The Deadly Santau (Santet)

In SEA area, Santau is used as a form of poison and sorcery to kill or injure. It is not complete if Santau is not discussed in SEA magic. This is the most talked about topic in Malay magic and the most feared of SEA magic up to this moment. Unlike other bomoh (shamans), Santau masters only act in privacy and through middlemen.

I was told that the best of Santau masters in Malaysia was in the downstream of Perak River, somewhere near Teluk Anson.

Taken from common believe, there are basically two types of Santau:

1.      Santau makan (Consumption)

a.       One has to consume this type of Santau to take effect.

2.      Santau angin (Wind)

a.       This type of Santau is despatched using wind and spirits as intermediaries.

b.      Story has it that the trade mark of a Santau angin practitioner is that one or two of his/her left finger nails are untrimmed.

Santau is actually a concoction of deadly poison. The poison is extracted from animals and plants. The only difference are the suffering inflicted on the victim. Some victims suffer an immediate relapse of the poison by displaying symptoms of profusely coughing with small amount of blood, treatment need to be taken immediately.

However the victims do not realized that they had been poisoned until these symptoms appears, it would then be too late to undergo any treatment. From the information given to me there are actually comprises of three groups of materials to make this deadly concoctions:

1.      The first group is usually poisons extracted from animal and plants.

a.       The poison is prepared from the sap of the IPOH tree, ANTIARIS TOXICARIA. The milky sap runs out when the bark is incised, and is collected in a bamboo cup. It is then heated slowly over a fire in a trough made from the leaf stem of a palm, until it becomes a thick paste of dark purple brown color. The poisonous sap is to be added into the deadly Santau concoction.

2.      The second group is usually materials that can cause irritations or allergy. Part of these materials are:

a.       Shaven bamboo shoots, shaven cane, etc that may cause contact allergy or irritations and saddleback caterpillar.

3.       The third group is materials that can cause lesion. Comprises of:

a.       Pulverized glass, eggs shell, Strands of silk, Copper brush strands, fingernails of animals or humans, cockroach wings, centipede and etc…

The three groups of materials are gathered and then mixed together for 40 days before employment.

The practitioners of Santau Angin will go extra miles: in addition to the above poisonous mixture; genie, demons, or evil spirits will be called to empower the Santau. The empowerment ritual is normally carried out isolated from general public.

An offering of the following are given:

(See section of Hantu Raya, reiterate a section to refresh ;-))

i) A Chicken is slaughtered, only the right side of the chicken is roasted while the left is raw. The feathers, intestine and internal organs are left intact.

ii) Areca nuts, betels, gambir and kapur(lime-paste).

iii) Eggs

iv) Yellow stained glutinous rice.

When all the materials are gathered a pair of white candle is lighted together with burning of large quantity of benzoic incense before the offering and the Santau which is now placed into a pot or utensils covered with black clothes are placed together with the offerings. The practitioner will then recite the following incantations:

“Hai jin si hantu raya, Jin kuning jin putih, Hantu raya si jembalang air, Mari sini datang ke mari, Datang ke mari aku perjamu,

Hantu raya jembalang angin, Aku tau asal engkau, Engkau bulu hidung Nabi Adam, Makanan engkau telur ayam, Marilah kesini, Makan benda benda ini,

Hantu raya jembalang kuning Mari bersahabat bersama aku, Mari datang menjadi diriku, Datang taat turut perintahku,

Hantu raya jembalang kuning, Merupa engkau datang padaku, Jangan engkau ingkar juga, Jangan engkau langgar perintahku, Jika engkau ingkar juga, Aku panah engkau, Dengan panah berpanah, Panah sakti, Panah rajuna, Hup…”

When the last words “Hup” is recited the practitioner clap both hands while closing his eyes he says, “Hei, jin hantu raya. Apabila engkau sudah makan, kau tunjukan tanda”. This translated as “Hey, genie when you finish eating, show me a sign”.

In a short while some strange sign will appear, like there will be a sudden chill, a strong wind current that appears, or the candles are blow off then reignited by itself. These are the signs the genie had taken its sacrifice. The practitioner will then recite further incantations to empower the Santau:

“Hei, jin  hantu raya, ( state the intention and purpose of making Santau).”

N/B: Many times Santau is made to order. It fetches to thousands of dollars for one order.

Once it is completed it will be placed in a hidden safe place away from their home. When they need to use it they will just take a small amount and placed into the victim food or drinks.

I would have guessed that many Santau masters are also masters of Hantu Raya. My Malay friend’s grandpa was believed to practice Santau, during his visit to his grandpa when he was small; he could hear people walking on the roof of his grandpa. At times, footsteps could also be heard around the house compound. Theft is non-existence there even the main door was always kept open.

Some source also mentioned that people who practice Santau cannot bring “kuih buah Melaka” (A type of local cake) into the house, or the whole household would suffer from fever. Well, different practitioners would have different “pantang” (taboo).

According to my friend that Santau is not without downfall. Santau is applied in the form of reddish powders, so it is extremely difficult to control, even the master himself/herself will suffer from slow intoxication in long run. At times, even the persons stay close to the master will also suffer from Santau. His grandpa was said to die of coughing blood.

In this scientific area, many people would scorn off with the term Santau. Well, maybe it is true that Santau can only affect people psychologically. Then and again, may be also that real Santau master are very hard to find now-a-days. Hmmm..

Again, if you have any insider’s story that will add information to my field research; kindly let me know J.