The Osing Agricultural Spirit-Robert Wessing

5/28/2018 The Osing Agricultural Spirit-Robert Wessing

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The Osing Agricultural Spirit-MediumLe mdium des esprits en milieu agricole osing

Robert Wessing

p. 111-124

Rsum|Index|Plan|Texte|Bibliographie|Notes|Citation|Auteur

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EnglishFranais

Dans le pass, les communauts de lEst de Java ont coordonn leurs activits agricoles, y compris le respect des obligations rituellesdu peuple lesprit tutlaire charg du maintien de la fertilit des terres de la communaut. La personne en charge de cela tait lefondateur de la communaut ou de lun de ses descendants, le membre de la ligne qui entra le premier dans une relationdobligations avec lesprit-propritaire des terres du village. Au cours des cinquante dernires annes, lvolution politique, agricoleet religieuse ont entran des changements dans la faon dont ces obligations rituelles sont remplies. Aujourdhui, lentit adresse,si les anciennes obligations rituelles sont satisfaites du tout, est souvent caractrise comme la desse du riz ou Dieu. Ceci est facilitpar lide que les entits spirituelles sont indissociables catgoriellement, et laspect soulign dpend des besoins du moment.

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Entres dindex

Mots-cls :

rituel agricole,Java Oriental,lignage du fondateur,islamisation,jaga tirtha,modin banyu,Osing,Asie du Sud-Est,esprit

tutlaire

Keywords :

agricultural ritual,East Java,founders line,Islamization,jaga tirtha,modin banyu,Osing,Southeast Asia,tutelary spirit

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Plan

Introduction

Southeast Asia

Wali Puhun

East Java

Change

Conclusion

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Introduction1It would be tempting to gloss the termsdhukunorpawangwith shaman. However, unlike the classical (...)

2These often seem to be descriptive titles adopted by the authors of the various books and articles. (...)
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1In the course of the performance of various agricultural rituals in East Java, e.g. the seblangdance (Wessing1999) or the keboan ritual (Siswanto & Prasetyo 2009), one person that takes center stage, but at the same timeremains in the background, is thepawangor dhukun, the man who mediates between the community and thespirits of both the communitys founder and the nature spirit(s) that are thought to con trol the fertility of the soil,and thus the communitys welfare.1His functions include not only the leadership of those annual rituals, but oftenalso the conduct of smaller, but no less important rituals conducted at various times at the rice field. In fact, in theliterature he is often known under various titles that relate to these latter functions.2Among the Osing of theBanyuwangi area he is most often called thejagatirtaor modin banyu, the guardian of the waters.

3Cf. Mus (1975). For an example of how a nature spirit is changed into a tutelary spirit see Domenig (...)

2In both the seblangand the keboanrituals, thepawangmust be a descendant of the founder of the community.The reason for this is that the rituals originated in an agreement between the nature spirit-owner of the land andthe founder of the community: in exchange for permission to use the soil, the spirit-owner was given certainprivileges and guarantees, the latter including the annual rituals described here.3In return the spirit-ownerbecame the communitys tutelary spirit (Jav.dhanyang) that guaranteed the fertility of the fields and the welfare ofthe community. Thus, although in many places this role is now in decline, the pawang ideally represents thefounder, and his or her descendants, vis--vis the spirit world.

Southeast Asia

3An important article on the role of the founders line in Southeast Asia was written by F.K.Lehman:

[] the original and ultimate owners having dominion over the face of the land are the spirit lords commonly associatedwith more or less prominent features of the landscape. What is rather more particular to this part of the world is the ideathat when the first human settlers began to clear any given tract of land, they had to make a contract with these spiritlords. This contract ensured that there would continue to be communication between the two parties as long as both sideslived up to the requirements of that contract. The exclusive right to serve as mediators between the lords and humansettlers is supposed to pass to the hereditary heirs and successors of the original founders of the settlement, in perpetuity.This is the very essence of the founders cult. (Lehman 2003: 16.)

