Witchcraft and Magic in Bali

Magic is an important aspect of Balinese culture that penetrates almost every act and through of most of Balinese people. Yet it is something that the casual visitor to Bali will probably never realize even exists. It is something that the Balinese don't like to talk about to strangers, especially foreigners, for various reasons. But a serious student of Balinese culture must constantly remember the important influence of the black arts upon the actions and beliefs of the Balinese people.

Magic is not something to be ridiculed or handled improperly. Used by powerful people, it can be turned against anyone at any time, to his possible harm or even death. It is a powerful force, not to be trifled with.

There are various degrees of control of these magical forces. To ward off a threat of black magic, one may simply go to a Balians, a shaman, who has studied the subject extensively. And obtain an amulet, a magic prayer or mantra, a ring, or some other magical object that will do the job of guarding the body or preventing instruction of evil influences. The varieties of these objects to protect the body are endless.

Another way of acquiring resistance to black magic, called leyak, is to go to a temple, preferably the Pura Dalem, the village temple near the cemetery, dedicated to God as Siwa, or his wife, Durga, as dissolver and recycler of life. There one most meditates throughout the night. If one is lucky, and most are not, and has the proper powers of concentration, his mind and body will be given strong power to resist evil. The precise nature of this acquisition is not always clear and varies greatly depending upon who is telling about it. Many try; most fail. The majority is too scared even to try. The reason is simply that this midnight meditation is also a step toward acquiring the power of leyak. In other words, strong internal power or force can be turned equally toward good or bad, depending upon the desires of the person possessing it. The Balinese translate both the words for black magic and the person who practices it, the witch, if you want to call him or her that, into the single word leyak.

So, at the negative extreme are those individuals who have devoted their lives to secret study of evil forces and who have become leaks. The study must, indeed, be secret, lest great harm come to the student. At the positive extreme are those who have devoted their lives to a public study of positive forces and who have become high priests, Pedandas, if they are of the Brahmana caste, or Pemangku, lay priests, if they are of the jaba caste. Somewhere in the middle is the Balian, who has mastered a bit of both extremes and who is both revered and feared, lest he drift toward the negative, although his work is normally to help people rather than harm them.

A Leak can transform himself, or rather his spirit, into another form-a monkey, a bird, a ghostly light, a body without a head-again the variety is endless. This can only be done at night. The physical body of the leak remains behind in bed. The transformed shape can be seen, and is regularly reported as having been seen, by those Balinese who venture out near midnight. Needless to say not many do. The apparition can fly through the air. It may only scare people and disappear. But, it can also kill. Introduce foreign objects into the body of an intended victim, poison food, cause sickness, cause crop failure, and so on - again the list varies with time and place and includes just about all the misfortunes that regularly occur to people, and a few that are highly irregular.

The transformed form of leak cannot be killed with a knife, but various other methods can be used to destroy it or ward off its evil influence and force. If it is successfully killed, the body of the owner of the specters, back in bed, will die without any apparent injury, sickness, or cause. And this it self may be taken as an indication that such a person was, in life, a leyak.

Of course, being a leyak is exceedingly dangerous. The Balinese consider that any tampering around with the forces of niskala is riddle with danger and pitfalls. This is true even for a Pedanda, Pemangku, or Balian. And to carry this practice to extremes by causing one's spirit to leave the body in order t harm others is unimaginably dangerous, since the body lies unprotected at home.

Leyaks most often attack members of their own family group. Stories are even told of male Leyaks attacking and killing their wives, or vice versa, concealing themselves, as, for example, a coconut that falls unexpectedly from a nearby tree, thus awakening the mate, who goes outside to investigate and meet his or her fate. It is certainly possible for a Leyak to attack outside the family, but this requires advanced knowledge. On the part of leyaks are the usual disputes that arise in any closely knit and closely physically packed family group - jealousy, revenge over a real or imagined act, insult or hurt, desire to gain the money or possessions of the victim, and so on.