Powers of Blessing from the Wilderness and from Heaven: Structure and Transformations in the Religion of the Toraja in the Mamasa Area of South Sulawesi

Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde #229

by Kees Buijs

Women run screaming from their village at night, leaving all their clothes behind--possessed by spirits of the wilderness, they climb up a barana tree. It is but one of the fascinating rituals of the Toraja people described in this study.
The Toraja people live in the mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their religion is an ancient one predating the Hindu and Buddhist religions that arrived in Indonesia some 1,500 years ago. It is marked by a dualism in male and female elements, a characteristic of rituals the older people in the western Toraja region, Mamasa, still remember. Three rituals, the headhunting, fertility, and tree-climbing rites, are dealt with in detail, while in the marriage, childbirth, and mortuary rituals point to a shift in Toraja beliefs. Where once both earth and celestial deities were expected to bless ritual participants, the Toraja, influenced by developments in their physical environment, now devote their attention to the deities of the heavens, while those of the earth are disappearing.

Genres: Indonesian Literature

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Bongga Ma'Dika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book

[Satya Nugraha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kees Buijs is one of the people who support the establishing Mamasa's Church in the 70s. Based on anthroplogic views, he showed all about Mamasa and their traditional transformation. The separation of two worlds related to the primordial dichotomy. The human realm and the Gods realm. They believe that the blessings were sent down from the east where Gods reside to the west where human live. Every place beyond human controls signifies the wilderness. In order to acquire the blessings, humans require calming the wilderness by rituals. As time goes by, the wilderness changes and influences human beliefs. When it comes to Christianity entering the Mamasa, transformation beliefs occurred. The power of blessings was sent down through the sky into the earth, by the body of Christ Himself through Christianity faith.