Book

The Malay magician: being shaman, Saiva and Sufi

Routledge and Kegan PaulLondonPublished In 1961 • Pages:

By: Winstedt, Richard.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source is a study of magic as it exists in the Federation of Malay in general and more specifically as it exists in the Malay States of Kelantan, Perak, Pahang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan. Some references are also made to the magic of Patani, a northern Malay State belonging to Siam. Tied up with the concept of magic is the Malay magician, and his many functions and roles in the society are discussed in detail, with special emphasis on his activities in weather control, curing of the sick, instruction in the 'correct' pronouncement of spells and in the 'proper' method of sacrifice, and finally in his capacity as a dealer in magical charms and amulets to solace unhappy lovers. In addition to the above, information is also to be found on animism, gods, spirits and ghosts, the effects of Hinduism on Malay religion and magic, the ritual of the rice-field, and shamanistic séances, and sacrifices. Two appendices present the native texts of passages quoted throughout this source, and additional notes on various aspects of Malay culture not fully discussed in the text. The author's general orientation in this work seems to be to employ historical and comparative data to disentangle the pagan, Hindu and Moslem elements one from another in a complex system of magic.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Magical and mental therapy
Priesthood
Shamans and psychotherapists
General character of religion
Revelation and divination
Magic
Spirits and gods
Prayers and sacrifices
Mythology
Organized ceremonial
Medical personnel
Sacred objects and places
Animism
Verbal arts
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Malays
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2010
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southeast Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Government Official
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1963
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
No date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1900-1951
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Malaysia
NotesAdditional notes
[by] Richard Winstedt
Includes bibliographical references and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
83123502
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Malays (Asian people)