4As Bellwood (1996: 25) observes, especially the leaders of the founders line, sometimes characterized as theSource of the Domain, tended to occupy central political positions in the community. Thus, Hayami (2003: 134)writes of the Karen of Thailand that the hi khoor village head is the exclusive mediator with the spirits, though aswe will see this does not everywhere mean that he is the administrative leader. Rather, she emphasizes (2003:136, 139-40), his is a ritual claim as he was the first man (or the patrilineal descendant of the first man) to open

the forest in that location, and establish a relationship with the Lord of the Water and Land, the guardian spirit ofthe place. It was this mans ritual capacities that brought fertility and prosperity. Similarly among the Akha ofNorthern Thailand, the village ruler (dzma) is a man close to the source of the communitys potency, who is

responsible for the channeling of proper fertility [] to the village (Tooker 1996: 332-3). Further a field, e.g. inIndia and as far away as Madagascar, similar relations exist (Stutley & Stutley 1984: 345; Bloch 1985: 640).

4See for instance Scholz (1962) for Eastern Indonesia.

5In Indonesia the relationship is widespread as well. Among Sakuddei of Mentawai humans make offerings to thespirits and request their permission to exploit the jungle in accordance with the primordial agreement (Schefold2002: 427), while according to the Kerinci of Sumatra the founder even married the forest spirit (Bakels 2000:114, 172). In South Sulawesi spirits own the land and assure its fertility in exchange for offerings (Buijs 2006: 45,112). Similarly among the Toraja the indo padang is a rice-priest or mother of rice, who is the ritual specialistin charge of the fertility of the rice, and whose ancestors are said to have originated the rituals for rice (Coville2003: 87, 89, 95). Finally, nearer to Java, in Bali, an official called the pasekis in charge of the cult of the earthon which the success of the harvest depends (Bertling 1955: 27). An especially important part of his tasks ismaking sure the people obey the prohibitions on felling trees and unlawful harvesting, as well as controlling the useof water. This last makes this man the equivalent of the Osing jaga tirtamentioned earlier. Examples from otherareas of Indonesia could be added,4but it should be clear that throughout the area the relationship between arepresentative of the founding line and the tutelary earth spirit was seen as vital to a communitys welfare.However, before considering the data from East Java and the Osing, I want to first look at the discussionsconcerning the wali puhunof West Java. The position of the wali puhun is among the better documented in theliterature, and can be seen as paradigmatic for the problem I am discussing here.

Wali Puhun
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5Another word forpuhunispunduh, which Prawirasuganda (1964: 126) defines as a person who is consi(...)

6Wali, of course, also means friend of Allah.

7Among the Osing this also happened, the term dhukun banyuhaving been changed to modin banyu, in wh(...)

6Among the Sundanese of West Java, the expert in agricultural rituals is called wali puhun, a person who is incontact with the spirits and the origin of rice5(Prawirasuganda 1964: 126). Kern (1924: 585) calls him the

original agricultural priest, the man who knows the proper formulas and offerings, and when these must be made(Hardjadibrata 2003: 880). The first part of his title, wali, is both interesting and convenient. According toPrawirasuganda (1964: 126) and Rosidi et al. (2000: 692) in Old Javanese (Kawi) this word indicates a shaman orritual specialist (dhukun). Furthermore, as Kern (1924: 584) writes, in several Indonesian languageswalialsomeans spirit, while walian indicates a shaman or priest. Thus, Kern continues, walican also indicate the personwho is temporarily possessed by a spirit, or who is him or herself temporarily a spirit. At the same time, however,in todays Islamic context the termwalimeans guardian (Dutch:voogd),6especially of a bride at her wedding,which returns us to one of the various names thepawangis given in the literature: grondvoogd(cf. Bertling 1955:27, 40).7However, as Ter Haar (1946: 67) observes, because this person is, as it were, the embodiment of themagic-religious relationship between the group and the land, he often functions as the magician during land[agricultural] ceremonies, i.e. thepawang.

8See wiwitanbeginning, first, main.Agama Sunda Wiwitanthe religion of West Java that has been lea(...)

9Among the tasks of the wali puhunis the construction of apupuhunanor sanggar, a structure contai(...)

10In the literature these people are also known as Baduy, though they prefer the term Kanekes after t(...)

7The second term of the wali puhuns title,puhun, is interesting as well. Coolsma (1911: 480), Eringa (1984: 600),and Hardjadibrata (2003: 643) glosspuhunwith origin, source, or cause, which is similar in meaning to wiwitan,which also means beginning or origin (Eringa 1984: 843; compare Robson & Wibisono 2002: 814, Hasan Ali 2004:492, and Zoetmulder 1982: 2345).8An interesting light is shed by the Iban usage of the word, which next tosource or origin includes the notion of the trunk of a tree.9As Sather (1996: 81-2) writes, puntypically describesthe person who [] originates an action [and] [] reflects an image of Iban leadership. [It] [] represents thelocus of continuity, the stem through which the continuing life of any permanently constituted social group is

thought to flow (see also Fox 1996: 6), e.g. a founder or founders line. The termpuhun, then, includes thenotions of elder, origin, and spiritual leader, especially in connection with agriculture, and mainstay of the socialgroup, which, as an informant in West Java suggested, brings us to the term puun, the leader of the most sacred,inner settlements of the Kanekes of Banten (West Java).10

11For similar tasks in Bali see Bertling (1955: 27). For Sulawesi see Buijs (2006: 112) and for Burma (...)

