The following was told to me by the helper who participated in the sessions. The names have been omitted to protect the identities of the dukun and his helper.
The kampongs had their mystic encounters as late as the 1980’s and 1990’s. Trying to change the future in such avenues as love and human emotions had a place in the villages across the river from me.
Communication about the people who could intervene between the human and spiritual world was usually word of mouth. The dukun could be found working in a government office or any ordinary place. A person would ask the dukun to come to his house that evening to have a session. They would arrive on a motorbike to the house of the afflicted.
The dukun would appear with his helper (Tukang Tilik) at the house just after Maghrib, the sunset call to prayer. The helper would then spread a mat on the floor. The afflicted and others would then watch.
The helper would withdraw playing cards from her bag. These cards would have the jokers and 2-6 of all four suits missing. The deck had to be removed from a place where illegal gambling was held. Then, they were buried for three successive Fridays at the head of a recently deceased person. After the third Friday, they were dug by the helper alone.
The 32 remaining cards were shuffled until the dealer was satisfied. The top card was occasionally thumped with the thumb. This could take a few minutes to half an hour. The sound, flicked by the thumb on the deck of cards, was key.
Each card had a separate meaning. For example, the king of hearts represented a man. The ace of hearts means emotion or feelings. The queen indicated a woman, while the jacks represent a young person. The 10s represent money, wealth or a house, the 9’s represent thoughts, feelings or emotions, the eights were a signal for a journey while the 7’s represent a change. The cards were then arranged 7 across and 4 down. With four cards left, the cards are then read, with each of the remaining four cards placed on the other cards. A story is told depending on the arrangement. Usually, the helper has never met the person.
Meanwhile, the dukun then fills a bucket with water, three lemons, secures a knife from the household to slice lemons with and a sarong. The sick person is bathed in the sarong with lemons cut in half and squeezed into the bath water. After the bath, he dressed up and lays down on the floor. The dukun then goes outside and cuts portions of male and female creeping plant with the knife and ties 5 knots in the vines. He then ties up the person with the vines. Placing his hands on the patient’s shoulders, he reads a passage from the Koran or an ancient saying from the kampong. He then says, “evil spirit be gone”. The person often violently shakes. The spirit then retreats into the leaves of the creeping plant. The plant with the leaves must then be disposed of in the forest.
In another episode, the helper arrives and performs her fortune-telling to see if the person is cursed with a bad spirit. If it is determined that black magic is the cause, he will then call for a candle, egg and a long needle. The helper asks the sick person’s name. She then recites koranic verses or adat sayings over him. The patient is seated with the feet facing the K’aba. She repeats the sayings with the candle and egg, often kissing the candle in a vertical manner to place the sick person sickness inside the candle and egg. She then reads the do’a and waves the egg three times in a circular motion around the patient.
The candle is then lit, and the egg is put in a glass of water. The room is made as dark as possible. The candle backlights the egg, and an image of the person who caused the disease appears in the egg. It is often a clear picture, more negative like, but from the image, one can tell who placed the curse on the patient.
The needle is then taken and the mantra “I am not piercing the egg but am returning the spirit to you” is recited. The egg is then pierced. The helper takes the egg outside and throws it as far as she can and a loud boom-like sound is made.
In one case, there were houses behind the house and the egg could not be thrown. The helper placed the egg in her flowing pocket and hopped on the back of the motorbike. After a while, there is a rose a stink of rotten eggs from her pocket. The egg had changed from fresh to rotten in that short period of time. She threw the egg into the river, and it reported back with a loud bang. The bad spirit had left the egg.
As the 90s blended into the 2000s and more and more Islamic preachers came into the kampongs, the practice with the cards became known as syirik, against Islam. Yet, people came to her requesting the fortune-telling of the deck of cards. As the old people died off and modern ideas of the Internet and cell phones progressed, the practice has completely ended.
Yet, who would believe in such nonsense as spirits and cards and candles? It must be remembered the adat or traditions believed that spirits lived among them. People could manipulate the spirits to cause harm to others. There are incantations where people recited them to prevent the spirits from entering the body. There are also mystical stories which were handed down from generation to generation. These beliefs fade into the mists of time. There is western education, but when the unexplained happens, people revert to the ancient ways. That’s my explanation. Maybe there are spirits around, and I just have not encountered them because I don’t believe in them. That’s what the helper says.
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