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ESSAY
On Re-enchantment and Cosmic Hopes:
The Power of Checkered Textile, Moringa Oleifera, and Collective Intentionality
by Mira Asriningtyas
Enchantment uses phrases, rhythms, or a song to create a more delightful sight—a sense of wonder and inexplicable delight similar to putting a rose-tinted glass on a specific idea. Unfortunately, it goes both ways and can cause someone to fall madly in love or be tempted to jump off a cliff. Whether the intention is good or bad depends on the spellcaster. When casting a spell, one projects a future that is yet to come, altering a non-ideal situation to create their version of an idealized reality. From this point of view, enchantment can be seen as a micro form of worlding: a proposition to live the imaginary possibility as if it was possible.
Using “enchantment” as a starting point, this essay explores magic as a tool to fight oppression and ward off forces that cause global crises, beginning with Indonesian case studies and moving toward global examples. Questions include: Can we learn from the ecological wisdom of a wise person, dukun, or shaman in the face of a climate emergency? Can objects with apotropaic magic protect you from a global pandemic and natural disaster? Can a spell be cast against the delirium of influence and power that lead to war and destruction? And finally, can we collectively try to re-enchant and remake the world using the power of objects?
On Re-enchantment: The Role of the Wise People
There is an anecdote from Indonesia about a village experiencing drought and a young priest new to the area. During his first few months spent walking around the area, he found that the heavy logging in the surrounding forest was slowly damaging the ecosystem that provided a water catchment for the village. It was not easy to stop or slow down the logging—until he noticed how superstitious the villagers were. One day he went into the forest and put a black and white checkered cloth around one of the oldest trees. The young priest made sure that someone from the village saw him. Whenever someone would ask him about it, he would explain that he saw a deity living inside the tree, and that harming the tree might wreak havoc on the village. Over the years, he continued doing these processions to slow down logging while at the same time building a water catchment system and community reservoir infrastructure to address the water crisis. This anecdote portrays the idea of re-enchantment on a small, geographical scale.
It was never clear where the village was, or whether the story was true or a combination of similar experiences from different parts of Indonesia. Yet the young priest did adopt the idea of wrapping a checkered cloth around a tree from the Balinese philosophy of Rwa Bhineda, a concept of balance and harmony symbolized in poleng (two-tone) textile (fig.1). When the textile is wrapped around an object (statue, tree, stone, etc.), it indicates the presence of a deity or a spirit inside the object that needs to be treated with respect and caution. It became a shared symbol understood beyond the geographical scope of Bali, and thus, key to the success of the young priest’s act of preserving the water catchment area. It is not the mundane textile object that holds the magical power, but what it implies in combination with the priest’s position as a public figure, and the community superstition. Together, an old spirit is brought back into the forest to solve a specific contemporary problem. As a spiritual leader, the priest occupies a position usually filled by local wise people or dukun (shaman) who became conduits to activate the power of an object by declaring that a certain item inhabited by a spirit or building a bridge between an object and a belief system.
Fig. 1: Poleng (two-tone) textile wrapped around the tree to indicate the presence of a deity or spirit inside an object that needs to be treated respectfully. Original image courtesy of the author. Photo: Mella Jaarsma.
A similar practice of bringing back the sacredness of a site is done by a group of environmental activists known as Resan Gunungkidul,[1] made up of resan (protective tree) lovers whose activity includes restoration and conservation of land and water resources in the Gunungkidul area in Yogyakarta with frequent water crises and prolonged drought. Their practice is grounded in both local wisdom and ecological discourse and combines the knowledge of local wise people, conservators, and ecological activists. Aside from using spiritual attempts to reignite the sacredness of natural resources, the Resan Gunungkidul community identify and protect big protective trees considered keystone species, voluntarily cleaning up and restoring water reservoirs and replanting trees in multiple areas as a proposition for a greener future for Gunungkidul. Prior to doing these conservation attempts, they sometimes use ritual and simple sets of sesajen (offering)[2] as a courtesy to acknowledge the presence of the protecting spirit of the resan.
The knowledge needed to prepare the more densely symbolic and meticulously prepared sesajen is often passed down through generations or entrusted to wise people or dukun. Wise people’s role to prepare sesajen permeates daily life to mark personal moments such as weddings, births, and deaths, and nurture sacred natural resources such as springs, old trees, or places where the force of nature is strong, unpredictable, and often destructive as near an active volcano or ocean. Those places are believed to be the dwelling spots of deities who maintain the balance of nature. At the same time, in keeping a natural resource sacred and respected, the community promotes its sustainability, keeping it pristine and off limits from over extraction or irreversible damage.
