh,52 chucha,53 pelali,54 perangsang,55 and a quantity of others. All these are firmly believed in by the people. Some of these arts have their professors (guru) from whom instruction may be got. Others have their doctors, who can say this is such and such a disease, and this is the remedy for it, and besides these there are all those arts which are able to cause evil to man. When Mr. M. heard all this he was astonished and wondered, and said, ‘Do you know the stories of all these?’ I replied, ‘If I were to explain all about them it would fill a large book, and the contents of the book would be all ignorance and nonsense without any worth, and sensible persons would not like to listen to it, they would merely laugh at it.’”56

To the foregoing the following list of spirits and ghosts may be added.

The Hantu Kubor (Grave Demons) are the spirits of the dead, who are believed to prey upon the living whenever they get an opportunity. With them may be classed the “Hantu orang mati di-bunoh,” or “spirits of murdered men.”

“The Hantu Ribut is the storm-fiend that howls in the blast and revels in the whirlwind.”57

The Hantu Ayer and Hantu Laut are Water and Sea-spirits, and the Hantu Bandan is the Spirit of the Waterfall, which “may often be seen lying prone on the water, with head like an inverted copper (kawah),” where the water rushes down the fall between the rocks.

The Hantu Longgak58 is continually looking up in the air. Those who are attacked by him foam at the mouth.

The Hantu Rimba (Deep-forest Demon), Hantu Raya59 (“Great” Demon), Hantu Denei (Demon of Wild-beast-tracks), the Hantu-hantuan (Echo-spirits), and I think the Hantu Bakal, are all spirits of the jungle, but are perhaps somewhat less localised than the large class of spirits (such as the Malacca-cane, gharu, gutta, and camphor-tree spirits) which are specially associated with particular trees.

The Hantu B’rok is the Baboon Demon (the B’rok being what is generally called the “cocoa-nut monkey,” a sort of big baboon); it is sometimes supposed to take possession of dancers, and enable them, whilst unconscious, to perform wonderful climbing feats.

The Hantu Belian, according to many Selangor Malays, is a tiger-spirit which takes the form of a bird. This bird is said to be not unlike the raquet-tailed king-crow (chenchawi), and to sit on the tiger’s back; whence it plucks out the tiger’s fur and swallows it, never allowing it to fall to the ground.60

The Hantu Songkei61 is the spirit who so often interferes with the toils for catching wild animals and snares for wildfowl (yang kachau jaring dan rachik). He is described as being invisible below the breast, with a nose of enormous length, and eye-sockets stretched sideways to such an extent that he can see all round him.

The following charm is recited in order to “neutralise” his evil influence:—

Peace be with you, grandson of the Spectre Huntsman,
Whose Dwelling-place is a solitary patch of primeval forest,
Whose Chair is the nook between the buttresses (of trees),
Whose Leaning-post the wild Areca-palm,
Whose Roof the (leaves of the) Tukas,
Whose Body-hairs are leaves of the Resam,
Whose Mattress leaves of the Lerek,
Whose Swing the (tree) Medang Jelawei,
And whose Swing-ropes are Malacca-cane-plants
The Gift of His Highness Sultan Berumbongan,
Who dwelt at Pagar Ruyong,
In the House whose posts were heart of the Tree-nettle,
Whose threshold a stem of Spinach,
Strewn over with stems of the Purut-purut,
Whose Body-hairs were inverted,
And whose Breasts were four in number,
To whom belonged the Casting-net for Flies,
And whose drum was “headed” with the skins of lice.
Break not faith with me,
(Or) you shall be killed by the Impact of the Sanctity of the Four Corners of the World,
Killed by the Impact of the Forty-four Angels,
Killed by the Impact of the Pillar of the Ka?bah,
Killed by the Thrust of the sacred Lump of Iron,
Killed by the Shaft of the Thunderbolt,
Killed by the Pounce of Twilight Lightning,
Killed by the Impact of the Thirty Sections of the Koran,
Killed by the Impact of the Saying, “There is no god but God,”
etc.

Giants are called Bota (Bhuta), Raksasa, and Gargasi (gasi-gasi or gegasi), or sometimes Hantu Tinggi (“Tall Demons”), the first two of these names being clearly derivable from a Sanskrit origin.

