This paper attempts to analyse professional rivalry and dissonance amongst traditional Malay midwives (bidan kampung) in the Northwest areas of Peninsular Malaysia. It elucidates how techniques of symbolic and ritual communication are carefully monitored by these female specialists, to develop regular clientele and professional credibility over time. However, since an integral element of Malay midwifery is protection from and mastery over mystical forces in nature and evil spirits harboured by witches, a midwife is also an exorcist with skills rather similar to the Malay bomoh (traditional medical practitioner, usually male) except that her range of knowledge of witchcraft is limited to diagnostic and curative rituals of spirit-possession, in infants and children, young unmarried women and pregnant mothers. Within a restricted population area, professional rivalries and competition amongst midwives regularly surface in oblique attacks of witchcraft accusations where the accused strives to maintain her credibility while her accuser gradually wins over her clientele. Significantly, codes of professionalism in traditional Malay midwifery are not only determined by skill and experience, but also religiousness (faith in Islam), benevolence, virtue, diligence and a sense of equality and fair-play in the practice of the trade. These qualities are seemingly lacking in witches who are conceived to be anti-Islamic, uncompromising, manevolent and destructive. Thus, government midwives who threaten the popularity of traditional midwives by being particularly active in their work or supervising and controlling midwives in an authoritarian way, are also labelled as witches. Generally, while midwifery and witchcraft reflect two forms of knowledge that are structurally opposed, in ideology and morality, they exist within the same sphere of ritual and symbolic communication where the practitioners aided by their clients, shift from one state of dissonance to another in an attempt to regulate behaviour.
A 50-year-old friendly and attractive Chinese lady was examined by the Primary Care Unit, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya. Her requests for treatment included implants and crowns. Two periapical radiographs of teeth 16 and 48 were taken to aid diagnosis. Interestingly, pin-like radio-opaque objects were found over the crown of the impacted tooth 15 and also tooth 17. These objects were initially interpreted as silver points or radiographic artifacts but further investigation employing panoramic radiography revealed the distribution of more radio-opaque objects in the orofacial region. Based on a review of the literature and the opinion of experienced radiology and oral surgery lecturers, these foreign radio-opaque objects were diagnosed as susuks or charm needles.
Spirit possession in an Indian family is described. Its importance as a culture-bound phenomenon is stressed. Its nature as a hysteria, and as a culturally sanctioned and accepted means of expression of emotions and feelings, are discussed.
Susuks or charm needles are a form of talisman inserted and worn subcutaneously, in the face and other parts of the body, in the belief that they will enhance or preserve the wearer's beauty, youth, charisma, strength or health, or bring success in business. This mystic practice is found among some south-east Asian people, especially Malayan and Muslim females. Most susuk wearers are secretive about their hidden talismans, but these gold or silver needles are being discovered with increasing frequency now that radiographs are used more widely. An understanding of this practice and an awareness of its existence is important to avoid misdiagnosis and mismanagement of these patients. The practice of susuk wearing and its relevance to dentistry is discussed. Nine cases of facial susuk wearers are presented and previous reports are reviewed.
Traditional methods of treatment are extremely popular with Malaysians especially for psychiatric illnesses. Those who seek such treatment come from all cultures, social classes and different educational levels in this country. In one hospital as much as 49% of psychiatric patients had been to traditional healers . Some receive simultaneously traditional and modern modes of treatment. While many reports have been written on traditional healers such as the bomoh and spirit mediums, relatively less is written about Christian healers who practise exorcism. This paper describes two patients who had received psychiatric diagnoses of major illnesses, and who subsequently underwent Christian exorcism. The process of exorcism and the short-term and long-term outcome are reported.
Ah Yuk Je is a successful Hakka Chinese spirit medium practicing in a small Chinese community in Malaysia. Her clientele consists largely of young children suffering from a culturally specific condition called haak geng or 'soul loss' and women concerned about infertility, prenatal problems and errant spouses. While in a trance state, assisted by her tutelary spirits, she diagnoses, prescribes and treats illnesses. Her treatment includes naturalistic and magico-religious elements such as 'cooling' herbal teas, tonics to strengthen the body, rituals and amulets. Because Ah Yuk Je is a wife and mother, women find her sympathetic and astute at solving family problems. When faced with an illness herself, which she suspects to be the result of kong tao (black magic) instigated by someone in her own village, she seeks assistance from a healer outside her own ethnic group as well as outside her community. Four important factors influence Ah Yuk Je's decision to seek out this healer. The first two, recommendation from a trusted friend and a positive previous experience, are obvious, and require no further discussion. The remaining factors are the special nature of the illness, which requires treatment from a specialist, and her practice as a spirit medium. Successful spirit mediums are perceived to have a certain immunity to and control over supernatural forces. Thus the need for secrecy when a spirit medium becomes the victim of evil forces. She is able to preserve her professional reputation by consulting someone outside her ethnic group of potential clients as well as outside her physical community.