8As proposed by Wessing and Barendregt (2005), the people of Kanekes see themselves as the guardians of therelationship between ruler of the ancient state of Pajajaran and the nature spirit and the forces of nature withwhom the ruler of this state had a founding agreement. As part of these duties, they guard against indiscriminatefelling of trees and other infractions against nature, the puunharanguing occasional offenders, especially where itconcerns the spirits grove (Djoewisno 1987: 36).11In other words, thepuunis the Kanekes version ofthe grondvoogdor wali puhun. He is indeed said to be a lineal descendant of Batara Tunggal, the male apicalancestor (= founder) of the people of Kanekes (Wessing & Barendregt 2005: 6; Barendregt & Wessing 2008: 555).

12These days this government liaison is also called jaro pamarentah(Barendregt & Wessing 2008: 559).(...)

13This is symbolically indicated by the restricted access to him and his house at the upper edge of t (...)

14The fertility aspect of their role is further accentuated by the fact that the puunas well as the(...)

15Compare the position of the ThaiChau Phauon the edge of the village (Tambiah 1970: 265). See also(...)
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9Although thepuun is said to be the leader of the Kanekes community, he is so more in a ritual than in anadministrative sense (cf. Rosidi et al. 2000: 533; cf. Ter Haar 1946: 63, 67). Administrative matters, includingrelations with the world beyond Kanekes are handled by another man, thejaro tangtuorjarogupernemn, who is,in fact, also said to be a village head (cf. Hardjadibrata 2003: 348-9) .12The tasks of thepuun, then, are internalto his community13and encompass relations with the spirit world and with nature, especially agriculture (cf.Berthe 1965: 220).14Since these powers of fertility lie outside the community, the location of the shrine to thetutelary spirit is most often on the edge of the hamlet (see Wessing 2003: 438-9).15

10Throughout Southeast Asia, then, we find ritual leaders, either the communitys founder or a successor, whosetask it is to maintain relations with the world of the spirits on whom the welfare of the community is perceived todepend. There are, of course, many local variants, but generally they conform to the parameters sketched here.One reason for this variation, aside from cultural differences between communities far removed from each other, isthat the spirits involved tend to be quite local. This means that even neighboring communities will have differenttutelary spirits with their individual, idiosyncratic preferences and demandsexcept for daughter settlements,which often maintain an allegiance to the tutelary spirit of the mother-village (cf. De Stoppelaar 1927: 31; Hayami2003: 138). In addition, the local founder is, of necessity, a local figure as well, again with his or her individualeccentricities.

16Adams (1979: 89) writes that places [] define social beings.

11Given that the agreement between these two individuals shaped local rules of behavior, we can speak ofcustoms (adat) as being specific to a place (Wessing 2001: 53 note12; compare Hayami 2003: 140; Bertling 1955:26). Thus, although there is, of course, a broad similarity between the customs of different communities, the localspecifics define each one and its members as belonging together, creating a world ruled by its own specificity andattuned to possibly unknowable logics [] (Pemberton 1994: 237).16These local specifics include sacred rules ofconduct laid down by the ancestors, the observance of which tends to make the participants into local, religiouscommunities, the boundaries of which are ritually guarded by the descendant of the founder (cf. Korn 1932: 79-86,196; Hayami 2003: 134). It is his and his communitys responsibility to ensure that the territory within thecommunitys boundaries remains pure, e.g. that deviations from theadat (custom) are prevented or punished(Korn 1932: 80-81; Wessing 2010: 61-3).

17Hall (1999: 205) calls them gods.

