Malay Magic: Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay PeninsulaSkeat, Walter William
Religion
Malay Magic: Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula
Skeat, Walter William
Magic -- Malay Peninsula; Malays (Asian people) -- Folklore; Malays (Asian people) -- Social life and customs
On reaching the stakes, the Pawang (Bilal Umat) suspended the tray
from a projecting pole at the seaward end of the fishing-stakes,
[529] and then seating himself upon one of the timbers almost
directly underneath it, scattered handfuls of saffron-stained rice,
"washed" rice, and native cigarettes upon the water, just outside
the two seaward posts at the end of the stakes, and emptied out
the remainder of the parched rice upon the water just inside the
"head" of the stakes. Then he recited a charm, stirred the bowl of
neutralising rice-paste (tepong tawar) with the brush of leaves,
and taking the latter out of the bowl, sprinkled, or rather daubed it
first upon the two "tide-braces" of the stakes (first upon the left
"tide-brace," and then upon the right), then upon the heads of the
two upright posts next to the tide-braces, and then delegated the
brush to two assistants. One of these sprinkled the heads of all the
(remaining) upright posts in the seaward compartment of the stakes,
while the other boarded the big boat belonging to the stakes, and
sprinkled the boat and all its gear from stem to stern (commencing
on the left side of the bows, and working right down to the stern,
and then recommencing on the right and working down to the stern
again). Finally, the same assistant returning to the stakes, washed
the rice-bowl in the sea just beneath the place where Bilal Umat was
sitting, and fastened up the leaf-brush to the left-hand head-post
(kayu puchi kiri) at the seaward end of the stakes. To the above
account I may add that a number of taboos are still pretty rigorously
enforced by the fishing-wizards (Pawang B'lat) upon the coast of
Selangor. I was never allowed to take either an umbrella or boots
into the fishing-stakes when I visited them--the spirits having,
I was told, the strongest possible objection to the use of either.
Other "perpetual taboos" (pantang salama-lama-nya) are to bathe
without wearing a bathing-cloth (mandi telanjang), to throw the wet
bathing-cloth over the shoulder when returning to the house, and to
rub one foot against the other (gosok satu kaki dengan lain). Sarongs,
umbrellas, and shoes must never on any pretence be worn. I may add that
the first pole planted is called Turus Tuah (tua?), and if the response
of the spirits to the invocation be favourable, it is believed that
it will enter the ground readily, as if pulled from below. The only
seven-days' taboo which I have heard mentioned (though, no doubt,
there are many others) is the scrupulous observance of chastity.
A boat which possesses a knot in the centre of its keel, or to which
the smell of fish long adheres (p'rahu peranyir, or perhanyir),
is supposed to bring good luck to the fishermen.
There is also a regular "taboo language" used by the fishermen,
of which the following are examples:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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