Some Orang Seletar still practice animism in their daily lives, while others have converted to Islam or Christianity. However, some people still hold on to animistic practices and rituals even after conversion.
For example, Leti is a Christian, but still practices some ilmu (magic). This video has a demonstration of Leti doing a ritual:
For details of the rituals, see Rituals
Ilmu
Ilmu as a common concept in the Malay World (Nusantara , not just Orang Seletar
[National Museum Exhibition]
- In the Malay World, ilmu “knowledge” or hikmat “wisdom” are often used to denote a body of knowledge that is traditionally practiced by healers and shamans known as bomoh, dukun or pawang, who treat the sick and also act as mediators between the earthly and invisible realms
- In this worldview, magic helps people to safely negotiate the worldly domains of earth, jungle and water, as well as their boundaries. Magical rituals also serve to bridge the physical and spiritual dimensions and offer a means to protect life and preserve livelihoods, especially during times of vulnerability such as childbirth, harvests and journeys. The plants and animals used in these rituals are valued for their power to heal the body as well as shield the spirit
[Chan et al. interview, Leti]
- Ilmu is practised by bomoh/dukun/pawang/shaman, see below on how one gets such knowledge
- Some Orang Laut who have converted to Islam still possess animistic spiritual knowledge
- People who still hold onto animistic traditions as well
- Some as Muslims still practice it
- Some spiritual knowledge is beneficial, and others are harmful
- Leti’s conversion to Christianity
- Leti is now Christian
- Leti no longer retains any of the animistic spiritual knowledge now that she is a Christian
- Before conversion to christianity, she used rituals to pay respect to spirits of people who have passed away
- Leti and her family recovered from black magic, and since then they converted to Christianity
- Some family feud caused the black magic
- Some Orang Seletar still practice black magic now, but to a lesser extent than before, and only when they are in desperate situations
- For Muslim Malays, usually ilmu would naturally = ilmu hitam, because that is not adhering to Islam’s teachings (Chou, 2003, p. 53).
- Older generation are reluctant to pass it down to the younger generation
- Young people might abuse it to their advantage
- Leti thinks black magic should not be practiced anymore
- Better for people to seek help from God
- There are pantang larang related to spiritual knowledge
- Magic has strict rules and regulations, and people who don’t follow them will suffer consequences
- Spiritual knowledge that does not harm other people (e.g. used for personal protection, for beautification of one’s appearance) is still used now and it is fine to practice these.
[Chan et al. interview, Eddy]
- Stories from his grandmother: Black magic is often practiced (in the old days), sent through the wind
Some Beliefs
[Jumaat, 2017, chapter 7]
- Animistic belief is still quite observable in the Orang Seletar society
- Observable in their taboos of
- Pregnant women, births (see Pregnancy and postpartum taboos in traditional medicine), treatments, medicines, and death (see traditional medicine)
- A lot of these beliefs are influenced by the nature around them
- They believe that natural elements have penunggu (tutelary deity, see later below for more detail)
- They are very scared of thunder and lightning
- They think eventually the thunder and lightning will kill those who hurts others or those that have wronged and broken taboos
- The Orang Seletar also believe that women who have died during childbirth, their souls will come back to haunt other people
- If a person died because of the acts of another, his soul will come back to take revenge
- The existence of hantu laut ‘sea spirits’ (see later parts for details), and the spirits need to be fed by the people giving offerings/worshipping them
- e.g. buang ancak is a way of offering food to the spirits, see Rituals
- The Orang Seletar believe that when a person falls sick it is the cause of bad spirits (see Incantations and Prayers)
- When it starts to rain a sunny rain, they find shelter
- They believed that if they get drenched in the sunny rain they will fall sick, have a fever
- If there is no shelter, they will take tree leaves and insert them into their ears to prevent the fever
- Only with the help of the shaman, can this fever be recovered
[Ariffin bin Nopiah, 1979, p. 37]
- many pantang larang (taboos). When broken, it will result in the offender suffering illness or even death.