12This community unity importantly included agricultural activities, this being the ritual leaders area of expertise.The initiation of ploughing for the next planting season was not something a farmer would decide on his own.Rather, the time for it was determined by the ritual expert who mediated between the people and the gods

(Kreemer 1956: 173). Planting, and thus also the harvest, was a coordinated community effort. As Hall (1999:205) notes, it was advantageous to coordinate the planting of the fields of farmers who depended on the samewater source. This would distribute demand for water over time and space and avoid unnecessary conflict. Those incharge of this coordinated distribution, whom Hall (1999: 205) characterizes as members of special lineages wereinfluential and powerful people in their communities as it was not just the water but also access to the local spiritpowers17that fell under the jurisdiction of these people.

18Fieldwork 197071.

19Discussions in Kampung Sumberjeruk and Kampung Sagat (2008). For elsewhere in Southeast Asia see Ka (...)

13This coordination continued into colonial and post-colonial times. According to informants in the Priangan area ofWest Java,18until the early 1940s agricultural activities, including the supply of water, used to be regulated bygovernment officials. Individual fields were part of blocks that performed the agricultural rituals together.

Elsewhere, e.g. in Bone, Gowa, or Aceh, local rulers ( rajaor sultan) would take precedence and have their fieldsceremonially ploughed, after which the commoner farmers would follow (Kreemer 1956: 178; Wessing 1988: 179).Similar coordination by thejaga tirtaof planting (and thus also of the harvest) took place in the Banyuwangi areaof East Java, where it was said to have lasted until the mid to late 1960s.19

East Java

20Platenkamp (2007: 105) relates how a defeated people in Halmahera, the Moro, walked backward into(...)
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14In the above I have sketched an ideal model of the relationship between a descendant of the founder and aplaces tutelary spirit. In the local communities, however, this distinction is not always clear and the communitysfounder may occasionally be referred to as the dhanyang(tutelary spirit), implying a merger between the founderand the tutelary spirit, something that is, again, found throughout Southeast Asia (Mus 1975: 15-6).20Thus, asearly as 1926 De Stoppelaar called the communitys founder adhanyang(1926: 416, note2) something I found aswell in various communities in East Java. Thus in Kampung Sagat, the focal hamlet of a village of the same name,people pointed at a grave as the location of both the communitys founder ( cikal bakalorpembabat) andthedhanyang (tutelary spirit). Both the founder and the tutelary spirit were unknown, and the guardian of this

grave (juru kunci) could only tell that the grave already lay there when the community was founded. The peopleassumed that it must belong to the person who first opened the land there, and thus it came to be venerated. InDruju, in the Blitar area of East Java some informants stated that the dhanyangwas something the old people hadbelieved in, though others continued to venerate the old spirit. Here too the place of the founder and the spiritwere the same, though this time both resided in a banyan tree.

21See the depiction in human form of Indianyaksa(Stutley & Stutley [1984: 345]).

15Elsewhere too, e.g. in Aliyan, one location of the keboanritual, the distinction seems to have at least partiallycollapsed. People there still venerate and distinguish the grave of the founder and realize that there is a tutelaryspirit as well, but in conversation do not distinguish between them, calling the founder a dhanyang(comparePemberton 1994: 263, note30). One reason for this may be, as Heffner (1985: 75) observed in Tengger, thatpeople tend to ancestralize even territorial spirits.21Thus in Olehsari, one of the seblangvillages, informantsspoke of the dhanyangas a person rather than a bangsa alus(spirit). Another reason could be that daughter

hamlets retain an allegiance to the mother-villages tutelary spirit, as was mentioned above. These daughterhamlets would then have a founder but would lack their own tutelary spirit.

Change

22In West Java, too, Islamic elders gained dominance, leading to the rise of the wali puhunand the d(...)

16Throughout East Java these days there is often considerable reluctance to speak of the matters outlined here,people mentioning outside influences as the cause (cf. Beatty 1999). These influences tend to be a combination ofIslamic pressure to discontinue the associated practices, and political as well as economic developments. Islamhas, of course, a long history in East Java, sometimes even encouraged by the Dutch colonial powers (Sri Margana2007: 244, 282; Beatty 1999: 14-16) in their effort to counter Balinese influence in the region. However, theprocess of Islamization of the East Hook was far from uniform, and even in 1923 Lekkerkerker (1923: 1030) wroteof this areas singular position in that people in the Blambangan area continued to adhere to their Hindu beliefs.In 1840, Lekkerkerker continues, the village of Cungking near Banyuwangi was still fully Shaivite, while remnantsof even pre-Hindu beliefs retained their foothold there longer and more pronouncedly than elsewhere. Thus, thiswas not a form of purist Islam, but rather existed next to or in interaction with the earlier beliefs in spirit-powersand the ability of certain people to control them. As recently as 1991 a pawangin the Banyuwangi area observedto me that with the arrival of Islam, Java had lost its yoni(female generative power; Zoetmulder 1982: 2365). Yet,Islam had a considerable impact, as can be seen in the changes of the titles of Osing village functionariesmentioned earlier (De Stoppelaar 1927: 12-4).22

23See for instance the conflict between the Klakah office of the MUI (Majelis Ulama Indonesia) and th (...)

