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POWER OF ANCIENT CURSES
The poetic jampi serapah is very much a part of our oral heritage



Words are powerful things. This is something we've known for a long time. Words have a way of creating, healing and destroying concepts, ideas and relationships. It's almost magical.


Some of the grandest words, in poetry or prose, form incantations, which conjure visions of ghouls, ghosts and everything in between.
With the dust of Halloween just settling, it's a great time to explore this topic.

In Asian, societies, incantations come in the form of mantras. Throughout ancient times, most civilisations had mantras for dealing with illness, injustice, imbalance, catastrophes and the unknown. The Hindu, Chinese, Egytians and many others practised good mantras as well as bad curses.

SPOKEN HERITAGE

In the not too distant past, the Malays and many other ethnic groups such as the Kadazan and the Iban for example, relied on jampi serapah for healing purposes in addition to other uses.

It forms a part of our oral tradition. There were incantations for important occasions such as the birth of a baby, the opening of new land or healing the sick. 

There are words that can induce fear by naming unspeakable things. My grandmother would warn me of how dangerous it was to go off anywhere anole. "Jangan duduk ceruk ceruk. Nanti kena pelesit," she'd often say. I thought this was just a ruse but once I heard grandmother use an incantation to get rid of the so-called pelesit, a grasshopper-like jin. She warned me that I was never to repeat it as I hadn't undergone the proper ceremony to utter them, let alone use them. It was my introduction to jampi serapah.

Interestingly, the ability to conjure these "curses" is considered an ilmu or knowledge. Most common included ilmu pengasih (love charm), and its opposite ilmu pembenci (hatred), as well as ilmu kebal (invincibility) and ilmu pendinding (protection).

Ilmu is perhaps best defined by renowned anthropologist Cliffor Geertz."Ilmu is generally considered to be a kind of abstract knowledge or supernatural skill, but by the more concrete-minded and old-fashioned, it's sometimes viewed as a kind of substantive magical power, in which its transformation may be more direct that through touching" (Geetrtz 1977:147) 

ORIGIN

Long before Islam arrived on our shores, our ancestors were experts in areas such as midwifery, healing the sick, self defence and no doubt, some practised black magic. This required great skill and some were gifted with inner knowledge.




Tabib Musa Tabib Muhammad of Pusat Rawatan Traditional Islam (Pusrati) Al-Ikhlas shares: "The use of jampi serapah or mantra in today's world still exists. In the past, our ancestors would seek higher wisdom through meditation in isolation. This knowledge or ilmu can be acquired and taught but requires years to master. There are special initiations and is never to be taken lightly. Today, we turn to religion to strengthen our defences against the unknown."

In the old hikayat, there are many references to tok pawangs and tok bomoh. Tabib Musa explains: "There are many types of practitioners, including tok pawang, tok batin, dukun and tabib, people who deal with the unseen world or the unknown. They all have different strengths and areas of specialty."

There are also as many kinds of mantras that are used. According to Prof Dr Haron Daud, the author of Ulit Mayang: Kumpulan Mantra Melayu, (Ulit Mayang: A Collection of Malay Mantras), there are four main bodies of mantra. Firstly, we have charms that instil special powers like ilmu kebal and pendinding, which protects its user from harm or penggerun and penunduk which accord the user the power to subdue an opponent through fear.

Pemanis and pengasih (love charms)act as a love potion, to which the opposite would be the pembenci, to instil hate.

A little mantra from the book Ulit Mayang: Kumpulan Mantra Melayu reads:

Ribu ribu kanan jalan
Anak naga melintang tasik
Berapa ribu makhluk berjalan
Aku juga dipandang cantik


Thousands walk the path

The young serpent crosses the lake
Among those who have crossed your path
I am the one so beautifully made

The Ulek Mayang is based on a healing ritual and the folkloric song demonstrates the beautiful use of language as an oral legacy in our mantra.

Pulih mayang ku pulih?
Pulih balik sedia kala
The last two lines:
Be well, my mayang, be well
Return to your known form

reveal that this is a mantra to heal


Then there are the healing charms that offer an antidote for health problems such as broken bones and headaches to afflictions caused by black magic, like santau and busung. One of the more well-accepted ancient knowledge would be the midwifery skill which continue to be practised today.


FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

It's not uncommon in our society to discipline children by putting fear of terrifying ghosts and monsters in their minds. Many of us can recall being informed of evil beings that were said to be able to take babies away, create catastrophe and cause hardship. This isn't unique to Asians. All over the world, ancient people had their own way of explaining and dealing with the strange and inexplicable events that took place in their daily lives.

Perhaps at a very basic level, this is the way mantras work. We only had words. But we've known and felt the power of words from very early on. Only the learned and the initiated could use these mystical words, which deal with the unknown. In Malay society,, they deal with the existence of jin (djinn), pelesit (demon), puaka (phantom spirit) and some of the most unspeakable beings. Perhaps bere's the secret - fear of the words that signify their existence.

In the fictitious world of Harry Potter, Voldermont was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And Dumbledore rightly said: "Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself."


Source : New Straits Times - Heritage Plush

Written by : Ninotaziz
Date published : 6 November 2016 


KUASA SUMPAHAN KUNO
Jampi serapah yang berirama merupakan sebahagian daripada warisan lisan kita




Perkataan mempunyai kekuatan yang sudah lama kita sedari. Perkataaan mempunyai cara tersendiri dalam mencipta, memulihkan dan memusnahkan konsep, idea dan perhubungan. Ia bersifat ajaib.

Hasil kerja terhebat dalam syair atau prosa mampu membentuk jampi berupa silap mata yang memperlihatkan imej hantu yang mengerikan, hantu dan lain-lain imej.

Memandangkan perayaan Halloween baru sahaja berakhir, maka inilah masa yang sesuai untuk merungkai topik ini.

Dalam masyarakat Asia, jampi merupakan mantera. Pada zaman silam, masyarakat bertamadun banyak menggunakan mantera untuk merawat penyakit, ketidak adilan, tidak seimbangan, bencana alam dan unsur ghaib. Orang Hindu, orang cina dan orang mesir mengamalkan mantera baik juga mengamalkan sumpahan.

WARISAN

Pada masa lalu, orang Melayu dan kumpulan etnik lain seperti kaum Kadazan dan kaum Iban turut mengamalkan jampi serapah untuk menyembuhkan penyakit dan lain-lain tujuan.

Ia telah menjadi sebahagian tradisi kita. Terdapat mantera untuk majlis penting seperti kelahiran, membuka tanah baharu atau menyembuhkan penyakit.  

Terdapat perkataan yang boleh mewujudkan ketakutan dengan hanya menamakan makhluk yang tidak dapat diperkatakan. Nenek saya akan memberi amaran kepada saya betapa bahaya jika merayau kemana-mana seorang diri. "Jangan duduk ceruk ceruk, Nanti kena pelesit," beliau sering memberikan nasihat. Saya ingatkan ia bertujuan untuk menakutkan saya sehinggalah saya pernah mendengar nenek menggunakan mantera untuk menghalau pelesit, jin berupa belalang. Beliau memberi amaran kepada saya agar tidak mengulangi lagi kerana saya tidak melalui upacara untuk mengucap kata-kata itu apatah lagi mengucapkannya. Itulah pengenalan pertama saya mengenai jampi serapah.

Apa yang menarik, kebolehan untuk menggunakan 'sumpahan' ini dianggap sebagai ilmu atau pengetahuan. Ilmu paling terkenal adalah ilmu pengasih serta ilmu pembenci, ilmu kebal dan ilmu pendinding.

Istilah ilmu dijelaskan dengan baik oleh ahli antropologi Clifford Geertz. "Ilmu selalunya dikaitkan cara untuk menambah pengetahuan atau kemahiran kuasa ghaib akan tetapi dengan pemikiran lama, kadang-kala ia dilihat seperti kuasa ajaib di mana proses penghantaran menjadi mudah daripada proses menyentuh" (Geetrtz 1977:147).

ASAL-USUL

Sebelum agama Islam bertapak di perairan kita, nenek moyang kita pakar dalam ilmu seperti perbidanan, menyembuhkan orang sakit, mempertahankan diri serta mengamalkan ilmu sihir. Kemahiran ini memerlukan bakat dan ada juga dianugerahkan dengan pengetahuan dalam diri.



