The Batak: Peoples of the Island of Sumatra by Achim Sibeth. Thames and Hudson, London, 1991.

Batak Guru with Wand, around 1914

Besides defensive magic, datu also have the power to make offensive magic. The most important partner of the datu in this “art of destroying life”, as Winkler calls it, was the pangulubalang, the spirit which the datu makes submissive to him by magic powers. Winkler reports that in order to gain a pangulubalang a child has to be kidnapped from neighbouring village. At first this child is well treated and had to praise the datu and always be obedient to his will. Then a drinking horn was put to his lips and molten lead poured into his mouth. From the body of the child killed in this way a substance is cooked in a magical way containing the child’s soul which even after death was still bound by its vow to the datu.

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Magic Wands

In a myth handed down by the Simalungun (Tichelman 1937: 613 – 8), the magic wand made from the tree remains alive, or rather living.

The wands which have been made from this [special] type of wood are blessed and animated or given magic powers by their makers, the guru. The magic brew pupuk which is needed to do this is prepared by the guru himself. The preparation of this substance was as far as we know very cruel, since it involved the loss of a child’s life. A kidnapped child was buried in the ground so that only its head was showing. After it had promised to always support the interests of the village it was killed by having molten lead poured into its mouth. In this way it was hoped that the child’s tendi would be kept in its body. From the child’s corpse a magic brew was prepared. In the context of this macabre procedure the magic wand was described by missionaries and researchers in these terms:

“Thus the magic wand became a fateful weapon to kill and to murder, to cause damage and disaster, to kill their livestock and to get unpleasant persons quickly and safely out of the way”.            (Wirz 1929: 21).

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In such descriptions the negative evaluation of the magic wand’s power is uppermost. The pupuk was placed in various holes in the wand. These were poured particularly in the area of the breast, belly or liver of the topmost figure and often also in the other figures. the holes were then closed with resin or a wooden plug. Now the wand was “animate” and was able to fulfil the hopes put into it. Just how powerful, but dangerous, such a wand could be is shown by the fact that it was never kept in the house but either hung below the eaves or had a little house of its own, in which the guru also kept his other equipment.

At the ceremonies in which the guru used the magic wand it was rubbed with offerings. While the guru dances with the wand he spits betel juice onto it and rubs it with finely chewed rice (Tichelman 1942: 88). The blood of sacrificed animals is dripped onto the magic wand (Wirz 1929: 24).

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The guru was also a specialist when it came to protecting the village and the fields, and he could be asked to prepare all manner of aids. Objects in the form of a figure (pagar) were given a magic charge with some pupuk and used to protect the village, house and fields against wild animals, enemies and above all against any possible black magic that enemies might use. Sculptures of wood or stone, called pangulubalang (first fighter), guard the entrances to the village.

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Toba House with Singa

BATAK SINGA

At the ends of the side beams (pandingdingan) of many Toba houses are large animal heads, which are of immense importance for Toba sculpture. These massive heads are called singa or gajah dompak.

The word singa comes from Sanskrit where it means “lion”. Gajah dompak is a combination of a Sanskrit and a Toba word and means “an elephant that looks to the front”. To the Batak, however, the singa is a mythological primeval beast of no defined zoological species, with an apotropaic function.

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Medicine Containers with Sainga

The singa as a decorative feature and magic representation is used in various versions on almost all important objects in Toba culture, whether in the field of jewellery, wood sculpture or bronze work. Indeed the singa is almost the symbol of Toba art. There is an enormous variation in the manner in which it is represented. Not only does the size of the singa heads, also called house masks, vary, but there are many local differences in style. Some singa show only the face of the beast, others the body and legs as well, and decorative elements on the sides which can be interpreted as ears or wings. All singa are covered with painted rinceaux and spiral patterns and have large, round protruding eyes. In earlier times these were often set with little round mirrors or silver coins (Meerwaldt 1894: 525).

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