17Since 1991 there has been considerable pressure toward a more strict observance of Islamic rules. Althoughsome claim not to follow the old adatanymore, and to leave everything up to God, this pressure has not beenentirely successful. Local interpretations and practices still abound, often to the dismay of both local and regionalIslamic authorities23that say that the old rituals are devil worship and that the ritual sites are places where the

devil resides (tempat setan). Yet, others continue to ask the dhanyangand the ancestors to intercede with God:thedhanyang is an intermediary between the people and God, like [the saint] Nabi Khidir [Khidr], the Muslimsaint associated with water.

24Rituals dealing with these spirits are primarily oriented on the ever-decreasing forest, and Muslim (...)

18These local practices are, of course, not all the same, because, as was mentioned earlier, the local practicesdepended on the interaction between the local tutelary spirit and an individual founder. Unlike Islam, these localcults do not have an overarching theology and religious literature against which local practices can be judged, eventhough their basic pattern is broadly the same throughout the area. This situation continues, even though since the
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end of the Suharto regime the voice of Islamic purism has tended to become more dominant, leading people to lessopenly join in celebrations of the relationship with the tutelary spirit.24Again, this is not uniform, but the pressureis certainly there.

25See De Stoppelaar (1927: 12-4), Ter Haar (1946: 63), Scholz (1962: 155), Hayami (2003: 146), Tambi a(...)

19The influence of Islam, however, has not been the only factor causing changes in peoples relationship with thespirits. Equally important have been political developments, and changes in rice agriculture. The first of these wasthe necessity that the communities interact with the state of which they were part. As we saw, among the Kanekesthis task was carried out by thejaro pamarentah, and elsewhere also similar functionaries existed.25In dealingwith colonial and later Indonesian governments, these office holders (lurah, now kepala desa) increasingly gainedpower, especially as the position of thejaga tirthadeclined in the face of Islam. As Bowen (1995: 1066) observes,people become entangled in the identities, including religious ones, placed upon them by the political centers.

26See the novelRonggeng Dukuh Parukby Ahmad Tohari (2007).

27This was the reason that the keboanritual in Alasmalang was banned between 1965 and 1990. As a res(...)

28See also Pemberton (1994: 240) on the cooptation of local customs into government agendas.

20In Java this process was accelerated by the troubles of 1965 (G30S), which lead to the advent of the Suhartoregime. After these troubles many traditional practices and celebrations were banned because it was feared thatthey were either associated with the Indonesian Communist Party26or that they might have politicalimplications.27Long breaks in these celebrations combined with Islamic pressure and the policy of the Suhartoregime to folklorize these local events has lead to a decline in belief in their efficacy.28

29This also happened in Central Java where, as Mr. Bambang Samsu of the Universitas Jember pointed ou (...)

30Although Henninger (2004: 49) observes that such beings are not necessarily personifications but a r(...)

21Perhaps equally important have been the changes in rice-growing technology since the late-1960s and the early1970s. At this time quick growing rice varieties were introduced that increased the harvests to up to three crops ayear, which in turn lead to a change in the agricultural cycle. Rather than relying on area-coordination, farmersnow began to plant and harvest their fields individually as it suited them. Informants pointed out time and againthat as a result the role of thejaga tirtaas mediator between the farmers and the spirits went into decline(compare Buijs 2006: 118, note2).29This does not mean, however, that rituals through which to assure asuccessful crop have ceased. Rather, the entities addressed have changed, or at least have had their nameschanged. These days, rather than making offerings to the tutelary spirit orpenunggu sawah(guardian of the field),the object of veneration is said to be Dewi Sri, the rice goddess who embodies fertility in general .30Yet othersclaim to ask God directly for rain and a good harvest, though sometimes still at thepepundhen, thedhanyangsresidence. Here and there the founder and the dhanyangare seen as intermediaries to God. At the same time, therule that the officiant of the ritual should be a descendant of the founder has changed to a person capable ofcarrying out the task, occasionally even akiai(Muslim elder).

