SUNDANESE RELIGION

SUNDANESE RELIGION . Although the Sundanese of West Java, Indonesia, consider themselves Muslims, many pre-Islamic ideas still permeate their religious life. A key point in understanding Sundanese relations to the supernatural is the relationship between the soul and a creative or generative power that animates the universe. This power, anu ngayuga ("that which creates") is limited and is contained to varying degrees in the elements that make up the cosmos. The amount of power in a person is determined by ancestry and the time, place, and conditions of birth. It may further wax or wane according to the state of ritual or moral purity of the person (see Anderson, 1972).

Soul

The Sundanese have two ideas of soul: nyawa and semangat. Other words such as roh and jiwa are occasionally used, but these are adoptions from the Arabic and Sanskrit, respectively, and overlap in meaning between nyawa and semangat. Nyawa is simply life or breath, existing only while the person lives. Semangat, on the other hand, is that aspect of soul that connects a person to the ancestors and gives him or her various capabilities and strengths. It is the whole of a person's spiritual life. Provencher (1975) relates semangat to the Melanesian and Polynesian mana.

The semangat belongs with the person, but may occasionally leave if frightened or if a taboo is broken. In this case the person's soul must be coaxed back, or illness and death may follow. The semangat is also considered to be able to travel away from a person during sleep, making it dangerous to awaken him suddenly, and may further transmigrate and enter an animal such as a tiger.

The amount of semangat in a person is not constant but may be added to through study, especially of sacred texts and magic, as well as through the acquisition of sacred objects and heirlooms. It may also be diminished through impure and worldly actions. There must be an inner balance between the semangat and the social persona of the person. Too much or too little of it to fit the situation makes the person uncomfortable and may lead to disquietude or illness. These last two aspects of semangat are much like the cosmic power mentioned above, and one may see semangat, then, as the unique expression of cosmic creative power (anu ngayuga ) in indi-viduals.

Semangat is located throughout the body, although it seems to be focused on the navel. The Sundanese take care to bury brushed-out hair and nail clippings, as these are parts of the person and thus contain soul substance that may be used against one in magic. Amulets are worn around the waist, protecting the center of the soul.

The placenta (ari ari) is considered to be the elder sibling of the person. It is also believed that the same placenta comes back to the mother as she bears each successive child, creating a spiritual or soul bond between siblings.

The father, who planted the seed and made the body, is responsible for its physical maintenance. The soul is said to come from the mother, and she is responsible for the spiritual makeup of the child. For this reason there is a tali batin (spiritual tie) between the mother and her children and between the children via the shared placenta.

This connection goes back to the ancestors as well. Ancestral graves are visited and the ancestors are notified when a ritual is to take place or when one goes on an extended journey. Ancestral spirits may also be consulted in times of need. They are often associated with a particular piece of land. Traditionally, people were buried on family land, and inherited land could not be sold to outsiders. Placentas, especially those of infant girls, are also often buried on family land, with which the soul is thus intimately connected (Mus, 1975).

Ancestral souls may also be called on for aid in times of trouble, in which case the ancestor may appear in the form of a tiger. Deceased rulers are said to guard their realms in this form; shamans are said to be able to take on tigrine form while curing.

The Wider Supernatural World

The shaman (dukun, kuncen ) is the vehicle for dealing with the wider supernatural world. Aside from being human soul stuff, cosmic power is also found in animals, plants, and the like. Like ancestral graves, places such as caves and mountains can be strongly imbued with it. Since this power is amoral, it may be dangerous to ordinary people. Through their craft, shamans are able to interact with these forces and thereby protect the com-munity.

Ordinary people may make requests from these powers, which are often manifested as spirits or magical animals, after being introduced by the kuncen. Incense is burned and magical formulas (jampes ) pronounced, after which the supplicant awaits the arrival of the power. If the power grants the petitioner's request, it may demand in return that the petitioner agree to be turned into a pig, a monkey, or a snake after death or that a human life be sacrificed to it annually.

Other supernatural forces include place spirits (jurigs ), which may be seen as disembodied bits of cosmic power. They tend to exist on boundaries such as the water's edge or in secluded, quiet places. One does not make requests of these spirits, but only takes care not to bother them excessively. They are said to be generally harmless, though some delight in frightening people, and one type of water spirit (lulun samak ) sometimes grabs people and drowns them.

