ANTONIO ZAMBARDINO

Magic in Indonesian Islam

It was the Arab Muslim traders entering Indonesia as early as the 8th century who brought Islam in Indonesia. Its historical inhabitants were animists, Hindus and Buddhists. However, it was not until the end of the 13th century that the spread of Islam began.
Nowadays, magic is everywhere in Indonesia and it is taken very seriously. It coexists with Islam and it has become a part of it, even the mantras that shamans read in order to cast a spell. These are nothing but choranic verses.

Indonesia does not have a psychiatric or psychological culture. Most conditions then often go untreated or, are interpreted religiously to the discomfort of the person, who then undergoes the effects of all the superstition and the mix of beliefs that the crossing between animism and Islam has generated.

All activities in this part of Indonesia involve at some stage a “sanro”, the local witch doctor.
Under a Sanro’s care there are medicine, cloud control, sports, celebrations or/and black magic.

As harvest begins, they are summoned more often as their services are needed. However, their most demanded practice is for exorcisms of sorts, which are likely performed over a young woman who is believed to be possessed by a demon or the devil itself.
Strangely enough it is not a demon or Satan to enter a body on its own accord. The belief is that another “sanro” casts the spell to a recipient. He might do so because he receives the commission from a woman who was mistreated by a man, but in most cases, “possessions” take young girls who have refused the attentions of a boy or man.
Some rituals intended to rid a girl of a demon can last even  weeks, some, say months, whilst the person must endure the psychological and physical discomfort that the whole process entails.
So, when on the islands, when it comes to get a sanro, it’s best to find an Islamic one, but ush come to shove, just any sanro seems to be better than no sanro at all.

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A horse lurks in the rice fields. Come dusk, farmers burn bad weeds and dead leaves. During harvest fires are visible form everywhere and everywhere around any crop.                                                                      

A 27 year old girl is believed to be possessed by the devil (or by a demon) Her family met a sandro, who spent a week with this family, costing them around five US dollars a day. The sandro convinced her family not only that this devil was following her in the country side around their house, but that she had to stay naked for the demon to find its way out her body through the genitals.       

Later, form different line of enquiry it emerged that the girl started suffering of "attacks" after she came back from Saudi Arabia, where she went, as mulsims do at least once in their life time.

Back from her trip she found out that her brother stol all the moeny she had been sending home for the three years of her stay abroad.