In addition to those enumerated we may add the various classes of “good people,” such as the Bidadari (or Bediadari) or Peri (fairies and elves), which are of foreign origin, and the “Orang Bunyian,” a class of Malay spirits about whom very little seems known. The latter appear to be a race of good fairies, who are so simple-minded that they can be very easily cheated. Thus it is always said of them, that whenever they come into a hamlet, as they may occasionally do, to buy anything, they always pay without bargaining whatever price is asked, however exorbitant it may be. I have been told of their existence at Kapar village (near Klang in Selangor), at Jugra, where it was said they might formerly be heard paddling their boats upon the river when no boat was visible, and elsewhere.

Besides these there are several kinds of bloodsucking (vampire) demons, which are mostly Birth-spirits; and also certain incubi, such as the Hantu Kopek, which is the Malay equivalent of our own “night-mare.”

1 Journal of the Indian Archipelago, vol. iv. p. 573.?

2 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 7, pp. 11, 12.?

3 Swettenham, Malay Sketches, p. 192.?

4 Mr. R. J. Wilkinson in J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 30, p. 308.?

5 The following are the deities most usually inscribed in the “magic square” of five: 1. Kala (black), which is an epithet of Shiva; 2. Maheswara, which means Great Lord, an epithet of Shiva; 3. Vishnu; 4. Brahma; 5. S’ri (the wife of Vishnu); or else the names are mentioned in this order: 1. Brahma; 2. Vishnu; 3. Maheswara (Shiva); 4. S’ri; 5. Kala. Kali, Durga, or Gauri, is the wife of Shiva; Sarasvati is the wife of Brahma. See inf. p. 545, seqq. In the magic word Aum (OM): A = Vishnu, U = Shiva, M = Brahma.?

6 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 30, p. 309. This is the water of life called Amrita, to obtain which, by churning the ocean, Vishnu assumed one of his avatars—that of the tortoise.?

7 Cp. Crawfurd, Hist. of the Ind. Archipelago, vol. ii. p. 219. “From some of the usual epithets bestowed upon Siwa by the pagan Javanese, and still familiar to their posterity, the pre-eminence of this deity is clearly demonstrated.... He is the same personage who acts so distinguished a part in the machinery of Malayan and Javanese romances, under the appellation of Guru, or the instructor, prefixing to it the word Batara, a corruption of Avatara, both in sense and orthography, for with the Indian islanders that word is not used as with the genuine Hindus, to express the incarnation of a god, but as an appellation expressing any deity; nay, as if conferring an apotheosis upon their princes, it has been sometimes prefixed to the names of some of the most celebrated of their ancient kings. When Siwa appears in this character, in the romances of the Indian islanders, he is painted as a powerful, mischievous, and malignant tyrant—a description sufficiently consonant to his character of Destroyer in the Hindu triad”; and, again, “ywang is a Javanese word used in the same sense as batara.... Usually the obsolete relative pronoun sang, which has the sense, in this case, of a definite article, is placed before it. Thus sangywang guru is the same as batara guru.... It is probably the same word also which forms the last part of a word in extensive use, sÂmbahayang, ‘worship or adoration.’”—Crawfurd, Mal. Grammar, p. cxcviii. To this I may add that the form ywang, when used by the Peninsular Malays, becomes “yang,” sangyang being also found.

Another (and probably better) etymology of batara is given by Favre and Wilken, viz. Sanskr. bhattara, “lord.”?

8 To these should perhaps be added dewa, mambang (?), and sa-raja (or sang raja), if Mr. Wilkinson’s explanation of this last expression be taken as correct. And in any case its use in combination with guru appears to warrant its classification with the titles applied to the greater deities. It is also, however, used, like sang, of inferior deities and even of animals (e.g. in a “Spectre Huntsman” charm) we find “Lansat, sa-raja anjing, etc.” Dewa is used indiscriminately (occasionally in conjunction with mambang) both of the greater and lesser divinities. Thus we not unfrequently find such expressions as Dewa Bisnu (i.e. Vishnu), dewa mambang, dewa dan mambang, etc.; and we are expressly told that they (the Dewas) “are so called because they are immortal.” Mambang (per se) is said to be similarly used, not only of greater (vide App. xvii.), but of lesser divinities, and “Mambang Tali Harus,” god of mid-currents, has even been explained as referring to Batara Guru (Shiva). This, however, is no doubt an instance of confusion, as it generally appears to be used with the “colour” attributes (e.g. M. puteh, White; M. hitam, Black; M. kuning, Yellow) usually assigned to the inferior divinities; and, moreover, in an invocation addressed to the sea-spirit, the “god of mid-currents” is requested to forward a message to Dato’ Rimpun ?Alam, which appears to be merely another name for Batara Guru, the reason given for the preferment of this request being that he is in the habit of “visiting the Heart of the Seas” in which ’Toh Rimpun ?Alam dwells (the title of the latter being perhaps taken from the tree, Pauh Janggi).?