Conclusion

22As the tutelary spirit has variously merged with the rice goddess, a Muslim saint, or has been marginalized in

deference to God (Pemberton 1994: 241), the rule that rituals must be carried out has changed as well. Many nowneglect to do so, and the rule that harvests must be dislameti(ritually safeguarded), that offerings must be madeat the rice field, or even that God must be thanked, is said by many to have become a matter of individual choice.With these changes the idea of the hamlet or village as a religious community also seems to have fragmented, aprocess that continues today (Beatty 1999; Wessing 2002). As Beatty (1999) points out, differences in convictionare mostly quietly passed over, with people displaying appropriate behavior while having their own opinion.

31Sekarang kan banyak dikuasai oleh agama.
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23The marginalization in deference to God that Pemberton posits is as yet incomplete, as is clear from the variousunderstandings outlined above. As an Osing informant put it, it may be that the dhanyanghas not so much beenleft behind, but rather that people are afraid to speak of such things due to pressure from more purist Muslims.After all, he continued, these days much is under the control of religion [Islam]. 31People likely still know aboutthese things but are reluctant to speak of them. In appropriately vague terms, the pawangmay appeal to BapaKuasa, the one with authority in the community who often looks much like the dhanyangbut also, as Rato (2007:20) writes, like God (Bapa Angkasa; Yang Maha Kuasa) (compare Rato 1992: 69). In the words of a 40-ish Osinglady, spirits, ancestors, and God are really only different words for the same thing, They belong together and all

come from God, and which one appeals to is a matter of choice and judgment (Wessing 2010: 72 3). And thus,although thejaga tirthamay have become a modin banyu, appeals to the powers that control community welfarecontinue under various guises. In East Java, in the villages where agricultural rituals still continue to be performed,albeit sometimes under considerable stress, knowledge of ancestral and tutelary spirits continues to remain clear,and thepawangcontinues to be an important person, even in the face of Islamic opposition.

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TOOKER, Deborah E., 1996, Putting the Mandala in its Place: A Practice-based Approach to the Spatialization ofPower on the Southeast Asian Periphery The Case of the Akha,Journal of Asian Studies, 55, 2: 323-358.

VAN AKKEREN, Philip, 1970, Sri and Christ. A Study of the Indigenous Church in East Java , London: LutterworthPress [World Studies of Churches in Mission].

VISSER, Leontine E., 1984, Mijn tuin is mijn kind. Een antropologosche studie van de droge rijstteelt in Sahu(Indonesi), Dissertation, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.

WESSING, Robert, 1978, Cosmology and Social Behavior in a West Javanese Settlement, Papers in InternationalStudies, Southeast Asia Series No.47. Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies, Southeast AsiaProgram.

WESSING, Robert, 1986, The Soul of Ambiguity: The Tiger in Southeast Asia , DeKalb, IL: Center for SoutheastAsian Studies, Northern Illinois University [Monograph Series on Southeast Asia, Special Report No. 24].WESSING, Robert, 1988, TheGunonganin Banda Aceh, Indonesia: Agnis Fire in Allahs Paradise?, Archipel, 35:157194.

WESSING, Robert, 1999a, A Dance of Life: The Seblang of Banyuwangi, Indonesia,Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde, 155, 4: 644-682.

WESSING, Robert, 1999b, The Sacred Grove: Founders and the Owners of the Forest in West Java, Indonesia,inLhomme et la fort tropicale, S. Bahuchet, D.Bley, H.Pagezy & N.Vernazza-licht, ed., Marseille: Socitdcologie Humaine, Universit de la Mditerran, pp.5974.WESSING, Robert, 2001, Telling the Landscape: Place and Meaning in Sunda (West Java),Moussons, 4: 3361.

WESSING, Robert, 2002, Shifting Boundaries: Cosmological Discourse in Java, inRiding a Tiger. Dilemmas ofIntegration and decentralization in Indonesia, C.Holtappel, M.Sanders & M.Titus, ed., Amsterdam: RozenbergPublishers, pp.162180.WESSING, Robert, 2003, The Shape of Home. Spatial Ordening in Sundanese Kampung, in Indonesian Houses.Tradition and Transformation in Vernacular Architecture, R.Schefold, G.Domenig, and P. Nas, ed., Leiden: KITLVPress [Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 207], pp.427460.WESSING, Robert, 2006, A Community of Spirits. People, Ancestors, and Nature Spirits in Java, Crossroads, 18,

1: 11-111.