- Do not eat flesh of dogs, snakes or crocodiles
- must not play with mirrors during the rainy season, nor cut their fingernails at night
[Amir and Hamid 2014, p. 183]
- For Orang Seletar, their life is fully dependent on their environment which they have adapted to. Therefore, no one can take anything from the nature without permission of spirits. Nature does not to belong to anyone except the god. Therefore, when they go to sea to catch marine produtcts, they will ask for permission from the Hantu Laut which is regarded as the guardian of the sea
[Chan et al. interview]
- A spell is cast over a pancak (spear) [in hopes of good hunting]
- Anyone who puts it on the ground or steps on it might be struck with illness
[Chan et al. interview, Eddy]
- A feast ritual was done by the Orang Seletar community to summon their ancestor’s spirit before the clearing of the cemetery which was required by the state to use the land
- communicated with a spirit that entered the body of a villager and also a spirit of an earlier Tok Batin entering his dream (see video below)
Beliefs about food offered
Asiah and Suradi, p. 26
- The orang seletar believe in ‘punan’. According to this belief, when someone is offered with food, he must not refuse it even though he is not hungry. He must at least take a pinch of the food offered or just place his hands on the food offered. If a person does not follow this procedure, the Orang Seletar believe that the person will meet with an accident or will be bitten by a snake
Note about snakes: Asiah and Suradi 1977 p. 26:
- snakes are deadly and dirty. To them, all snakes are poisonous and they carry diseases.
- A dead snake was found in one of the drinking wells. On learning this, the people living near this well got together to remove the snake from the well, and “washed” the well. They took turns emptying the water from the well. Even the mud wall and bed of the well is removed and thrown away because they believe that it had been contaminated by the snake. This well was left to refill itself before it was used again about a week later
Bomoh/Dukun/Pawang ‘Shaman + Medicine Man’
[Jumaat (2017)]
- Orang Seletar believed that each disease has its own cure
- Asked shaman for cure
- The shaman/ pawang /bomoh is (was?) considered to have powers or a super human
- Not just a curer of diseases, he can also chase away saka (see later below)
- The Orang Seletar believe that when a person falls sick it is the cause of bad spirits
- The pawang will cure the sick by reading the spells to remove the bad spirit in the patient
- The spells are preventors, but also act as protective spells from diseases and disasters
- Children suffering from bloated tummies, high fever,
- The shaman will treat them with the respective spells
- Outsiders also believe they can make love spells (see interview with Leti)
- Some outsiders ask the bomoh of sungai temon (Leti’s family and relatives) to procure love spells
- Nowadays, for the orang seletar, because of the advent of modern technology, the visits to the bomoh have decreased and are used only for spiritual guidance
- Only a dukun or a pawang, a shaman can treat people who are cursed (see below on penunggu) and give them back their *semangat (*good spirits)
- When it starts to rain a sunny rain, they find shelter
- They believe that if they get drenched in the sunny rain they will fall sick, have a fever
- If there is no shelter, they will take tree leaves and insert them into their ears to prevent fever
- Only with the help of the shaman, can this fever be recovered
[Amir and Hamid 2014, p. 183]
- The shaman in Orang Seletar culture is to cure physical and soul diseases. Almost all of the spells that are used by the shaman in healing have correlations with sea environments. Healing also involves the help of Serampai spirits (=*hantu laut ‘*sea spirit’).
- Some of the spells can prevent the rain from falling down, other spells include those that can cure the poison of ikan duri (Arius spp), ikan pari (Aetomylaeuss spp), ikan sembilang (Plotosus canius) and spells to cure the disease caused by the bad spirit known as makhluk tali aus.