This study sought to replicate previous work showing relationships between components of schizotypy and conspiracist beliefs, and extend it by examining the mediating role of cognitive processes. An international online sample of 411 women and men (mean age = 35.41 years) completed measures of the schizotypal facets of Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and Ideas of Reference, conspiracist beliefs, and cognitive processes related to need for cognition, analytic thinking, and cognitive insight. Path analysis confirmed the associations between both schizotypal facets and conspiracist beliefs in the present sample. Confirmatory evidence was found for the association between analytic thinking and conspiracist beliefs, and results also suggested an association between cognitive insight and conspiracist beliefs. Cognitive insight also mediated the link between Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and Ideas of Reference with conspiracist beliefs. However, analytic thinking provided a mediating link to conspiracy ideation for Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and not Ideas of Reference. Finally, there was an association between Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking and need for cognition, but this path did not extend to conspiracist beliefs. These results suggest possible mediating roles for analytic thinking and self-certainty between schizotypy and conspiracist beliefs.
Semai descriptions of their beliefs about health and disease vary from person to person. Moreover, at different times the same person expresses mutually incongruent beliefs. This amorphousness and fluidity merit analysis rather than neatening. This paper details Semai beliefs, loose ends and all, and suggests that their formal peculiarities are due to the prevalence of synecdoche in conceptual organization. Their inconsistency and fluidity may stem from individualistic egalitarianism within Semai society and powerlessness in the face of nonSemai attack. Finally, it is suggested that construing indigenous medicine as a crude form of Western medicine leads to overtidiness and consequent error.
In comparing shamanistic healing with Western psychotherapy, the principal distinctions advanced by psychiatrists and psychologists have been: (1) that the shaman's patients receive 'remission without insight' while Western psychotherapy provides patients with a learning experience; and (2) that Western psychotherapy is based upon rational theory, whereas psychotherapeutic elements in shamanistic rituals are by-products of irrational magical activity. Anthropologists, on the other hand, have demonstrated the logic behind the shaman's seance, and its uses as a projective system which locates the patient's problems in external entities rather than within his own psyche. An investigation of the Malay shamanistic ritual (Main Peteri) expands the scope of discussion, since it reveals that embedded within this exorcistic spirit-raising seance is a nonprojective indigenous theory of psychic functioning, employing symbols internal to the patient, which is comparable to, and no more nor less rational than, mainstream Western theories.
Indigenous healers in many societies use patterned sounds, movements, colors, shapes, and odors as therapeutic techniques; yet medical anthropology remains curiously inattentive to the aesthetics of healing rituals. Based on research among Senoi Temiar of Peninsular Malaysia, I propose an approach to the therapeutic efficacy of these symbolic forms. The music of Temiar healing ceremonies is examined from three perspectives: the formal musical structures, the indigenous theories that inform those structures, and the strategies through which they are performed and experienced by participants. Temiar healing performances present a moment of articulation between two domains of knowledge and action: musical composition, performance, and affect, on the one hand, and indigenous cosmology, illness etiology, and the pathogenicity of emotions, on the other. Songs of Temiar spirit-mediums cross-cut these two domains, and demonstrate the pragmatics of aesthetics.
The concept of aetiology of mental illness in 134 Malay patients was investigated by means of a 20-item checklist. About 53% of the patients attributed their illnesses to supernatural agents. Witchcraft and possession by evil spirits were regarded as common causes of illness. The number of patients who believed in supernatural causes of their mental illness was significantly higher among those who had consulted bomohs (Malay traditional healers) than among those who had not consulted them. The belief that mental illness is caused by supernatural agents is firmly held by bomohs, who reinforce this notion in those who seek their advice. Belief in supernatural causes of mental illness was not significantly associated with age, gender, level of education or occupation of the patients. Patients who believed in supernatural causes of mental illness were also found to show poor drug compliance, and the number of such patients at 6 months follow-up was significantly lower than the corresponding figure for those who did not believe in supernatural causes. The importance of understanding the patients' cultural background when treating psychiatric patients is highlighted.
Psychotherapeutic management of a potential spirit medium (shaman) in a modern University Hospital setting in Malaysia is described. Magical thinking, projection and spirit possession (trance state) occur during management. Discussion of management was based on what Heinz Wolff described as the psychotherapist's functions of (1) psychodynamic understanding; (2) the therapeutic function; and (3) the developmental function. This patient did not conform to the general criteria of a suitable patient for psychotherapy. But her willingness to engage in therapy contributed to a satisfactory outcome. The therapist's growth in cross-cultural therapeutic encounter seems to be prominent.
According to Malinowski there are no peoples, however primitive, without religion and magic; nor are there any societies lacking either in the scientific attitude or in science (Blumberg 1963). Magic and taboo are resorted to when through the normal use of science, or rational techniques, man is unable to control unpredictable events important to him. Where there is difficulty in predicting the outcome of behaviour, where the results of action are not consonant with effort, where there are great limitions on man's knowledge of vital issues, magical techniques are employed--in short, where circumstances of life are uncertain, uncontrolled and unknown. Magic and animism are systems of thought which give not only the explanation of a single phenomenon, but make it possible to comprehend the totality of the world from one point, as a continuity. Of the three systems of thought--animistic, religious and scientific--animism is perhaps the most consistent and the most exhaustive, the one which explains the world in its entirety.