WESSING, Robert, 2010, Porous Boundaries. Addressing Calamities in East Java, Indonesia,Bijdragen tot deTaal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 166, 1: 49-82.

WESSING, Robert & Bart Barendregt, 2005, Tending the Spirits Shrine: Kanekes and Pajajaran in WestJava,Moussons8: 3-26.

ZOETMULDER, P.J., 1982, Old Javanese-English Dictionary, vol.2, s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff [KoninklijkInstitute voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde].


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Notes

1It would be tempting to gloss the terms dhukunorpawangwith shaman. However, unlike the classical shaman (e.g.

Rasmussen 1958), these men do not undertake soul-journeys. Rather they control and direct the powers present at ritualoccasions for the benefit of the community.

2These often seem to be descriptive titles adopted by the authors of the various books and articles. Thus Van Akkeren

(1970: 13) speaks of a dukun sawahordukun tani(rice field or farmers ritual specialist), while Bertling (1955: 35) writes

about a grondpriester(land-priest), Coville (2003: 95) discusses the rice-priest, and Van Vollenhoven mentions

the grondvoogd(Bertling 1955: 40) and tuinpriester(garden-priest). Also found in West Java are dukun nurunan(De Bie

1901: 212), the ritual specialist who gets the rice-spirit to descend into the crop, and wali puhun, the guardian of the

crop. The last will be discussed at greater length later. See Kruyt (1903: 373 408) for the same variation in terms used to

indicate the man ritually in charge of the crops.

3Cf. Mus (1975). For an example of how a nature spirit is changed into a tutelary spirit see Domenig (1988). A specialpiece of forest is often left for the use of the spirit-owners (Wessing 2006: 3541, 1999; compare Visser 1984: 41, 63).

4See for instance Scholz (1962) for Eastern Indonesia.

5Another word forpuhunispunduh, which Prawirasuganda (1964: 126) defines as a person who is considered an elder by

the group. Compare http://uun-halimah.blogspot.com/2007/11/upacara-mapag-sri-indramayu.html and http://uun-

halimah.blogspot.com/2007/11/upacara-sedekah-bumi-indramayu.html (both last accessed 6August 2010).

6Wali, of course, also means friend of Allah.

7Among the Osing this also happened, the term dhukun banyuhaving been changed to modin banyu, in which modinis

the title of an Islamic religious functionary (De Stoppelaar 1927: 1214). De Stoppelaar further explains the participation

of a modin in agricultural activities by referring to the part previously played in agricultural activities by dhukun(1927:

14). Among the Toraja of Sulawesi the similar role of the indo padang(mother of the land) is one of guardianship as well

(cf. Coville 2003: 93).

8See wiwitanbeginning, first, main.Agama Sunda Wiwitan the religion of West Java that has been least influenced by

religions and culture from elsewhere (Rosidiet al.2000: 25).

9Among the tasks of the wali puhunis the construction of apupuhunanorsanggar, a structure containing offerings to the

rice goddess of goddess of fertility, as well as the saying of prayers at crucial stages in the growth of the rice crop

(Coolsma [1911: 480]; Kern [1924: 581]; Pleyte [1905: 87[; Wessing [1978: 1179]).

10In the literature these people are also known as Baduy, though they prefer the term Kanekes after the name of their

main hamlet (Danasasmita & Djatisunda 1986: 1).

11For similar tasks in Bali see Bertling (1955: 27). For Sulawesi see Buijs (2006: 112) and for Burma Lehman (1996: 2).
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12These days this government liaison is also calledjaro pamarentah (Barendregt & Wessing 2008: 559). Compare the

ritual position of e.g. the Karen (Thailand) hi khovis--vis his administrative counterpart, the headman [] who is the

administrative leader in the Thai government hierarchy (Hayami 2003: 146). Similarly the Akha dzma focuses on the

inner, ritual workings of his village, in contrast with the more externally oriented decisions of the headman (Tooker

1996: 332-3). For Bali see Korn (1932: 151, 192).

13This is symbolically indicated by the restricted access to him and his house at the upper edge of the hamlet

(Barendregt & Wessing 2008: 559).

