Malays
Magic among the Malays is for the most part of that type known as sympathetic" (See Magic), that is, it possesses more of the nature of pseudo-science than that of wonder. Says Clifford :- "
The accredited intermediary between men and spirits is the Pawang; the Pawang is a functionary of great and traditional importance in a Malay village, though in places near towns the office is falling into abeyance. In the inland districts, however, the Pawang is still a power, and is regarded as part of the constituted order of Society, without whom no village community would be complete. It must be clearly understood that he had nothing what- Malays ever to do with the official Muhammadan religion of the mosque; the village has its regular staff of elders-the Imam, Khatio, and Bilal-for the mosque service. But the Pawang is quite outside this system and belongs to a different and much older order of ideas; he may be regarded as the legitimate representative of the primitive medicine-man,' or 'village-sorcerer,' and his very existence in these days is an anomaly, though it does not strike Malays as such. .... "The Pawang is a person of very real significance. In all agricultural operations, such as sowing, reaping, irrigation works, and the clearing of jungle for planting, in fishing at sea, in prospecting for minerals, and in cases of sickness, his assistance is invoked. He is entitled by custom to certain small fees; thus, after a good harvest he is allowed in some villages five gantangs of padi, one gantang of rice (beras), and two chupaks of emping (a preparation of rice and cocoa-nut made into a sort of sweetmeat) from each householder."
The Pawang regulates taboos, and employs a familiar spirit known as hantu pusaka-a hereditary demon. He also acts as a medium and divines through trance. To become a magician "You must meet the ghost of a murdered man. Take the midrib of a leaf of the 'ivory' cocoa-nut palm (pelepah niyor gading), which is to be laid on the grave, and two midribs, which are intended to represent canoe-paddles, and carry them with the help of a companion to the grave of the murdered man at the time of the full moon (the 15th day of the lunar month) when it falls upon a Tuesday. Then take a cent's worth of incense, with glowing embers in a censer, and carry them to the head-post of the grave of the deceased. Fumigate the grave, going three times round it, and call upon the murdered man by name :- 'Hearken, So-and-so, And assist me;
I am taking (this boat) to the saints of God,
And I desire to ask for a little magic.' Here take the first midrib, fumigate it, and lay it upon the head of the grave, repeating 'Kur Allah' ('Cluck, Cluck, God!') seven times. You and your companion must now take up a sitting posture, one at the head and the other at the foot of the grave, facing the grave post, and use the canoe-paddles which you have brought. In a little while the surrounding scenery will change and take upon itself the appearance of the sea, and finally an aged man will appear, to whom you must address the same request as before."
Malay magic may be sub-divided into preparatory rites, sacrificial, lustration, divination and possession. Sacrifice takes the form of a simple gift, or act of homage to the spirit or deity. Lustration is magico-religious and purificatory, principally taking place after child-birth. It may be performed by fire or water. Divination consists for the most part of the reading of dreams, and is, as elsewhere, drawn from the acts of men or nature. Omens are strongly believed in. "When a star is seen in apparent proximity to the moon, old people say there will be a wedding shortly "The entrance into a house of an animal which does not generally seek to share the abode of man is regarded by the Malays as ominous of misfortune. If a wild bird flies. into a house it must-be carefully caught and smeared with oil, and must then be released in the open air, a formula. being recited in which it is bidden to fly away with all the ill-luck and misfortunes (sial jambalang) of the occupier. An iguana, a tortoise, and a snake, are perhaps the most dreaded of these unnatural visitors. They are sprinkled with ashes, if possible to counteract their evil influence. "A swarm of bees settling near a house is an unlucky omen, and prognosticates misfortune."
So, too, omens are taken either from the flight or cries of certain birds, such as the night-owl, the crow, some kinds of wild doves, and the bird called the "Rice's Husband " (laki padi.) Astrology. Divination by astrology is, however, the most common method of forecasting the future. The native practitioners possess long tables of lucky and unlucky periods and reasons. These are mostly translations from Indian and Arabic sources. The oldest known of these systems of propitious and unpropitious seasons is known as Katika Lima, or the Five Times. Under it the day is divided into five parts, and five days form a cycle. To each division is given a name as follows: Maswara, Kala, S'ri, Brahma, Bisnu (Vishnu) names of Hindu deities, the last name in the series for the first day being the first in that of the second day, and so on until the five days are exhausted. Each of these has a colour, and according to the colour first seen or noticed on such and such a day will it be fortunate to ask a boon of a certain god. Another version of this system, known as the "Five Moments" is similar in origin, but possesses a Mohammedan nomenclature. Another scheme Katika Tujoh is based on the seven heavenly bodies, divides each day into seven parts, each of which is distinguished by the Arabic name for the sun, moon, and principal planets. The astrology proper of the Malays is purely Arabic in origin, but a system of Hindu invocation is in vogue by which the lunar month is divided into parts called Rejang, which resembles the Nacshatras or lunar houses of the Hindus. Each division has its symbol, usually an animal. Each day is propitious for something, and the whole system has been committed to verse for mnemonic purposes.
Demonology. The demoniac form common to Malaysia is that of the Jinn, with some leaven of the older Hindu spirit. They are one hundred and ninety in number. They are sometimes sub-divided into "faithful" and "infidel," and further into the Jinns of the royal musical instruments, of the state, and of the royal weapons. The Afrit is also known. Angels also abound, and are purely of Arabic origin. Besides these the principal supernatural beings are as follows:-the Polong, or familiar; the Hantu Pemburu, or spectre Huntsman; the Jadi-jadian, or wertiger; the Huntu, or ghost of the murdered; the Jemalang, or earth-spirit.
Minor Sorcery. -The rites of minor sorcery and witchcraft, as well as those of the shaman, are widely practised among the Malays, and are practically identical in character with those in use among other peoples in a similar state of culture.
See:-W. W. Skeat, Malay Magic; Swettenham, Malay Sketches; Clifford, In Court and Kampong; Studies in Brown Humanity.