Thread by @uglyluhan

As requested, a thread on Malay shamans, known locally as bomoh, dukun, or pawang. While Europe has witches and wizards, the bomoh is our main equivalent of the archetypal magic-user

https://twitter.com/thebardtender/status/1271104373125341185?s=19

Let's start with an explanation of the terminology because someone needs to say this. The most accurate translation for bomoh, dukun and pawang is shaman. Not "medicine man", not "witch doctor", not "faith healer"

coconuts.co/bali/lifestyle…

The English language, as far as I'm aware, doesn't have the vocabulary to differentiate between bomoh and pawang. Both are types of shamans. Even the word shaman itself is of North Asian origin

etymonline.com/word/shaman

The book Eat Pray Love popularised the use of "medicine man" for dukun. Technically this is not incorrect since the dukun is a healer. But medicine man is normally used for Native Americans. Besides, I don't feel the term adequately represents their role

Another is "witch doctor". Despite its inclusive definition on Wikipedia, it only represents certain aspects of Malay shamanic practice, and really shouldn't be applied to all shamans in general. In Africa, there's often a distinction between a witch doctor and traditional healer

The last is "faith healer" which normally refers to charismatic followers of Abrahamanic faiths who heal solely through prayer. Again, this is absolutely nothing like what a Malay healer does

Many are naturally skeptical of shamanism, so you might think that it makes no difference how you translate bomoh because it's all "fake" anyway. But there's a reason we should strive to translate the words accurately

Dragons and unicorns don't exist either but we don't say they're the same thing just because they're fictional. More importantly, such distinctions are made by anthropologists because it helps us understand the role that these people had in society

The words dukun and bomoh are interchangeable. Dukun is used throughout the Malay-speaking world, and in related Austronesian languages of Indonesia. It is thought to be of Persian origin

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Bomoh is used mainly in the Malay language. The term has an interesting etymology, with cognates in Thai, Lao, Shan, and the Ahom language of India among others. All derive from Proto-Tai "hmoa"

The original Proto-Tai word is generally believed to have come from the Chinese word 巫, pronounced "ma" in Old Chinese and "wu" in Mandarin. The Chinese term itself is of uncertain origin, but one theory derives it from Tibetan ba'mo, also meaning shaman

The bomoh and pawang are distinct from each other, but the terms have been confused since at least the colonial era, and even more so today. Though they overlap, a general rule is that the pawang deals with nature and the bomoh with healing people

Among the various abilities of a bomoh, they are healers first and foremost. The most basic skill of a bomoh is not funny exorcisms or love potions, but herbalism. If someone claims to be a bomoh but knows nothing about herbs, they're a fraud

dayakdaily.com/bomoh-remanded…

The Thai word for healer or shaman is maw. In modern Thai it's used to mean doctor, but it's also used for those who practice magic of some sort. For example, fortune tellers are called mawdu

The Malay language adopted the English word "doktor", or in some cases the Arabic "tabib". It's hard to imagine referring to doctors as bomoh today

The pawang on the other hand deals mostly with natural phenomena and wild animals. You called a bomoh when you were sick, you called a pawang when you needed good weather

Far too often, tropes and archetypes from European folklore are equated with something that's not quite the same in non-European cultures. An example is when vampire is translated as pontianak

thestar.com.my/lifestyle/view…

This is compounded by the general assumption in the Malay community that BM neologisms are older than they are.

....like those who think bangsa means "race"

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1185494122901098496?s=19

So when we look for concepts like witches, wizards, black magic, the netherworld and such, the modern Malay language readily has terms like ahli sihir, ilmu hitam and alam ghaib. But their existence in modern BM should not be taken as tropes in pre-modern Malay legend

There are a number of ways that a person might possess supernatural powers in Malay folklore. They may be of divine/royal birth, or they might be descended from some non-human entity

But the most common method is to learn or acquire powers through austerities. This type of character in Malay stories might be a shaman, a martial artist, or a sort of ascended being (bidadari)

Essentially any evil female character that uses magic in Malay folklore could rightly be referred to as a witch in English. So while the bomoh was not the only magical character in Malay folklore, it really is the equivalent of a wizard, witch, or warlock

wizardwong.blogspot.com/2014/11/thai-l…

Malay shamans could be of either gender. Their craft was normally passed down from parent to child, but it was possible for a bomoh to mentor an unrelated person. It's not even necessary for the apprentice to be young. Some only begin in middle age

The specifics of a shaman's education vary widely. Common practices include learning the use of herbs, memorising chants, and meditating in natural surroundings far from human habitation. Mountains, caves, jungles, rivers and waterfalls were said to be common

While an ordinary person might gain supernatural powers by other means, such as conducting a ritual at a person's grave, the shaman had to do it the hard way. Like Doctor Strange, it was through years of study and practice

Unlike the European witch or wizard, the Malay shaman doesn't have a specific look. Most would dress more or less the same as anyone else, with little or nothing in particular that marks them out as a shaman

If one really had to pin down an archetypal appearance, the bomoh of folklore are sometimes described as being elderly with white or grey hair. A male will have a moustache and an aggressive expression with a piercing gaze

The female bomoh of folklore appears as a somewhat crazy old lady, with a habit of poking around absent-mindedly as if she's looking for something

As with the sword-fighting Daoist priests of Chinese ghost stories, bomoh have always had a connection to silat. In fact, completing their silat instruction was a prerequisite for some bomoh before they could be initiated

There are a few main reasons for this. One is that silat movements exist in some shamanistic practices. The healing ritual Main Puteri from Kelantan incorporates silat, for example

Another is that knowledge of silat and traditional weaponry is supposed to help the bomoh to defend themselves from spiritual attacks. There exist entire systems of silat which focus on this, rather than physical techniques

milkblitzstreetbomb.com/silat/pencak-s…

A pawang might learn particular dances rather than silat. These dances might be used for exorcisms, chasing away evil spirits, or sending the restless dead to the afterlife... 

