[Juma’at, 2017]
- The Orang Seletar use spells to cure diseases, seduce people, control nature etc.
- The Orang Seletar believe that when a person falls sick it is due to the presence of bad spirits. The pawang will cure the sick by reading the spells to move the bad spirit away from the sick
- For children suffering from bloated tummies, high fever etc., the shaman will treat them with the respective spells (see below photo)
- Their spells have some islamic features, e.g. they start with saying Bismillah (in the name of Allah) and ends with blessing from Allah (see below photo)
Note: According to Chou 2003, Malay Muslim healers claim that they only use Qu’ranic verses to cast their spells
- It might be the case that Juma’at interviewed Muslim Orang Seletar healers (see Siti Omar 3rd point below)
- The pronouns used in the above photo (aku ‘I’, kau ‘you’) are not the common pronouns used by the Orang Seletar (which are am or kami ‘I’, ai ‘you’)
[Siti Omar 2020, p. 36]
- My interviewees were reminded by their elders to do the tabid datuk nenek as a way of demonstrating respect to the penunggu (who were referred to as ancestors) in order to avoid misfortune
- done when the people go out to sea or entering new or unknown territory
- Muslim Orang Seletar insisted that the tabid datuk nenek ritual (salutations to the ancestors, i.e. the mantras) was not at odds with Islam since the Quran states that the supernatural world exists and that respect to all entities was obligatory
- The ritual though was modified as one could now choose to recite bismillah (in invocation used by Muslims at the start of any task) instead of saluting the guardian spirits.
[Chan et al. Interview with Tok Batin Salim Palon]
- Seletar use their own language in their prayers
- An example of a prayer can be seen in this video
(My attempt at transcribing the prayer) note: am, kami ’I’ ; ai ’you’, ika ‘here’
[in Malay orthography]
Yok, minta rez(e)ki banyak
O ika ai dah bayar kami
am minta badan nyok am sihat
kasih lah
ai dah bayar dengan kami
sebab tu ilmu kami pun minta tajum (s)aja
[in IPA]
yoʔ, mintaʔ rəski baɲaʔ
o eka ai da baya kami,
am minta badan ɲo am sehat
kaseh lah
ei da baya dəŋan kamiʔ
səbap tu elmu kami pun mintaʔ tajum ajə
(translation in the video)
Oh spirits, I’m seeking your blessings
I have duly paid the offerings
I ask of you to grant me health
I thank you
I have already paid you with offerings
I ask for you to sharpen my ilmu knowledge
Asiah and Suradi 1977, p.. 25
- For minor ailments of headache, toothache and stomach-ache, the Orang Seletar use jampi to cure it. (details see Traditional Medicine)
- unable to ilicitate lines in the ‘jampi’, as it is a strong secret among them
Chan et al. interview
- During WWII and the Japanese Occupation, in order to protect themselves from injury and death during the war, the Orang Seletar casted spells on the Japanese guns. They were able to survive the war unscathed
NOTE::::[Chou 2003]
- the Orang Suku Laut of Riau cannot disclose the actual words of the spells
- the author knows them but to safeguard the culture she does not reveal them
Take the incantations written by Juma’at above with a grain of salt
in the video above, the words are likely part of a prayer and not a spell
During the sharing of the event https://www.esplanade.com/whats-on/festivals-and-series/series/the-studios/events/what-is-living-what-has-been-lost-what-more-can-we-be
- Villager of kg pasir putih shared that if they (all seletar people from different places) were all forced to live together in a single place due to relocation, they might have internal conflicts and people might resort to using spells to wish each other harm. Such spells or curses can be obtained by the land/forest orang asli (unclear if it is the jakun or others)
Orang Seletar Digital Resource 