Tabib Musa Tabib Muhammad dari Pusat Rawatan Traditional Islam (Pusrati) Al-Ikhlas mengongsi pendapat beliau: " Masih wujud penggunaan jampi serapah atau mantera sehingga hari ini. Dahulu, nenek moyang kita akan menambah kemahiran ini dengan bertakafur seorang diri. Pengetahuan atau ilmu ini boleh dipelajari dan diajar tetapi ia memerlukan masa bertahun lamanya untuk mahir. Terdapat inisiasi khas yang tidak harus diambil mudah. Hari ini, kita menggunakan agama untuk memperkuatkan perlindungan kita terdapat unsur ghaib."


Dalam hikayat lama, terdapat banyak rujukan mengenai tok pawang dan tok bomoh. Tabib Musa menjelaskan:"Terdapat banyak jenis pengamal termasuk tok pawang, tok batin, dukun dan tabib, mereka yang berurusan dengan dunia ghaib atau dunia yang tidak diketahui. Mereka ini mempunyai kekuatan dalam bidang kemahiran masing-masing."

Terdapat juga pelbagai bentuk mantra digunakan. Menurut Prof Dr Haron Daud, penulis buku Ulit Mayang: Kumpulan Mantra Melayu, terdapat emapt bahagian penting dalam mantra. Pertama ialah mengenai tangkal yang mempunyai kuasa khas seperti ilmu kebal dan pendinding yang melindungi penggunanya daripada sebarang bahaya atau penggerun dan penunduk mengikut kuasa pengguna untuk menundukkan pihak lawan menggunakan elemen ketakutan.

Pemanis dan pengasih merupakan ubat pengasih yang berlawanan dengannya adalah pembenci bagi mewujudkan perasaan benci.

Sepotong mantrra daripada buku Ulit Mayang: Kumpulan Mantra Melayu:

Ribu ribu kanan jalan
Anak naga melintang tasik
Berapa ribu makhluk berjalan
Aku juga dipandang cantik
Ulek Mayang berdasarkan kepada ritual pemulihan dan lagu orang dulu-dulu mendemostrasi penggunaan bahasa yang indah sebagai legasi lisan dalam mantera.
Pulih mayang ku pulih?
Pulih balik sedia kala

Mantera ini bertujuan untuk pemulihan.



Terdapat juga tangkal pemulihan yang dikhususkan untuk masalah kesihatan seperti patah tulang, sakit kepala yang dikaitkan dengan sihir seperti santau dan busung. Salah satu pengetahuan kuno yang diketahui adalah kemahiran bidan yang masih diteruskan sehingga ke hai ini.

KETAKUTAN

Masyarakat kita mendisplinkan kanak-kanak dengan menanam perasaan takut terhadap hantu dalam fikiran mereka. Ramai daripada kita pasti ingat ketika diberitahu bahawa kuasa jahat mampu mengambil anak kita, mewujudkan bencana alam serta kesusahan. Perkara ini berlaku di negara luar Asia juga. Di serata dunia, orang terdahulu memounyai cara mereka tersendiri dalam menerangkan dan berurusan dengan kejadian ganjil yang tidak dapat diterangkan.

Mungkin pada asasnya, mantera ini boleh berjaya. Kita hanya ada perkataan tetapi kita mengetahui dan merasai kekuatan perkataan yang diucapkan. Hnay mereka yang mempunyai ilmu pengetahuan boleh mempraktikkan perkataan mistikal yang berkaitan dengan urusan unsur ghaib. Dalam masyarakat Melayu, terdapat mereka yang berurusan dengan jin, pelesit, puaka dan unsur ghaib lain. Mungkin rahsianya adalah - ketakutan terhadap perkataan yang diucapkan yang memberi petunjuk kewujudan mereka.

Dalam dunia rekaan Harry Porter, Volder ialah Dia-Tidak-Boleh-Dinamakan dan Dumbledore pernah berkata: "Takut pada nama hanya menambahkan lagi ketakutan terhadap unsur itu sendiri."


Diterjemah oleh : Teratai Melur

E-mel ; terataigenius@gmail.com

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