The role of shamans as guardians of nature is not unique to the Indonesian context. Anthropologist David Abrams has observed that a shaman acts as an intermediary between the human community and the larger ecological field to ensure appropriate flow of nourishment that is balanced and reciprocal between the human community and the earth, and that the village never takes more from the living land than it returns to it—not just materially but with prayers, propitiations, and praise (1996: 6). For many years, Indigenous communities from all over the world have been warning of ecological catastrophe as a result of colonialism, capitalism, and the prolonged extractive practice of modern society. The late shaman from Sarayaku of Ecuador’s Amazon Rainforest, Sabino Gualinga, was one of the Indigenous spiritual leaders who testified at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica for the trial of Sarayaku vs. Ecuador in 2011. In his testimony, he educated the world about the idea of a Living Forest[3] that acknowledges the forest and its content as a living, conscious, right-bearing entity. He also demanded the right to legally recognize the community’s sacred connection with the Living Forest (Brown 2022). Such a gentle practice and understanding of cohabitation with non-human entities are becoming more important amidst the global climate emergency we are all in.
Tolak Bala: Objects of Apotropaic Magic
In areas closer to Mount Merapi, one of the most active stratovolcanoes in the world located on Java island,[4] rather than attempting to control the uncontrollable force of nature, rituals such as labuhan[5] and merti desa[6] are peace offerings and acknowledgements of the presence and cohabitation paid to a higher being and toward the spiritual kingdom of Mount Merapi. In the volatile environment of Merapi, the role of the wise people is to mediate the power of nature and create a warning system by sensing the rise in volcanic activity through dreams, animal behavior, and changes in nature. As soon as there are signs of eruptions, the wise people send silent warnings to the villagers using collectively understood symbols. For example, the villagers will be asked to assemble a simple knot of janur (young coconut leaf) and place it above their front doors (fig.2). The meaning of it can be found through wordplay: sejatining nur (the true light or the divine light). The janur is a silent prayer materialized—a hope to find light in difficult times and a symbol of the starting point to a new life. A volcanic eruption might bring destruction, but it is also believed to be a blessing, a moment of renewal and future prosperity. But beyond magic, I think the logic behind this system of signs might include a disaster mitigation strategy. Having a bright-colored janur placed above the front door while praying for one’s safety heightens one’s awareness of the exit door. The prayers vested in the janur might resurface from the back of our minds should there be any sudden volcanic eruption, so one can calmly locate the exit door amidst possible panic.
Fig. 2: Janur (young coconut leaf), which is placed above a door as a symbol of hope in difficult times and of new life. Original courtesy of the author. Photo: Dito Yuwono.
Assembling a simple knot of janur is a tolak bala practice to ward off misfortune through an object endowed with apotropaic magic. The practice of tolak bala is popular in Indonesia probably due to the widespread awareness of the unstable force of nature given the ground continuously moves beneath us. Indonesia is home to some of the most active volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire formed due to subduction zones of the three main active tectonic plates. Animism becomes part of a culture that forges an intimate relationship with its ecosystem and everything that lives on the landscape. It is believed not only human beings but also the trees, animals, even mountains have intelligent souls. In this case, the idea of magic inclines toward a deeper connection between humans and the animate natural world. The wise people are believed to possess a more intimate relationship with the animate natural world through years of embodied knowledge transmitted through ritual, oral tradition, and sensorial experience. They can sense even the slightest change in nature and when danger is approaching—sometimes even collaborating with the deities to alter the weather[7].
Tolak bala has also been practiced against plague. During the early Covid-19 pandemic, the popularity of Moringa oleifera (fig.3) escalated due to its immune-boosting qualities and amulet-like ability to protect against evil– or in this case, against a global pandemic. In Bali, Moringa is used in food, medicine, and beauty products, and is planted around the house to ward off evil (Eveleigh 2022). In the Banyuwangi region—just across the strait from Bali and one of the few areas in Java where belief in magic is still part of the social fabric—it is common for a host to serve a bowl of simple moringa soup to a guest or visiting stranger. The soup is made with Moringa leaves, believed to be exceptionally potent in counteracting evil spirits, bad intentions, and all types of witchcraft and guna-guna , no matter how strong. As soon as the magic exuviates, all intentions of the guest are purified and judgment of the host is unclouded. Moringa is believed to be so pure and powerful that it can be used as an amulet against dark forces when carried in one’s pocket, hung above the door, or planted around the house. In West Java, it is used to purify, clean, and bathe dead bodies before burial. The plant easily grows all year, providing a cheap and sustainable source of food with medicinal quality. A nutrient-packed superfood, Moringa is also highly anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant, it harnesses the power within us, turning nature into a somatic power with healing abilities. Afterall, it is never just about the magic.