14The fertility aspect of their role is further accentuated by the fact that thepuunas well as the wali puhunmust be

married (Barendregt & Wessing [2008: 559]; Geise [1952: 68]; GAA [1990a, 1990b]). During the harvest, the female

protective spirit of a Kanekes hamlet is married to Batara Tunggal, the male origin spirit of the people of Kanekes (Jacobs

& Meijer [1891: 37]). For elsewhere in Indonesia see Bakels (2000: 114) and Coville (2003: 89).

15Compare the position of the Thai Chau Phauon the edge of the village (Tambiah 1970: 265). See also the location of

the Toraja sobokat the rice fields: Seemingly, he does not have any status. Nevertheless, the entire society watches

what he is doing (Buijs 2006: 112). Beattys (1999: 84) conclusion that the marginal position of the tutelary spirit is due

to the influence of Islam is thus probably in error.

16Adams (1979: 89) writes that places [] define social beings.

17Hall (1999: 205) calls them gods.

18Fieldwork 197071.

19Discussions in Kampung Sumberjeruk and Kampung Sagat (2008). For elsewhere in Southeast Asia see Kammerer

(2003: 59) and Hayashi (2003: 192).

20Platenkamp (2007: 105) relates how a defeated people in Halmahera, the Moro, walked backward into the forest. We

can read this to mean that they acted like spirits, e.g. had lost their humanity and were merging with the spirits, which are

often characterized as having back-ward facing feet (compare Wessing [1986: 84, 88 note 8]). As such, by merging withthe spirits, the adatthey had been practicing became even more the adatattached to the place.

21See the depiction in human form of Indian yaksa(Stutley & Stutley [1984: 345]).

22In West Java, too, Islamic elders gained dominance, leading to the rise of thewali puhunand the decline of

thepunuh(Wessing 1978: 79).

23See for instance the conflict between the Klakah office of the MUI (Majelis Ulama Indonesia) and the organizers of the

local Maulid Hijau celebrations in the village of Tegalrandu. These latter are a form of folk Islam that seem to contain

elements of the veneration of the local tutelary spirit, something that is consideredtakhayul(superstition)

or sesat(deviant) by more strict Muslims. See Jawa Pos 21 January 2008, p.31; 30January 2008, p.31; 31January 2008,p.29, 39; 2February 2008, p.31; 4February 2008, p.38; 5February 2008, p.31; 12February 2008, p.32; 23May 2008,p.32.
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24Rituals dealing with these spirits are primarily oriented on the ever-decreasing forest, and Muslim opposition to them

can perhaps be seen as part of the ever-progressing farmification of these communities (cf. Eaton 1993). In some areas

of West Java the forest is also the place of the ancestors, who thus become associated with fertility (Rikin 1973: 17).

25See De Stoppelaar (1927: 12-4), Ter Haar (1946: 63), Scholz (1962: 155), Hayami (2003: 146), Tambiah (1970:

263), Tooker (1996: 332).

26See the novel Ronggeng Dukuh Parukby Ahmad Tohari (2007).

27This was the reason that the keboanritual in Alasmalang was banned between 1965 and 1990. As a result people of

this community started having visions while others became possessed, speaking with a spirits voice and threatening the

welfare of the community (Siswanto & Prasetyo [2009: 967]).

28See also Pemberton (1994: 240) on the cooptation of local customs into government agendas.

29This also happened in Central Java where, as Mr. Bambang Samsu of the Universitas Jember pointed out to me, theidea of a spirit-owner of the agricultural land faded in the early 1970s, at the time of agricultural intensification (BIMAS).

30Although Henninger (2004: 49) observes that such beings are not necessarily personifications but are rather references

to the trepidation inspired by whatever is mysterious and awesomehere fertility.

31Sekarang kan banyak dikuasai oleh agama.

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Robert Wessing, The Osing Agricultural Spirit-Medium , Moussons, 22 | 2013, 111-124.

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Auteur

Robert Wessing

Robert Wessing (ret.) received his PhD in anthropology in 1974 from the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL (USA). His

research, conducted in West and East Java, Aceh, and Madura, has dealt primarily with symbolism, as well as with the

social implications of belief systems. He has published numerous articles, as well as the books Cosmology and Social

Behavior in a West Javanese Settlement(1978) andThe Soul of Ambiguity: the Tiger in Southeast Asia(1986) and a

lengthy article A Community of Spirits. People, Ancestors and Nature Spirits in Java,Crossroads(2006: 11-111). His

curriculum vitae can be found at www.robert-wessing.com. He may be reached [email protected].

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The Osing Agricultural Spirit-Robert Wessing

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