9 Footnote supra. Sambu (Sambhu, the Auspicious One) is merely another name for Shiva (rarely of Brahma), and its application to the crocodile-spirit would appear to indicate that this latter was, formerly, at least, regarded as an embodiment of that supreme god’s manifestation as a water-god. It is worth while to compare this with the expression “’Toh Panjang Kuku,” which is applied to the corresponding manifestation of the supreme god on land, and which strongly suggests the tiger.

“Most of the theological words of this list [printed in App. xiv.] are Sanskrit, and afford proof sufficient, if any were needed, of the former prevalence of the Hindu religion among the Malays and Javanese. Many of them are more or less corrupted in orthography, owing to the defective pronunciation and defective alphabets of the Archipelago. Some, also, are altered or varied in sense. Tapas, ‘ascetic devotion,’ is deprived of its last consonant and becomes tapa. Avatar, ‘a descent,’ is converted into batara; and instead of implying the descent or incarnation of a deity, is used as an appellative for any of the principal Hindu deities. Combined with guru, also Sanskrit, it is the most current name of the chief god of the Hindus, worshipped by the Indian islanders, supposed to have been Vishnu, or the preserving power. It may be translated “the spiritual guide god,” or, perhaps, literally “the god of the spiritual guides,” that is, of the Brahmins. Agama in Sanskrit is “authority for religious doctrine”; in Malay and Javanese it is religion itself, and is at present applied both to the Mahomedan and the Christian religions. With nearly the same orthography, and in the same sense, Sanskrit words, as far as they extend, are used throughout the Archipelago, and even as far as the Philippines.”—Crawfurd, Mal. Grammar, pp. cxcvii.–cxcviii.?

10 Supra, p. 86.?

11 Some confirmation of this view may be found if we admit the explanation given me by a medicine-man, who identified the Spectre Huntsman with ’Toh Panjang-Kuku, and both with Batara Guru.?

12 The supreme god in the State Chamber (balei) is Batara Guru, on the edge of the primeval forest (di-gigi rimba) it is Batara Kala, and in the heart of the forest (di hati rimba) it is ’Toh Panjang Kuku, or “Grandsire Long-Claws.” Similarly “Grandsire Long-Claws” is lord of the shore down to high-water mark; between that and low-water mark Raja Kala is supreme, and Batara Guru di Laut (Shiva of the Ocean) from low-water mark out to the open sea.?

13 It is very difficult to ascertain the exact relation that ’Toh Mambang Tali Harus (God of Mid-currents) bears to Batara Guru di Laut. Most probably, however, the God of Mid-currents, whose powers are less extensive than those of the “Shiva of the Sea,” is an old sea-deity, native to the Malay (pre-Hindu) religion, and that “Shiva of the Sea” was merely the local Malay adaptation of the Hindu deity afterwards imported.?

14 Vide supra, p. 88, note. Yang berulang ka pusat tasek is the expression applied to Mambang Tali Harus.?

15 Vide supra, pp. 6, 7.?

16 It would appear not impossible that Sang Gala may be a corruption of Sangkara, one of the names of Shiva, which would account at once for the higher rank of this particular spirit, and for his possession of the titles enumerated above.?

17 Vide App. ccxxviii. Another account adds (with) “Black Throat and White Blood,” white blood being a royal attribute.?

18 Their names were (1) Sa-lakun darah (“He of the Blood-pool(?))”; (2) Sa-halilintar (“He of the Thunderbolt”); (3) Sa-rukup (= rungkup) Rang Bumi (“World-coverer”); (4) Sa-gertak Rang Bumi (“World-pricker”); (5) Sa-gunchang Rang Bumi (“World-shaker”); (6) Sa-tumbok Rang Bumi (“World-beater”) and (?) (7) Sa-gempar ?Alam (“Universe-terrifier”).?