Malay shamanism is primarily animist by nature, but also incorporates Hindu-Buddhist elements such as the invocation of Indian gods. This is the reason you might come across Islamised accounts of shamans who get their power by worshipping "djinns"

There's no doubt that the introduction of Islam framed indigenous Malay beliefs and practices as evil, but until recent decades it was never on the same scale as the demonising of paganism in medieval Europe

bukuprima.com.my/info-Artikel/1…

In fact, as recently as the early 20th century, Muslim Malays consulted shamans far more often than any imam or kadi. It's a far cry from modern pop culture where Malay-ness is an obstacle to religion, and the pious ustaz saves the day

So what did Malay shamans actually do? Individual skills and methods may vary, but there are common practices. As previously stated, the primary function of a dukun or bomoh was that of healer. They were the doctors of their time

Medicinal herbs were used to treat the sick. Like TCM and Ayurveda, one may dispute the efficacy of Malay herbalism, but there was nothing "magical" about it. It was in fact an early attempt at medical science

nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/201…

The bomoh also handled supernatural ailments like possession and spiritual attacks. The cure was not prayer and screaming, as you might see on TV today. Rather, the remedy was often to find the person, object or creature that caused it

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1189945108277288965?s=19

Beyond medicine, the bomoh was also a spirit medium. Some of these methods exist worldwide, like trances, spiritual journeys on a ritual boat, and subduing demons by chasing them away or sealing them inside something like a box or object

By communicating with spirits, or through some means of prophecy such as dreams and astrology, the bomoh can get glimpses of the future, or learn things they otherwise wouldn't have found out

In modern times, bomoh are mainly known for two things: harmful magic and potions of some kind. Aphrodisiatic substances and hexes that make people fall in love seem popular in folklore, and an easy way to get the gullible to part with their money

And if that doesn't work, there's the more drastic susuk, small metal needle-like objects which the  bomoh implants beneath the skin to make women more attractive. I believe this began as a form of face tightening

fortunetellerbali.com/implants-susuk…

Susuk can go beyond that though. Police might get susuk to become invincible. A leader might use it to become more persuasive. The downside is that it can apparently result in a slow painful death if not removed before the person dies

latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

Just as a bomoh can remove a curse, they are equally capable of causing one. If there was someone you didn't like, say, a business rival, you could pay a bomoh to attack them by supernatural means

This was commonly done through the use of sympathetic magic. A person so attacked by a bomoh might get sick, fall into a coma, or feel an inexplicable pain, among other effects

boombastis.com/ilmu-hitam-ind…

A specialty of the Kadayan bomoh from Sabah is the ability to make weapons fly across long distances toward a victim. A spear is used if the intention is to kill, but it would be useless if the person is indoors or behind something that the spear can't penetrate

In such a case, the bomoh could use needles instead. They wouldn't be fatal, but they're small enough to slip through the cracks of a kampung house. Bomoh from the peninsula are supposed to be able to make a victim feel like they have needles in their stomach

There are two practices among Malay shamans which I won't deal with here, because they would both deserve their own threads. These are geomancy (the local equivalent of fengshui) and familiars (saka). The former in particular was indispensable

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1038201569320136704?s=19

In contrast to the bomoh, one could describe the pawang as less personal. Their role is that of a ritual specialist focusing on the natural world, like ensuring a good harvest, granting luck on an outing, etc

There exist particular types of pawang with different specialties. The pawang hujan has control over the weather, either causing or preventing rain. Pawang harimau and pawang buaya prevent attacks from tigers and crocodiles

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1149226421174194176?s=19

The pawang is consulted before hunting or mining, for luck and to prevent unexpected calamities. There are charms for hunting particular animals, or for protection from specific causes

Despite this difference, there is a lot of overlap between the bomoh and pawang. Both may be consulted for astrology, exorcisms, siting rituals, handling animals, and less-than-savoury requests

Bomoh or dukun are commonly associated with rivers (sungai), while pawang are usually linked to mountains (gunung). Pawang are generally considered more powerful, but a bomoh connected to a large river (batang) could be comparable

Shamans throughout Southeast Asia used handbooks which recorded charts for divination. These would be relied upon for determining the best time for any important undertaking, like planting crops

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1083678713613438976?s=19

As with almost everything Malay that predates Islam, Malay shamanism is dying out today. Sure, you can easily find men who call themselves bomoh, but their methods are rarely authentic

todayonline.com/world/asia/mal…

To appeal to mainstream Malay Muslims, many bomoh today have attempted to Islamise their practice, and even adopted modern technology

taipeitimes.com/News/world/arc…

Many conservative pawang are opposed to this, but others believe that their Muslim faith can coexist with their practices and beliefs

Regardless of whether we consider them good or bad, Malay magical practices are worth studying if for no other reason than their cultural value. They're an important source for local folklore and art

https://twitter.com/uglyluhan/status/1098487005392949250?s=19

And considering that their portrayal in modern media is repetitive and one-sided, Malay shamans are severely underutilized in local fiction. When can we see a local Shaman King?

Forgot about this

Sources:

Mohd Taib Osman
Amde Sidik
Farouk Yahya
Mircea Eliade
A. Rafi