Malay Ghost Myth
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Malay Ghost Myth
There are many Malay ghost myths ( Malay: ''cerita hantu Melayu''; Jawi: چريتا هنتو ملايو), remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by Hindu-Buddhist cosmology and later Muslim influences, in the modern states of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and among the Malay diaspora in neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. The general word for ghost is hantu, of which there exist a wide variety. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires pontianak and penanggal are shared throughout the region. While traditional belief does not consider all ghosts as necessarily evil, Malaysian popular culture tends to categorise them all as types of evil djinn. History Traditional ghost beliefs are rooted in prehistoric animist beliefs. However, the region has long had extensive contact with other cultures, and these have affected the form of some of the legends. Trade links with southern India and China were established several centuries BCE, in large part ...
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Malay Language
Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The language is an official language of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. Indonesian language, Indonesian, a standardized variety of Malay, is the official language of Indonesia and one of the working languages of East Timor. Malay is also spoken as a regional language of Malays (ethnic group), ethnic Malays in Indonesia and the Thai Malays, southern part of Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 60 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia. The language is pluricentric and a ISO 639 macrolanguage, macrolanguage, i.e., a group of Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible speech varieties, or dialect continuum, that have no traditional name in common, and which may be considered distinct languages by their speakers. Several varieties of it ar ...
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Sumatra
Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi.2), including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue Island, Simeulue, Nias Island, Nias, Mentawai Islands, Mentawai, Enggano Island, Enggano, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago. Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest–southeast axis. The Indian Ocean borders the northwest, west, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain of Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai Islands, Mentawai, and Enggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula, which is an extension of the Eurasian continent. In the southeast, the narrow Sunda Strait, containing the Krakatoa archipelago, separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of Sumatra is near ...
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Krasue
The ''Krasue'' (, ) is a nocturnality, nocturnal female spirit of Southeast Asian folklore. It manifests as the floating, disembodied head of a woman, usually young and beautiful, with her organ (anatomy), internal organs still attached and trailing down from the neck. The ''Krasue'' belongs to a constellation of similar mythological entities across different regions of Southeast Asia; these regional variations all share in common that they are characterized by a disembodied woman's head with organs and entrails hanging from its neck. Along with the ''Krasue'', there is the ''Ahp'' () in Cambodia; the ''Kasu'' (, ) in Laos; the ''Kuyang'' (), ''Pok-Pok ()'', or ''Leyak'' () in Indonesia, as well as the ''Pelasik'', ''Pelesit'', ''penanggalan'' or ''penanggal'' (), the last four of which are also found in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore; the ''Ma lai'' () in Vietnam; ''manananggal'' () in the Philippines. Japanese folklore also has yokai creatures called ''nukekubi'' and ''rokuro ...
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Thai Language
Thai,In or Central Thai (historically Siamese;Although "Thai" and "Central Thai" have become more common, the older term, "Siamese", is still used by linguists, especially when it is being distinguished from other Tai languages (Diller 2008:6). "Proto-Thai" is, for example, the ancestor of all of Southwestern Tai, not just Siamese (Rischel 1998). ), is a Tai language of the Kra–Dai language family spoken by the Central Thai, Mon, Lao Wiang, Phuan people in Central Thailand and the vast majority of Thai Chinese enclaves throughout the country. It is the sole official language of Thailand. Thai is the most spoken of over 60 languages of Thailand by both number of native and overall speakers. Over half of its vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language. Thai has a complex orthography and system of relational markers. Spoken Thai, depending on standard sociolinguistic factors such as age, gender ...
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Tiyanak
The tiyanak (also tianak or tianac ) is a vampiric creature in Philippine mythology that takes on the form of a toddler or baby. Although there are various types, it typically takes the form of a newborn baby and cries in the jungle to attract unwary travelers. Once it is picked up by an unfortunate passerby, it reverts to its true form and attacks the victim. The tiyanak is also depicted to take malevolent delight in leading travelers astray, or in abducting children. Historical accounts "They had another deception—namely, that if any woman died in childbirth, she and the child suffered punishment; and that, at night, she could be heard lamenting. This was called ''patianac''." A common propaganda spread by missionaries, clergymen, and Christians why patianac and tianac ceased to exist is because of continuous preaching which is not exactly true as this phenomenon does not occur in non-Christian cultures. Fr. Juan de Plasencia of the Tagalogs (1589) "449. Pregnant women could ...
