Towards the end of the Balinese
year, during the last months of the rainy season, epidemics of
malaria and tropical fevers make their appearance because evil
spirits and leyaks are in the ascendancy; then even the earth
is said to be sick. It is believed that the fanged demon living
on the little island of Nusa Penida, Djero' Gede' Metjaling, comes
to Bali then in the form of a fiery ball that, upon coming ashore,
explodes into a thousand sparks that spread in all directions.
As their glow dies, they release evil forces that go to spread
illness and misfortune. This is a propitious time for leyaks to
prey on human beings; because of the predominance of evil forces,
the village is then magically weakened. The dogs gather at the
crossroads and howl all night and the owls hoot, predicting deaths
in the village. Quantities of offerings are made to placate the
devils, and the benign spirits are implored to come down to earth,
through the body of a medium, to advise and protect the distressed
community.
A performance of sanghyang dedari is one of the most effective
exorcisms; two little girls, trained to go into a trance, are
chosen from all the girls of the village for their psychic aptitudes
by the temple priest, the pemangku, to receive in their bodies
the spirits of the heavenly nymphs, the beautiful dedari Supraba
and Blue Lotus (Tundjung Biru"). Choruses of men and women
are formed and the training begins. Every night, for weeks, they
all go to the temple, where the women sing traditional songs while
the men chant strange rhythms and harmonies made up of meaningless
syllables, producing a syncopated accompaniment for the dance
that the little girls, the sanghyangs, will perform. By degrees
the little girls become more and more subject to the ecstasy produced
by the intoxicating songs, by the incense, and by the hypnotic
power of the pernangku. The training goes on until the girls are
able to fall into a deep trance, and a formal performance can
be given. It is extraordinary that although the little girls have
never received dancing lessons once in a trance they are able
to dance in any style, all of which would require ordinary dancers
months and years of training to learn. But the Balinese ask how
it could be otherwise, since it is the goddesses who dance in
the bodies of the little girls.
When the girls are ready, they are taken to the death temple where
a sanggar agung, a high altar, has been erected, filled with offerings
for the sun. The Pemangku sits facing the altar in fro of a brazier
where incense of three sorts is burned. The little girls wear
ear-plugs of gold, heavy silver anklets, bracelets, an rings.
Their hair is loose and they are dressed in white skirts They
kneel in front of the altar on each side of the priest. The women
singers sit in-a circle around them, while the men main in a group
in the back. Their jewellery is removed and put in a bowl of water;
small incense braziers are placed in front of each girl. After
a short prayer by the priest the women sing:
Fragrant is the smoke of the incense, the smoke of the sandal.
wood, the smoke that coils and coils upwards towards the home
the three gods. We are cleansed to call the nymphs to descend
from heaven. We ask Supraba and Tundjung Biru to come down to
us, beautiful in their bodices of gold. Flying down from heaven,
they fly in spirals, fly down from the, North-East, where they
build their home.
Their garden is filled with, golden flowers that grow side by
side, with the pandanus, the scorpion orchids, the tigakantju,
pineapples soli and sempol, their tender leaves gracefully drooping;
drooping they spread their perfume through the garden. Our thoughts
shall rise like smoke towards the dedari, who will" descend
from heaven.
Soon the girls begin to drowse and fall in a sudden faint. The,
women support their limp bodies in a sitting-position, and after
a while the girls begin to move again, as if suffering intense
pain, then trembling all over and swaying faster and faster, their
heads rolling until their loose hair describes a wide circle.
From this time on the girls remain with closed eyes and do not
open them until the end of the ceremony, when they are taken out
of the trance. With their bare hands they brush off the glowing
coals from the braziers, making inarticulate sounds that are taken
to be mantras, magic formulas, mumbled by the heavenly nymphs
that have entered their bodies. From now m they are addressed
as goddesses. Women attendants remove their white skirts and replace
them with gilt ones. Their waists are tightly bound in strips
of gold cloth, and each girl is given a jacket, a golden bodice,
and a silver belt, in all a legong costume. The jewellery that
lay in the bowl of holy water is put on again. The holy bead-dresses
of gold are brought in on. cushions decorated with fresh frangipani
flowers, and the girls are guided so that they can put them on
themselves while the women Sing about the beauty of the bead-dresses
and the elegance of their clothes.
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