Fig. 3: Moringa oleifera, a plant used for its immune qualities and its ability to protect against evil when worn as an amulet. Original image courtesy of the author. Photo: Dito Yuwono.
Moving from an Indonesian context to a more global one there is the example of an online community of young witches on TikTok named the #WitchTok who share witchcraft tips from crystal charging and self-purifying rituals to removing negative energy from the world. The latter was also performed in 2017 by the online group/movement comprised of occult/activists across the US #MagicResistance #Trump in a mass binding spell against Trump’s presidency (BBC News 2017)—and endorsed by pop singer Lana Del Rey who spread the call and hinted at the timing of the waning crescent moon which was perfect to get rid of negative energy (Bryant 2017), putting more spotlight to this collective shared-sentiment toward the former president of the US. More recently, only a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, at least 10 straw dolls bearing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face were nailed at multiple locations in Japan, including a sacred tree by a shrine (Montgomery 2022). The straw doll, known as wara ningyō, is one in which a certain type of deity can take refuge and is used to ward off evil or curse an intended target. While magic alone cannot bring direct change, the attempts of modern witches trigger conversations that might later snowball into action and structural change.
Cosmic Hope: Guna-Guna and Collective Intention
From the anarchist lens, witchcraft was a deeply political act to reject and read backward the narratives of the oppressors. According to Wikipedia, the word “witchcraft” goes back more than a thousand years and in Old English is linked “to the English words wit, wise, wisdom: ‘craft of the wise.’” The concept and belief that has persisted throughout recorded history in many cultures worldwide was slowly corroded during colonialism when religious enlightenment was introduced alongside modern science. But to re-enchant the world, according to Silvia Federici, is not the promise of an impossible return to the past but the possibility of recovering the power to collectively decide our fate on this earth (2018).
Let’s first go back to guna-guna as a silent mystical force and the notion that an object may possess a soul or power that cannot be seen but can be felt. The power of objects and amplification of collectively understood symbols that connect likeminded audiences across borders is foregrounded in widely circulating common goals. Amplification brings awareness to causes so a wider community can form allyship and cross-continental solidarity to imagine a possible future that might eventually lead to a revolution. Unfortunately, just like the guna-guna, power goes both ways. The raised clenched fist as a symbol of resistance and resilience can clash with the MAGA hat—a collective symbol of bigotry.
People’s beliefs instill objects with an inherent power they can ignite. Intention is important here, since the manifestation of guna-guna or enchantment depends on that first spellcaster. The animating force of guna-guna and attempt to re-enchant the world requires a collective faith and intention, which philosopher John R. Searle has stated that the notion of collective intentionality implies cooperation, (2002) turning a specific agenda into a common goal. To enchant a new world into existence requires a meditative moment where movement is paused and pressure relieved to clearly foresee what could have taken place in a world that is yet to come. It is a resistance to the temptation to postpone joy; it is a call to tune in to a global choral vibration and sing creation into being, aligned with the power of the cosmos and body. Collective faith and intention are the philosopher’s stones that can transmute base material (poleng textile, sesajen, janur, Moringa, the straw doll) into the gold of conservation, community protection, and ultimately– collective hope.
About the Author
Mira Asriningtyas works as independent curator and writer. She completed the De Appel Curatorial Program in 2017 (Amsterdam) and RAW Academie 6: CURA in 2019 (Dakar). In her curatorial practice, she is especially interested in working on site‐specific multidisciplinary projects within the practice of everyday life as a means to address socio‐political issues and history. She has curated exhibition and public programs off-sites and in art institutions such as De Appel Art Center (Amsterdam); Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin); KKF (Yogyakarta); ISCP (New York); MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai); among others. Her writings have been published in books, online publication, exhibition catalog, monograph, and magazine from Indonesia, The Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, and Australia.
References
Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. New York: Vintage Books, 1996.
Brown, Kimberley. “Sabino Gualinga, Amazon Shaman and Defender of the ‘Living Forest,’ Passes Away.” Mongabay Environmental News, February 23, 2022. https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/sabino-gualinga-amazon-shaman-and-defender-of-the-living-forest-passes-away/.
Bryant, Kenzie. “Yes, Lana Del Rey Hexed Donald Trump.” Vanity Fair, July 25, 2017. https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/07/lana-del-rey-spell-donald-trump.
Eveleigh, Mark. “The Return of Bali’s Lost ‘Superfood.’” BBC Travel, April 22, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220408-the-return-of-balis-lost-superfood.
Federici, Silvia. “Introduction.” In Re-Enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons. Oakland, Ca: Pm Press, 2019.
Montgomery, Hanako. “Straw Dolls That Look like Putin Keep Appearing in Japanese Shrines.” Vice, June 9, 2022. https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d3mj5/putin-straw-dolls-japan-shrines.