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Sundel Bolong
In Indonesian mythology, a sundel bolong, is a mythical ghost from the archipelago which is a woman with beautiful long black hair and a long white dress (her form is similar to Pontianak). The myth is closely linked to prostitutes, meaning a "prostitute with a hole in her", in reference to the large hole which is said to appear in her back. Etymology The name "sundel bolong" derives from the physical appearance of the ghost. The word "sundel" which means "prostitute" or " whore" and "bolong" in Javanese which literally means "hole". Modern folklore studies believe that the myth was developed in Javan culture to deter prostitution that developed during the Dutch East Indies colonization. Mythology In folklore, a sundel bolong, more commonly referred to as a prostitute ghost is the soul of a woman who died when she was pregnant outside of marriage and therefore gave birth in her grave, or who died during childbirth and the baby came out from her back (this is the reason why the ...
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Silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm ''Bombyx mori'' reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular Prism (optics), prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors. Harvested silk is produced by several insects; but, generally, only the silk of various moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing holometabolism, complete metamorphosis, but some insects, such as webspinners and Gr ...
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Civet
A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term ''civet'' applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species's diversity is found in southeast Asia. Civets do not form a monophyletic group, as they consist only of certain members of the Viverridae and Eupleridae. The African civet, ''Civettictis civetta'', has historically been the main species from which a musky scent used in perfumery, also referred to as " civet", was obtained. Naming The common name is used for a variety of carnivoran mammal species, mostly of the family Viverridae. It is also used to refer to the African palm civet and the Malagasy civet. The African palm civet (''Nandinia binotata'') is genetically distinct and belongs in its own monotypic family, Nandiniidae. The Malagasy civet (''Fossa fossana'') belongs to a separate family Eupleridae, with other carnivorans of Mad ...
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Bomoh
A ''bomoh'' ( Jawi: توء بوموه) is a Malay shaman and traditional medicine practitioner. The term is used mainly in Malaysia and parts of Sumatra, whereas most Indonesians use the word ''dukun''. It is often mistranslated into English as medicine man or witch doctor. In colloquial usage, the term ''bomoh'' is often interchangeable with another type of shaman or dukun, the pawang, but they generally serve different functions. The ''bomoh'' is primarily a healer, herbalist, geomancer, and sorcerer. The ''pawang'' on the other hand usually specialises in rituals involving weather, nature, animals, and a good harvest. Their roles do overlap, however, and both claim to act as intermediaries for the spirits and gods. Etymology The word ''bomoh'' (at times spelled ''bomo'' or ''bomor'') has been in common usage since at least classical times. It is a loan of the Thai term ''maw'' or ''mohr'' (; , "doctor"). This word can mean either doctor or sorcerer, as in terms like ''mawpii' ...
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Dukun
Dukun is an Indonesian language, Indonesian term for shaman. Their societal role is that of a traditional healer, spirit medium, custom and tradition experts and on occasion Magician (paranormal), sorcerers and masters of black magic. In common usage the dukun is often confused with another type of shaman, the pawang. It is often mistranslated into English as "witch doctor" or "medicine man". Many self-styled dukun in Indonesia are simply scammers and criminals, preying on people who were raised to believe in the supernatural. The dukun is the very epitome of the kejawen or kebatinan belief system indigenous to Java. Very strong and ancient beliefs of animism, ancestor worship and shamanism are held by the people of the Malay world, Nusantara. While medical doctors and revivalist Islam and Christianity have caused a decrease in the prominence of dukun, they remain highly respected and somewhat feared figures in Indonesian-Malay society, even in the most orthodox Muslim-dominan ...
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