[Chan et al. interview Leti]
- Dukuns have more knowledge than the average person
- Every village has their own dukun
[Jumaat 2017, Lam Bin Kapit]:
- According to her, not only the descendents of bomoh can be bomoh, one can become bomoh by learning and studying
- Can become bomoh also from a dream or learn from someone else
[Chan et al. interview Leti]
- Dreams were a common way through which Orang Seletar gained spiritual knowledge
- In the dreams, a person appears to convey the knowledge (=ilmu) to them
- Spiritual knowledge gets passed down through the generations
- People can choose what knowledge to inherit, and they usually choose to inherit knowledge related to healing
- Leti chose to learn how to cure headaches from her mother
[Asiah and Suradi 1977, p. 27]
- use Jampi (spells) for minor ailments like headache, toothache, and stomachache.
- Jampi is the process of reciting magical lines into a glass of water so as to empower it with curing properties. The water is given to the sick person to drink
- If the patient is not cured after a day, another person is resorted to do another ‘jampi’. This goes on until the patient is cured.
- Almost every adult male in the settlement is able to ‘jampi’. The practice is passed on by the elders.
- After a few attempts and the patient is not cured, they seek the doctor
[Folklore plot, see Seletar Folklore for details]
- Family members jampi (cast spells) on the characters that were either acting bizarre or dying in hopes of curing them
[Ariffin bin Nopiah, 1979, p. 37]
- the majority of present member of this community with whom I have discussed the subject, claim to have little, if any, belief in spirits, or in the efficacy of the rituals which purport to deal with them. Thus the role of bomoh is certainly not as important among the Orang Seletar of today as it was in the old society. But every informant claimed to believe in the existence and the power of Tuhan (see later parts of this page on this).
Known shamans
[Juma’at 2017]
- Lam bin Kipat (see above on Bomoh)
[Chan et al. interview]
- Leti’s mother (probably), Leti learned from her (but only on how to cure headaches)
- Some people seek her help for ilmu pengasih (love spells)
- Sometimes parents would use love spells to link their child to someone of their choice
- Some people seek her help for ilmu pengasih (love spells)
- Leti’s cousin (no name mentioned, is it Lam?)
- Leti’s cousin is a dukun or a spiritual healer
- Leti’s uncle: Batin Buruk
- Helped the sultan court his second wife
- Buruk did jampi (spell, applied mantras) onto a handkerchief, and asked the Sultan to sleep with it after mentioning her name
- In the end he did managed to marry her
- The sultan is close to the Orang Seletar
- And obey their words (words relating to ilmu)
- Leti heard this story from her aunt
Makhluk halus
- [Jumaat 2017, Lam Bin Kapit] The ability to cure sickness and perform supernatural things comes from blessings from makhluk halus (supernatural forces/spirits) that are nearby
Tuhan Tinggi and Hantu Laut
[Ariffin bin Nopiah, 1979, p. 35]
- Belief in a High God, for whom they use the Malay word Tuhan, and belief in spirits and powers of various kinds. Tuhan is clearly the highest supernatural power recognised by Orang Seletar, and is said to be the creator of the world. Orang Seletar say that if they get into difficulties, they may pray to Tuhan to help them, addressing their prayers through a keramat. Keramat are spirits of good people who have died
- Recognise good and bad spirits. Good spirits are believed to protect the people, and are said to be in close contact with Tuhan. Bad spirits, on the other hand, always want to cause trouble. Among the latter are spirits of people who have died because somebody did something bad to them. Wishing always for revenge, these spirits wander around causing trouble to people.
- Another class of bad spirits are those of women who have died in childbirth
- Bad spirits are thought to be the cause of sickness, and the only person who is able to exorcise them, and so allow a person to recover from sickness is a bomoh.
- Every informant (of the interval) claimed to believe in the existence and the power of Tuhan
- And one person told me that when somebody dies, his or her soul goes to rest in another world, the dunia asal ‘the original world’ where it will enjoy the company of the ancestors. Those who have been good in their lifetime may expect good treatment in the dunia asal, those who had done wrong may expect to suffer
[Amir and Hamid 2014, p. 182]
- In their belief systems, Orang Seletar believed in a god known as Tuhan Tinggi (High God). Tuhan Tinggi is said to be the creator of the world (Ariffin 1979:35).
