Malay ‘semangat’

Malay ‘semangat’
Fundamental to Malay ideas is the belief in ‘semangat’, or soul force. This the Malay finds present in all things, both living and dead.

He finds it in inanimate thongs like iron, which gives soul-force to the Malay knife.

‘Semangat’ is found in rocks, trees, waterfalls and the natural objects.

Tall isolated trees, the ‘pokok rajah’ king of the jungle are often standing when the forest is cleared because no workmen can be found to risk offending the spirit of the trees by cutting them down.

Soon small spirit shrines will appear at the base of these giants.

Above all, ‘semangat’ is present in rice, the staff of life.

Malays like all related Malaysian carefully reap the heads of grain with a special knife, the ‘tuai’, which they hide in the palm of the hand so as not to frighten the soul of the plant.

‘Semangat’ is found also in parts of he body, even in discarded parts such as hair, fingernails, spittle, sweat and placenta.

There is spirit in one’s shadow, in footsteps, in the water in which one has washed even on one’s spoken name.

Thus it is believed that another person can influence your actions by performing rituals over your possessions or traces.

It is thought that one’s spirit can take off in dreams, as well as in death. Belief in ghosts, called ‘hantu’, is widespread even among educated Malays.

Malay ghosts can be good and bad. Among the most dangerous is he ‘pontianak’ the ghost of a woman who has died in childbirth.
Malay ‘semangat’