| The real drama of the Barong play begins
with the entry of Rangda, who may appear singly or two-fold or even
three- or five-fold, in a crescendo of magic power. There is not necessarily
any story other than the symbolic encounter of two great forces, both
probably inimical to man, but one of which he has succeeded in winning
to his side. To express the fight between the Barong and Rangda in
terms of good and evil is to miss the point. The Barong is not a Saint
George battling with the Dragon; the Barong too is a monster of the
same kin as Rangda. He is even regarded, in a mystical Tantric interpretation
by a Hindu priest,' as actually an emanation of Rangda, won over by
offerings to take the part of the villagers against her. He has thus
become their protector, a protagonist of men against the dark intruding
death-force of Rangda. Each time his conflict with Rangda is shown
it is viewed with. Intense emotion by the villagers, an emotion strong
enough to induce a state of trance not only in the recognized village
mediums (the so called kris-dancers), but in the Barong itself, in
Rangda, in the pemangkoe, and in casual members of the audience. At
each Barong play the life of the community is somehow jeopardized.
The dramatic victory of the Barong is more than a mere symbol of its
preservation, it is a material pledge. Black magic, the force of death,
is not destroyed, but it is driven away to the graveyard where it
belongs; while the Barong, for whose safety his servants the villagers
have shown their readiness to sacrifice their lives, returns in triumphant
procession to the temple as does also the mask of Rangda in its covered
basket, already disembodied. |