Also to be reckoned with are the siluman s, the spirits of those who have died an unnatural death; and the kuntianak s, the spirits of women who have died in childbirth. Siluman s often inhabit caves and are then said to be the entities that make such places foreboding. The kuntianak is a danger to women who are about to give birth by causing difficulties that may lead to the woman's death; she would then become a kuntianak herself. For this reason, an expectant mother must take special precautions, such as carrying a sharp metal instrument and not going near the water alone during the last month of her pregnancy. Further magical precautions are taken by the paraji, the midwife.

Like the jurig, the siluman and kuntianak may be seen as disembodied cosmic power. This power is dangerous because it must be contained, and in its search for an envelope may possess a person. For this reason also, these powers are found in caves because caves make good containers.

Plants are also imbued with cosmic power—especially rice, trees, and bamboo. Rice, which is the personification of the rice goddess Dewi Sri, is said to have a soul. Care must be taken not to offend the goddess, and offerings are made both in the rice field and in the storage room (goah ). Offerings in the field are made by the wali puhun, the shaman who ensures the fertility of the field. When cutting down trees or large bamboo, permission must be asked from the spirit inhabiting either the area or the tree; otherwise this spirit is likely to cause mischief or to possess someone.

Ceremonies

Most ceremonies are conducted inside the house, which may be seen as a model of the cosmos itself. Ancestral spirits are invited to these ceremonies and thereby both add their power to the event and give it their blessing. The core of all ceremonies is the hajat, a ceremonial meal. Here the shaman, speaking for the householder, states the purpose of the occasion. Blessings from God (Allāh) are invoked, incense is burned while magical formulas are spoken, and then the food is consumed.

Each year on the birthday of the prophet Muḥammad, a hajat is held during which heirlooms and amulets are cleaned and restored. These items are said to contain cosmic power that may be added to by chanting over them during the ritual. On the same night, graves visited for help during the year are chanted over in order perhaps to infuse them with the power inherent in the Prophet's birth. This is also a good night to call up one's tiger ancestor, as such spirits are about, on their way to the ancient center of the Sundanese kingdom of Pajajaran at Pakuan near Bogor.

See Also

Islam: Islam in Southeast Asia; Southeast Asian Religions, article on Insular Cultures.

Bibliography

Anderson, Benedict R. O'G. "The Idea of Power in Javanese Culture." In Culture and Politics in Indonesia, edited by Claire Holt, pp. 1–69. Ithaca, N.Y., 1972.

Hasan Mustafa, Hajī. Over de Gewoonten en Gebruiken der Soendanezen. Translated into Dutch by R. A. Kern. The Hague, 1946.

Hidding, Klaas Aldert Hendrik. Ñi Pohatji Sangjang Sri. Leiden, 1929.

Hidding, Klaas Aldert Hendrik. Gebruiken en Godsdienst der Soendaneezen. Batavia, 1935.

Mus, Paul. India Seen from the East. Clayton, Australia, 1975.

Provencher, Ronald. Mainland Southeast Asia: An Anthropological Perspective. Pacific Palisades, Calif., 1975.

Rikin, Wesley Mintardja. Ngabersihan als Knoop in de Tali Paranti. Leiden, 1973.

Sell, Hans Joachim. Der Schlimme Tod bei den Völkern Indonesiens. The Hague, 1955.

Wessing, Robert. Cosmology and Social Behavior in a West Javanese Settlement. Papers in International Studies, Southeast Asia Series, no. 47. Athens, Ohio, 1978.

New Sources

Glicken, Jessica. "Sundanese Islam and the Value of Hormat: Control, Obedience, and Social Location in West Java." In Indonesian Religions in Transition, edited by Rita Smith Kipp and Susan Rodgers, pp. 238–252. Tucson, 1987.

Newland, Lynda. "Under the Banner of Islam: Mobilising Religious Identities in West Java." Australian Journal of Anthropology 11, no. 2 (2000): 199–222.

Newland, Lynda. "Of Paraji and Bidan: Hierarchies of Knowledge among Sundanese Midwives." In The Daughters of Hāritī: Childbirth and Female Healers in South and Southeast Asia, edited by Geoffrey Samuel and Santi Rozario, pp. 256–278. London, 2002.

Noorduyn, J., and A. Teeuw. "The Ascension of Sri Ajnyana: A Local Form of Saivism in an Old Sundanese Allegorical Poem." In Society and Sulture of Southeast Asia: Continuities and Changes, edited by Lokesh Chandra, pp. 283–298. New Delhi, 2000.

Robert Wessing (1987)

Revised Bibliography