19 The magician appears to have interpreted it as Benua ?ajam; but it may be conjectured that this is a mistaken inference from some expression like Jin ibnu Jan, “Jan,” according to some Arabic authorities, being the Father of the Genii, or, according to others, a particular class of them who are capable of being transformed into “Jin.” Vide Hughes, Dict. of Islam, s.v. Genii.?

20 Perhaps a corruption of Sartan, the Crab (Cancer) in the Zodiac.?

21 The following account of Genii (printed in the Selangor Journal, vol. i. No. 7, p. 102) was given me by a Mecca pilgrim or “Haji.” This man was a native of Java who had spent several years in the Malay Peninsula, and as Mecca is the goal of the pilgrimage to all good Muhammadans alike, it is important to know something of the ideas which are there disseminated, and with which the Malay pilgrim would be likely to come in contact. “In the unseen world the place of first importance must be accorded, on account of their immense numbers, to the ‘Jins’ (the ‘Genii’ of the Arabian Nights).”

“The Javanese, drawing a slightly stronger line of distinction (than that of good and bad genii in the Arabian Nights), call these two (separate) classes the Jin Islam and the Jin Kafir, or the Faithful and the Infidel. Of these two classes, the former shrink from whatever is unclean, and the latter only will approach the Chinese, to whom the Jin Islam manifests the strongest repugnance. The good genii are perfectly formed in the fashion of a man, but are, of course, impalpable as air, though they have a voice like mortals. They live in a mosque of their own, which they never leave, and where they offer up unceasing prayers. This mosque is built of stone, and stands beside a lake called ‘Kolam Yamani’; into this lake the whole of the waters from the neighbouring country drain, and the overflow runs down to the sea. In this lake the good genii bathe, and if any wicked or childless mortals bathe in it they carry them off and detain them in the mosque until they (the mortals) have shown proof of their reformed character by continuing for a long while without committing a wrong action, when they are sent back in safety to their native land. I should add that the Jin Islam exact tribute from the unfaithful—e.g. Chinamen—and if they do not receive their due, they will steal it and give it to a son of Islam. [They may be bought from the “Sheikh Jin” at Mecca for prices varying from $90 to $100 each.]

“The Jin Kafir, or bad genii, are invariably deformed, their heads being always out of their proper position; in short, they are Othello’s

Men whose heads

Do grow beneath their shoulders.

Their commonest name, ‘Jin isi-isi didalam Dunia’ (the Genii who Fill the World), is owing to the fact that their enormous numbers fill the whole atmosphere from earth to sky. Like the good Genii, they cannot die before the great day of judgment, but (unlike them) they are dumb.

“Great as their numbers are they are continually increasing, as they are suffered by God to get children after their kind. They are imps of mischief, and their whole time is spent in works of malice. Sometimes when there has been a long drought and a heavy shower of rain is poured down upon the earth by the angels at the bidding of God to cool the parched verdure, they will assemble their legions, bringing with them invisible cocoa-nut shells, one for each drop of rain. In these they catch each rain-drop as it falls, and herbs and trees alike wither for lack of moisture. Then the angels being wroth, cast thunderbolts upon them out of heaven, and these malicious elves take shelter in tall trees, which the thunderbolts blast in their fall. At another time they will climb one upon the other’s shoulders until they reach the sky, when the topmost elf kicks a neighbouring angel, and then they all fall together with a crash like thunder.”?

22 It is probable that the Arabic spirits here mentioned have, as in other cases, taken the place of native (Malay) spirits to whom similar functions were assigned, but whose names are now lost.?

23 There are, besides, one or two partly Arabic expressions which are occasionally used, e.g. Sidang (or Sedang) Saleh, Sidang (or Sedang) Mumin. It is probable that “Sidang” in these cases is a Malay word implying respectability (v. v. d. W. s.v.), so that Sidang Saleh may be translated “Sir Devout,” and Sidang Mumin, “Sir Faithful.”?

