Si Raya (or Madu-Raya) is said to have a family, his wife’s name being Madu-ruti, and his children “Wa’ Ranai,” and “Si Kĕkas” (the scratcher), all of whom, however, have their own separate spheres of influence. The “Great One” himself (Madu-Raya) rules over the sea from low-water mark (at the river’s mouth) out to mid-ocean; and if his identity with “’Toh Rimpun ʿAlam” is accepted,[14] his place of abode is at the navel of the seas, within the central whirlpool (Pusat Tasek), from the centre of which springs the Magic Tree (Pauh Janggi), on whose boughs perches the roc (garuda) of fable, and at whose foot dwells the Gigantic Crab, whose entrance into and exit from the cave in which he dwells is supposed to cause the displacement of water which results in the ebb and flow of the tide.[15]
The only other divinities (of the rank of “Mambangs”) which are of any importance are the “White divinity,” who dwells in the Sun, the “Black divinity,” who dwells in the Moon, and the “Yellow divinity,” who dwells in the Yellow Sunset-glow, which latter is always considered most dangerous to children.
When there is a decided glow at sunset, any one who sees it takes water into his mouth (di-kĕmam ayer) and dislodges it in the direction of the brightness, at the same time throwing ashes (di-sĕmbor dĕngan abu) saying:—
Mambang kuning, mambang k’labu,
Pantat kuning di-sĕmbor abu.
This is done “in order to put out the brightness,” the reason that it must be put out being that in the case of any one who is not very strong (lĕmah sĕmangat) it causes fever.
(b) Spirits, Demons, and Ghosts
The “Jins” or “Genii,” generally speaking, form a very extensive class of quite subordinate divinities, godlings, or spirits, whose place in Malay mythology is clearly due, whether directly or indirectly, to Muhammadan influences, but who may be most conveniently treated here as affording a sort of connecting link between gods and ghosts. There has, it would appear, been a strong tendency on the part of the Malays to identify these imported spirits with the spirits of their older (Hindu) religion, but the only Genie who really rises to the level of one of the great Hindu divinities is the Black King of the Genii (Sang Gala[16] Raja, or Sa-Raja Jin), who appears at times a manifestation of Shiva Batara Guru, who is confounded with the destructive side of Shiva, i.e. Kala. This at least would appear to be the only theory on which we could explain the use of many of the epithets or attributes assigned to the King of the Genii, who is at one time called “the one and only God”; at another, “Bĕntara (i.e. Batara), Guru, the Genie that was from the beginning,” and at another, “the Land Demon, the Black Batara Guru,” etc.
The following is a description of this, the mightiest of the Genii:—