- They also believe in spirits. The spirits comprise of good spirits and bad spirits. Good spirits are believed to protect the people and said to be in close contact with Tuhan Tinggi. The good spirits are also known as Hantu Laut.
- Hantu Laut comprises 3 types of spirits that are Serampai, Hawa and Siti Hawa.
- Serampai is regarded as father spirit. Hawa is regarded as mother spirit and Siti Hawa as daughter spirit
- Serampai spirit is located at the open sea about 48 km from sea shores. Meanwhile Hawa spirit is located in areas between open seas and sea shores, about 16 km from sea shores and Siti Hawa spirit is located along sea shores.
- Therefore, for anyone who wanted any aid or help, they should call for help based on right location and spirits.
- In the Orang Seletar ritual known as kenduik moyang (=kenduri moyang), they also present some meal to Hantu Laut as a symbolic for their respect (Figure 21). It’s done by putting the meals on water.
- similar to buang ancak
Penunggu (also called hantu of different kinds)
[Jumaat 2017]
- Since the days of their ancestors they believe that every beach, sea, bay, streams big or small, mangrove trees, ficus, whirlpool (tempat air berpusar), stone, cave, birds and animals have their own ‘penunggu’ i.e. souls/deity/guardian spirit
- The beaches and the sea where they find their livelihood are to be taken care of and respected as best as possible
- To this day, the Orang Seletar do not make noise, call someone’s names when they see something weird or strange, peculiar when in the mangrove trees or in the sea
- According to them, it is very worrying to break a taboo
- And those who break them will be cursed ‘terkena sampuk / dinah’
- Their catch will lessen because the sea spirits ate them
- Those who said something they should not and who breaks the taboo when out at sea or on the beach will start speaking nonsense, unintelligibly like a crazy person
- Only a dukun or a pawang, a shaman can treat them and give them back their semangat (good spirit) which was cursed (terkena sampuk)
- They cannot urinate or deficate wherever they want, or cut mangrove trees and bushes without first asking the approval of ‘hantu’ guardians of the beach/shore beforehand
- When asking for approval of the penunggu, they will say ‘datuk, anak cucu minta izin…’ and then start to do their work
- datuk means ‘grandfather’, the penunggu are referred to as ancestors, and the practitioners refer to themselves as anak cucu ‘grandchildren’
- Worshipping the hantu laut also helps them in their livelihood when they have to go out to sea to catch fish and so they pray for a good catch / a lot of catch
- The Shaman when curing people who are cursed, will ask for help from the spirits Raja Mambang: Mambang Tali Arus Besar, Mambang Tali Arus Kecil, Mambang Tanah and Mambang Air, who are intermediates between the shaman and the ‘penunggu laut’ that caused the curse
- Kampung Bakar Batu is called Tanjung Hantu ‘Cape of spirits’, in early times as it was a place strong with penunggu ‘keras yang berpenunggu’
- Long ago, when the Orang Seletar wanted to cut down big trees to make their boats, they had to prepare food to invite the tree penunggu to eat beforehand
- White crocodile: a penunggu. If they encounter white crocodiles during their fishing, it is a good sign
- The white crocodile is called by them buaya keramat ‘sacred crocodile’ and believed to protect them during their fishing out in the sea
[Sather 1999, p. 18]
- penunggu = tree spirits, which must be feasted before a tree may be felled
[Benjamin (2016, p. 521)]
- according to Mariam Ali’s study (probably her BA Thesis)
- doesn’t mention penunggu, but mentions that the Orang Seletar treated specific large trees as spirit charged sites, and their mediums (shamans) communicate with local crocodile spirits.
Siti Omar (2020, p. 32)
- Another ritual known as bersemah is a ceremony that is intended to “cure” and protect the village through the pacification of the penunggu (guardian spirit). During this ceremony, my interviewees recalled how mantras were addressed to these invisible beings, food offerings were presented, and rice perceived as a bestowal from God for the welfare and survival of human beings was scattered around the village. Most importantly, my interviewees (and the villagers in general) were notified to remain indoors and abstain from removing anything from the environment (i.e. no fishing, plucking plants and digging the soil) to attain the desired balance with nature.
- (Orang Kallang and Seletar) Buang ancak was also conducted to “adopt” the hantu laut who would ensure a good catch, delay storms when instructed, aid divers in holding their breath underwater and win sailing races for their “masters”
- Orang Seletar carried out this ritual when deceased relatives or the hantu appear in their dreams to communicate their desire for food to satisfy their hunger and to “pay” for transgressions respectively (see Rituals)
- p. 33 penunggu were referred to as ancestor, need to recite mantra to show respect, see Incantations and Prayers
- p. 35 The Orang Seletar who had converted to Islam and Christianity admitted to practising rituals such as buang ancak and bersemah when they were still animists, though they ceased doing so after their conversion.
[Samsur 2019, p. 146]
- There are different types of spirits: Hantu laut, Hantu Bakau, Jembalang (a type of earth spirit), Polong
- Penunggu lebung (a penunggu residing in the deep part of the river)
[Ariffin bin Nopiah, 1979, p. 36]
- Certain trees, lightning and white crocodiles are also believed to possess supernatural power. Thus in the old days, when the Orang Seletar wanted to cut a lrge tree to make a boat, they had first to perform a small rite in which they would give a feast to penunggu, the spirit of the tree.
- So far as lightning is concerned, the Orang Seletar say that it will sooner or later kill a person who always does wrong.
- And as for white crocodiles, they are believed to protect the Orang Seletar when they go hunting the ordinary crocodiles.
Saka
- [Chan et al. interview, Leti] saka = asking for help from ancestors. One who uses saka needs to oblige to its requests (i.e. feed it)
- saka is something that is kept
- Leti no longer keeps a saka because she has converted to Christianity, she got rid of her saka
Pengeras
A payment given to a bomoh/dukun for their healing and/or teachings.
[Chan et al. interview, Leti]
- Pre-determined compensation to buang suay (prevent bad luck)
- By right, the spiritual hearing should not be sold for monetary price
- A pengeras or a compensation in the form of gifts are given instead
- Different form of healing services have different pengeras (i.e. different payments)
- e.g. [Chan et al. interview] A pengeras needs to be paid to the person who carries out the childbirth process.
- [Jamilah 2014, p. 159] The midwives will be paid with salt, asam, a needle, a candlenut and a bit of money
- very similar to the pengeras used in the video at the beginning of the page, more details see Rituals
- [Chan et al. interview] Sometimes the pengeras is difficult to find
A pengeras is also paid/offered to spirits to pray for good things/safety/health etc. in the form of buang ancak (see later parts on hantu laut) and in Rituals
Anak Hantu / Pendamping (similar to saka?)
[Jumaat 2017, Lam Bin Kapit]
- To call the pendamping or anak hantu, you have to burn incense and prepare some food for offerings which is requested by the anak hantu
- During a particular time of the month, for example when the moon is full they have to say prayers of worship to the anak hantu
Similar ilmu between Seletar and Orang Suku Laut of Riau
[Chou 2003, p. 55]
- The orang laut are said to possess the most extensive ilmu, which enables them to diagnose and cure various illnesses, safeguard pregnancies and deliver babies, construct houses, control the maritime world and winds, hunt and gather jungle resources to supplement their diet, pull in crowds when they entertain with their musical instruments during joget sessions, propitiate or intimidate spirits and control souls. Furthermore, the orang laut are always fearfully seens as concentrating their efforts upon preparing love potions to induct others into their way of life. While the Orang Laut acknowledge that they indeed possess the most powerful ilmu in the Malay world, they maintain that they only practise good ilmu. My orang laut informants have always stressed that they acquire their ilmu through formal training. The orang laut will form an attachment as a student or disciple to an established dukun. By going through a ceremony of initiation, the student will obtain the right to use the ilmu thus transmitted
- p. 64 Spirits come in dreams, asking for food etc
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