Pinatih, Amanda and Britte Sloothaak. “Open Call Municipal Art Acquisitions 2022.” Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, September 26, 2021. https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/news/open-call-municipal-art-acquisitions-2022.
Searle, John R. “Collective Intentions and Actions.” In Consciousness and Language. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
BBC News. “Witches Cast ‘Mass Spell’ against Trump,” February 25, 2017, sec. US & Canada. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39090334.
[1] Resan Gunungkidul is a group of “resan” (protective trees) lovers or “resaners” in Gunungkidul. The members of the Resan Gunungkidul (Resaners) consisting of local communities scattered in various hamlets/sub-districts in Gunungkidul try to consistently and continuously carry out “gugur gunung” (cooperative voluntary work) in restoring and conserving land and water sources (springs, rivers, beji, tuk, caves, mountains, lakes, etc.) in Gunungkidul area. They also prepare seed to plant and care, based on rooted cultural strategies that are owned and embedded in local believe, then carried out to achieve the dream: “Gunungkidul Ijo Royo-Royo” (green and lush Gunungkidul). Source: “Tentang Kami: Resan Gunungkidul,” Resan Gunungkidul (website), accessed October 3, 2022. Translation by author.
[2] Sesajen is one of the virtuous gestures toward communicating with the deities or entities of higher powers that protect nature and to achieve a more harmonious relationship. It can be as simple as a pack of fragrant flowers and incense, or as elaborate as many types of edibles and objects with different names, shapes, and colors. Sesajen is often linked to a specific purpose whereas each item withholds its own philosophical meaning; the compilation of hope and prayer, an attempt to ward off evil, and symbols of gratitude is materialized but sometimes also internalized through ingesting and reflecting. For example, ingkung (a whole-chicken dish commonly found in sesajen), which symbolizes religious obedience and humility is not only presented visually but in words, with its name derived from ingsun (a humble pronoun for oneself) and manekung (a gesture of obeisance). The combination of the visual and philosophical wordplay translates as a form of devotion to the higher power.
[3] In the declaration of the Living Forest by Kichwa Native People of Sarayaku in 2018, the Living Forest or Kawsak Sacha is acknowledged as a living being, with consciousness, constituted by all the beings of the Jungle. It includes the beings of the animal, vegetable, mineral, spiritual and cosmic worlds, in intercommunication with human beings, giving them what is necessary to reanimate their psychological, physical and spiritual facets, thus restoring the energy, life and equilibrium of the original peoples. In the waterfalls, lagoons, marshes, mountains, rivers, trees and other places of the territory, the Protective Beings of Kawsak Sacha live and they develop a life of their own, similar to that of human beings. The Kawsak Sacha transmits the knowledge to the yachak (wise elders) so that they can interact in the world of the Protective Beings of the jungle, in order to maintain the balance of the Pachamama, heal people and society. This knowledge is methodically maintained and transmitted to new generations. Source: Kawsak Sacha website.
[4] “Java … is an island of Indonesia, bordered by the Indian Ocean on the south and the Java Sea on the north. With a population of over 148 million (Java only) or 152 million (including the inhabitants of its surrounding islands), Java constitutes 56.1 percent of the Indonesian population and is the world’s most-populous island. Formed mostly as the result of volcanic eruptions from geologic subduction between the Sunda Plate and Australian Plate, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the fifth largest in Indonesia by landmass at about 138,800 square kilometers (53,600 sq mi).” Source: Wikipedia, “Java”, last modified October 1, 2022.
[5] “Labuhan is a sacred ceremony done by the Kingdom of Yogyakarta to give offerings to the spirits who rule in specific places such as the Southern Sea and the mountains.” Source: “Upacara Labuhan,” Dinas Kebudayaan (Kundha Kabudayan) Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (website), March 14, 2014. Translation by author.
[6] “Merti Desa/Dusun or cleaning up the village is the symbol of the community’s gratitude for abundant fortune, safety, peace, and harmony in the world. This kind of ritual is still common in rural areas. Javanese people believe that even when they are hit by deep sorrow and calamity, there are still many things to be grateful for.” “Samigaluh—Melestarikan Merti Dusun,” Source: Kapanewon Samigaluh Kabupaten Kulon Progo (website), accessed October 3, 2022. Translation by author.
[7] One of the most popular examples of the attempt to alter the weather was done by Rara Istiati Wulandari, a rain shaman who was tasked by Indonesian government to control the weather during the MotoGP at the Mandalika Circuit in Lombok – Indonesia. Source: Aisyah Llewellyn, “Weathering the storm: Indonesia’s rain shamans,” Aljazeera, April 1, 2022.
