Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The story of war between tuyul apparently occurred in Indonesia. This was conveyed based on what anthropologist Clifford Geertz said in his work The Religion of Java (1960).

Please note, Geertz in the 1950s, came to Indonesia to conduct anthropological research entitled the Modjokuto Project funded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was specifically assigned to the Modjokuto region to research the people there. Later, the Modjokuto referred to was a village in Kediri, East Java.

While doing this research, he received information about the war between tuyul from local residents. This war took place between one of the occult traders and an old haji. Geertz said, it is believed that people keep tuyul on this pilgrimage to increase wealth.

It is said that the pilgrim obtained tuyul through an agreement with a spirit. In return, every year he must kill four people from various professions and ages so that the agreement with the tuyul does not disappear. In fact, he often looked for victims in the holy land of Mecca. Thanks to these methods, the pilgrim can suddenly become rich.

However, the old Haji's attitudes sparked the anger and emotion of a magician trader. In 1951, this merchant developed counter magic against the hajj. In fact, he gathered 33 students and taught them magical techniques to paralyze the old Haji's tuyul. Until finally there was a big battle in the supernatural world.

“One Friday at midnight, the disciples attacked the old haji's tuyul. However, the tuyul summoned reinforcements from spirits in various ruins,” wrote Geertz.

Ruins refer to the source of the existence of tuyul. Geertz mentions the place among other things Borobudur in the West, Penataran in the South, Bongkeng in the East and the tomb of Sunan Giri in North Gresik.

After calling for reinforcements, battle was inevitable. The students who were attacked used sunglasses to see the spirits. Then they use flashlights as weapons of attack because spirits are afraid of light.

Meanwhile, the tuyul threw tjakra, a ring-shaped weapon, to the students. It is said that several students were injured. This battle, said Geertz, occurs every Friday night. To ordinary people, the disciples looked like crazy people because they were fighting an invisible enemy.

“People who saw the students fighting thought they were crazy for hitting empty air,” he said.

Until the research is complete, Geertz said the battle will still be ongoing. It's just that the location of the battle keeps changing.

Even so, supernatural natural events are of course difficult to explain scientifically. From an anthropological perspective, this battle can be interpreted as a form of jealousy towards people who suddenly became rich. Moreover, the existence of tuyul is thick with myths born of jealousy.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(mfa/mfa)