Shaman, Saiva and Sufi: a Study of the Evolution of Malay Magic

Abstract

MALAYA has served as a melting-pot of many creeds as it has been the meeting place of many racial strains. Aboriginal tribes, Malays, themselves a composite people, Hindus, Buddhists, and Arabs have all contributed to the conglomerate which comes under the general term of Malay religion. For although in theory a strict Mohammedan, the Malay sees no incongruity in the inclusion of primitive charms among his invocations, and in the prominence, sometimes pre-eminence, of the magician in relation to the Moslem teacher. Although Skeat in his “Malay Magic” was well aware of the composite character of his material, any analysis, except incidentally or when essential to the exposition of his subject, lay outside the scope of his book. The beliefs of the Malays, however, invite, or rather demand, comparative treatment. How far, for example, is the remarkable prominence of the magician in Malay ritual to be regarded as characteristic of a stage of primitive belief? How far can it, as an accompaniment of a peculiar racial strain, be correlated with the highly-strung Malay temperament?