24 Hantu and sheitan are generic terms for evil spirits, the former being the Malay term, the latter Arabic.?

25 The Polong is a familiar spirit.?

26 The Pontianak and Penanggalan are childbirth spirits (vide pp. 327, 328, infra).?

27 The Jin is the genie of the “Arabian Nights” (vide pp. 93–97, supra).?

28 The Pelisit or Pelesit, like the Polong, is a familiar spirit (vide pp. 329–331, infra).?

29 The Mambangs are inferior Malay divinities (vide pp. 88 n., 91–93, supra).?

30 The Hantu Pemburu is the Spectre Huntsman (vide pp. 113–120, infra), for whom Hantu Rimba is probably a mere synonym.?

31 The Jadi-jadian is the Were-tiger (vide pp. 160–163, infra).?

32 The Bengkus I have not yet been able to identify.?

33 The Bota, Gargasi, and Raksasa (not raksaksa) are giants.?

34 The Nenek Kabayan does not appear to be a ghost at all; it may, however, possibly be a rare synonym for some well-known character in Malay folklore (such as the wife of the Man in the Moon). It is not so explained in the best Dutch dictionaries, however, but simply as the village messenger (dorpsbode) who sells flowers and carries lovers’ messages.?

35 The Himbasan I have not yet identified.?

36 The Sawan (i.e. Hantu Sawan) is the demon or devil which is believed to cause convulsions.?

37 The Hantu (orang) mati di-bunoh is the ghost of a murdered man.?

38 The Bajang is a familiar spirit (vide pp. 320–325, infra).?

39 The Hantu katagoran, sempak-kan, and puput-kan I have not been able to identify, and as the two last possess the verbal suffix it is clear that each is the name of a state or process and not of a ghost or demon. In fact, v. d. Wall gives (under sampok), kesampokan, which he explains as meaning “door een’ boozen geest getroffen zijn,” to be attacked or possessed by an evil spirit, which is doubtless the correcter form of the word. So with puput-kan, which is also a verbal form meaning (acc. to v. d. W.) “to blow (tr.),” to “sound a wind instrument.” It would seem that ?Abdullah’s list of “ghosts” is not very systematically drawn up.?

40 The ?efrit is a spirit of Arabian origin.?

41 The Jemalang (Jembalang) is a Malay earth-spirit.?

42 Terkena is a past participial form used of people who are thought to be “struck by” or “affected by” one of the foregoing demons.?

43 Ubat guna is a love-philtre.?

44 Gagah (usually penggagah) is the art of making one’s self bold or courageous.?

45 Penundok, the art of making one’s enemy yield (tundok).?

46 Pengasih, the art of making one’s self beloved by another.?

47 Kebal (pengebal) the art of making one’s self invulnerable.?

48 Kasaktian, the art of acquiring magic powers.?

49 Tuju (penuju), the art called “sending.”?

50 ?Alimun, the art of making one’s self invisible.?

51 Penderas, the art of making one’s self swift-footed.?

52 Perahuh (a misprint for peruah = peruang?) that of keeping water at a distance from one’s face when diving, and also, it is said, of walking on the water without sinking below the ankles.?

53 Chucha is, I believe, a love charm.?

54 Pelali, is the art of numbing or deadening pain.?

55 Perangsang, the art of exciting or whetting the temper of the dogs when hunting.?

56 Hik. Abdullah, p. 143. [Maxwell in J.R.A.S., S.B., No. ii N. and Q., No. 4, sec. 98.]?

57 Newbold, op. cit. vol.ii. p. 191.?

58 The name of this demon is probably connected with the Malay dongak, which means to “look upwards.” It is sometimes identified with the Hantu Pemburu, or wild huntsman, who, after hunting the earth, harked on his dogs through the sky, and whose head, from his continually looking upwards, became fixed in that position.?

59 The Hantu Raya is sometimes said to dwell in the centre of four cross-roads. There is a sea-spirit of the same name, Si Raya, which should, however, probably be identified with Batara Guru.?

60 Malay Sketches, p. 197.?

61 The name of this Demon (songkei = sa-ungkei?) is no doubt connected with the Malay ungkei or rungkei, which means to undo or unloose a knot. The only traps which it is said to interfere with are snares and rope-traps, and as the most obvious way in which they could be “interfered” with would be by untying or loosening their knots, the connection between the name of this spirit and the Malay rungkei to unloose or undo, is sufficiently obvious. The name, therefore, would appear to mean the “Untying” or “Loosening Demon,” naturally a most vexatious spirit to have anywhere near your snares or nooses.?

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