In addition to these must be mentioned the Munoh Antu, or Bepantap Buyu (“killing the demon,” or “wounding Buyu”). Buyu is the name of the evil spirit who brings many diseases and causes miscarriage in women. When there is some unusual or obstinate disease, or when a woman has had miscarriage, the manangs declare that Buyu is the cause of the trouble, and must be killed. A large number of witch-doctors are called together, and the feat is performed in this way: The patient is taken out of the room, and laid on the common veranda, and covered with a net. In the room is placed an offering of food, and the manangs walk in procession up and down the whole length of the house, chanting their incantations, and inviting the evil spirit to come to his victim, and also to partake of the sumptuous repast that is prepared for him. This occupies some time, for the spirit may be far away, on a journey, or fishing, or hunting. All lights are extinguished, and in the darkness the manangs walk up and down the public hall of the Dyak house. At intervals one of them peeps in at the door to see if the spirit has arrived. In due time the demon comes, and then the manangs themselves enter the darkened room. Presently sounds of scuffling, of clashing of weapons, and of shouting are heard by the Dyaks outside. Soon after the door is thrown open, and the demon said to be dead. He was cheated into coming to torment his prey, and instead of a weak and helpless victim he met the crafty and mighty manangs, who have done what ordinary mortals cannot do—attacked and killed him. As a proof of the reality of the deed lights are brought in, and the manangs point to spots of blood on the floor, and occasionally to the corpse itself in the shape of a dead monkey or snake, which they say was the form the spirit took for the occasion. The trick is a very simple one. Some time in the day the manangs procure blood from a fowl or some other animal, or it may be from their own bodies, mix it with water in a bamboo to prevent congealing, smuggle it into the room, and scatter it on the floor in the dark. This can safely be done, as no one but the manangs themselves are in the room. Neither lights nor outsiders are admitted, on the plea that under such circumstances the demon could not be enticed to enter. The trick has often been detected and the performers openly accused of imposture; consequently, it is not now practised so often as in former times. When this victory over the spirit is won, the Pelian goes on in the usual way till the morning hours.
In addition to these Pelian, there is another manang ceremony which is often performed, and known by the name of Saut. A feast is always given in the house where this ceremony takes place, so it is the occasion of the gathering of friends from many different Dyak houses. The reasons for having this ceremony are various. If they have had a series of bad harvests, or if one or more people in the house are ill, or if they wish the future of one child or many to be bright and prosperous, then the manangs are called in to perform the Saut.
The principal god or deity invoked in this ceremony is Selampandai, the god who fashions mankind out of clay by hammering them out on an anvil. As in other performances of the manangs, there is a Pagar Api put up in the open veranda. The ceremony begins at dusk, when three offerings of food are made. The first is to the gods of the women, and this is thrown out of the window of the room to the ground; the second offering is made to the gods of the men, and is thrown out to the ground from the unroofed veranda in front of the house; the third offering is to Selampandai, and this is put in the loft over the Pagar Api.
Areca-nut blossoms are placed ready for use on a little shelf, and three plates of rice are put near them as offerings to the spirits. A large valuable jar (tajau) filled with native spirit (tuak) is placed in the public veranda of the house. If there be a sick man to be cured, he sits on a brass gong (chanang) by the Pagar Api. The manangs march up and down singing their incantations. After doing this for some time, each of them takes a bunch of areca-blossom in his hands, and they strike each other with these until the blossoms are broken and strew the ground. Then the manangs walk slowly round the jar, bowing to it at each step. After this they join hands, and rush round the jar as fast as they can go, until they are quite exhausted.
During this the guests who have been invited to the feast are seated about eating and drinking, or chatting to each other. Later on in the evening, when the manangs have completed their ceremony, the tuak in the jar is handed round in cups for the guests to drink. As usual at feasts, when a cup of spirit is given to a man, he drinks the contents and keeps the cup, and it is no unusual thing to see a man returning from a feast with twenty or thirty cups in his possession.
There is a good deal of deceit and humbug and a little clumsy sleight-of-hand on the part of the manang, and an unlimited amount of faith on the part of the patient. The manang must be conscious of his own deceit, but he believes that his incantations do good, and I have often known cases of manangs having these ceremonies for members of their own family who are ill. But as a rule a manang is not a truthful man at all. He is not above telling any number of lies to increase his importance. He always pretends to have had previous knowledge of what is going to happen, and often says, when he is called in to a case, that he knew some time previously that his patient would be ill and come to him for help.
There can be no doubt that the average Dyak knows that there is a great deal of deceit connected with the manang’s profession, but he also knows he must submit to that deceit if he wishes to have his help, and he believes that in some way the incantations and remarkable actions of the manangs help to scare away the evil spirit which is the cause of the disease.
I remember that one of my schoolboys was on a visit to his relatives in Saribas. His sister was ill, and his parents sent for the manangs to cure her. The boy protested. He said they were Christians, and ought not to make incantations to the spirits. But no notice was taken of what he said. The manang went through the usual farce of “catching the soul” and restoring it to the girl. The boy looked on, and when it was over said to him:
“You are a fraud. You know you cannot ‘catch the soul,’ and you only pretend to do so, and get paid for it.”
The manang was no doubt disgusted at being thus reproved by a little boy, and replied: