Thursday, October 1, 2015

The Secret Of Inverted Wok (覆锅的秘密)

The old timers would remember this scene while travelling passing Malay kampong (villages) not so long ago: an erected pole with the top end covered by a wok, basket or a large bowl. Well, do you know the secret behind it?

Well, the above pole and wok serves as a warning to anyone who have the intention of getting his/her hands on fruits or vegetables planted there. It was a sign of the old Malay meaning that "you are warned" that the place is magically protected. The Malays would not cast a curse on anyone who had not been warned, so they erected a pole with an inverted wok to protect their crops.

Normally, jembalang tanah or earth gnomes are the best candidates for guarding an orchard as they are more territorial and do not wonder about. As usual, offerings of pop rice, yellow glutinous rice and curry mutton are offered periodically to the spirits with the recitation of below mantra:

Hei kau Jembalang Hitam,
Hei kau Jembalang Putih,
Hei kau Jembalang Hijau,
Hei kau Jembalang Merah,
Hei kau Jembalang Kuning,
Jibrail pagar ku,
Mohon jagalah (padi)ku,
Berkat doa,
Lailahaillallahmuhammadurrasullullah.

However if the earth gnomes are creating the problem, or it the owner wanted to cure a person being disturbed by earth gnomes, then the below mantra would be recited:

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Hei jin tanah, jembalang bumi,
Nyah engkau dari sini,
Pusat tasik pauh janggi,
sana tempat engkau,
ah tunggang-langgang,
jangan engkau kacau anak Adam,
Habuan engkau aku bagi,
Derhaka engkau pada aku,
Derhaka engkau pada Allah,
Berkat doa,
Lailahaillallahmuhammadurrasullullah.

When I was young, my cousins and I used to steal some rambutan fruits from a fruit orchards near by. Even though a pole with the above setting was erected, touch wood that none of us suffer any stomach ache problems after wards... 

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