The Making Of Minyak Bintang

 

 

The mysterious Minyak Bintang

 

“Minyak Bintang” or sometime it is called “Minyak Rambai Bintang” literary translated to “Star Oil”. This is a type of mysterious oil available only to Borneo Island and Dayak Tribe. As I heard, there are many types of Star Oils. According to stories told by some shaman that Star Oil is produced from a giant python fat obtained in the depth of the Borneo jungle, some people said that the Star Oil is taken from the saliva of a python spirit that is left on tree leaves for a shaman to collect. My version of Star Oil is produced from tree seeds.

 

The benefits of using this oil need not be elaborated: invulnerability to sharp objects, curing of bone fractures and some even say that the oil acts like Ajian Pancasona in that the consumer of the oil even with body severed will recover upon the first star light. Hence it is given the name “Star Oil”.

 

Kamunting Fruits

 

 

Kamunting Flower

 

The making of Star Oil is quite tedious; first one must prepare 41 kamunting seeds and go out to an open area on Friday night around 10pm. This person must observe the presence of shooting stars in the sky. Once one shooting star is observed, one kamunting seed must be crushed. All of the 41 kamunting seeds must be crushed before carrying the next steps.

 

All of the crushed kamunting seeds are then cooked by wood fire to produce oil outside of the house. The wood must not be chopped with sharp object but broken by hands. While the oil is heated up, specific prayers are recited to empower the oil. Once the oil is empowered, the oil is kept in a bottle ready to be used. The oil must be buried in the ground and forbid to be brought into the house until the appearance of the first star light.

 

Due to the smell of the Star Oil, one usually eats some “pisang emas” first to ward off the foul smell. A person must also recite “Bismillahirohmanirohim” and the two Kalimat Syahadat. Apparently, my version of Star Oil is for good only, other black magic types will turn a person into a “hantimang” (ghost).