Author Archives: chandiya@usc.edu

JINNS

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 80
Occupation: Grandmother
Residence: Indonesia
Performance Date: 4-20-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary / English Secondnary

JINNS

 

Main Piece:

 

Jinns are spirits. Usually they are the bad ones, or the malicious ones.

 

When your father was very young he would be able to see ghosts, all the time. He would see them when he was in the bathroom, walking around, and eventually when he was driving/riding out.

 

It would be very hard for him because sometimes, especially when he is driving he would not know whether or not this body or that is a spirit or not (that randomly appeared in the middle of the road).

 

Your father would astral project his spirit out of his body a lot, especially when your mother was in Indonesia and he was in America, and he would tell her about what she was doing, what she was wearing, the next day (due to the time differences) and he would get them right everytime.

 

I warn you not to do this a lot or at all because when you do and the spirit leaves the body momentarily a window opens and jinns or other spirits can enter your body.

 

Your father also used to go to graveyard in the middle of the night when he was a teenager and raise the spirits there to battle each other. I think he had some kind of gift over them that allowed him to control them to fight against one another.

 

Fortunately your father never saw ghosts again after your mother finally got him to convert to Christianity (baptized perhaps?).

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

Raising your father who saw ghosts all the time I would talk to him about this to help him.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

Parents, friends, family, this was a part of our Indonesian Culture.

 

What does it mean for them?

That these are things to watch out for and not mess around with.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to grandmother over the phone.

 

Thoughts:

This was a bit spooky for me because I heard of these kind of stories from my mother before but finally hearing all of this from my grandmother in full detail made me uneasy.

 

There was a period after my father passed away that I constantly had sleep paralysis and some sort of hard, jutting, out of body experiences. I told this to my grandmother and it was then that she started to warn me about the dangers of “opening this window.”

 

I don’t really have these things anymore.

 

But what was really interesting was that when my father did “astral project” himself from America (while he was sleeping at night) and go visit and watch my mother when she was up and about in the daytime in Indonesia – and when he recited to her what she was doing, what she was wearing, down to the jewelry, he would always get it right everytime. This was back then before smartphones, etc, internet, etc.

COINING

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 80
Occupation: Grandmother
Residence: Indonesia
Performance Date: 4-20-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary / English Secondnary

COINING

 

Main Piece:

 

This is a method of medicine for Indonesians/Chinese (for things such as colds, flus, fevers, etc.).

 

You do it by first rubbing “minyak putih” (literal translation: white oil) on to the affected area (usually the Chest or the Back area – could be over the triceps in some cases, etc…) – the area where “the bad wind” has entered the body, making it sick, and then you use a coin (but I use the hard peeled skin of red garlic, sometimes using the garlic piece too) and I use that to rub on the affected area down, down, down, in lines down the body to get rid of the bad wind.

 

The idea is that with each stroke down of the garlic/coin the garlic/coin takes some bad wind out of the body.

 

Usually this is done until there are red marks all over the affected/intended area. The redder the mark, sometimes blue or purple dots, the better or more effective the coining is working.

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

Because this is a very big part of medicine of our culture and it is a very good way to heal.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

I learned it from my mother.

 

What does it mean for them?

A very good way to heal your family when they are sick.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to grandmother over the phone.

 

Thoughts:

Personally I do not like this method of medicine because it is painful/can be very painful. This would be done a lot to me when I was younger.

 

Once I went to school in the 2nd grade (I came here to the States from Indonesia when I was in 1st grade, still unaccustomed to the culture/rules of America) and my teacher saw how I had these giant red marks up to my neck. She called me during recess and asked me if everything was okay at home – she mistook it for child abuse.

 

Also there was a period when my father was very sick from pneumonia and this coining was all that my mother did to help him heal – and it was extremely insufficient – and he had ended up going to the ER for his pneumonia – it had gone very bad to the point where 75% of his lungs were filled with the liquid and the bacteria. I think this could have been preventable much earlier on if we took him to a legitimate doctor instead of trying to use this home remedy to heal him.

 

Although I have some dislikes about this I do admit that sometimes it does work and it helps me heal much faster than without it/traditional American/Western over the counter medicine.

 

 

MINYAK PUTIH // “WHITE OIL”

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 80
Occupation: Grandmother
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-20-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary / English Secondnary

MINYAK PUTIH // “WHITE OIL”

 

Main Piece: (rough translation from Indonesian)

 

Minyak Putih (translation: white oil) is a very well known type of oil that is uniquely fragrant in Indonesia. It is used to help heal you when you are sick – such as flu, cold, pneumonia, anything.

 

The way you use it is you rub it on the part of your body that needs healing – such as your chest or your back when say you need to heal your lungs.

 

Often it is a Indonesian/Chinese belief that the body is sick (like Flu, example) because “wind” has entered the body – and the oil (or other methods such as coining, previously mentioned) can heal you by taking this bad wind out of your body.

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

I know this because everyone in my family uses this. It is a tradition of our culture.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

I learned it from my mother.

 

What does it mean for them?

It is a very good way to heal you when you are sick.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to grandmother over the phone.

 

Thoughts:

Minyak Putih is very well known throughout Indonesians. Although it is hard to get here in the States, most of my Indonesian American friends that I met here in the States all have heard and/or use Minyak Putih. They all seem to believe on its healing properties. As do I – it’s like Vicks in a sense that it clears up your nasal passages when you breathe it in, and has a relaxing quality about it like Lavender.

ACUPUNCTURE

Nationality: Indonesian
Age: 80
Occupation: Grandmother
Residence: Indonesia
Performance Date: 4-20-2018
Language: Indonesian Primary / English Secondnary

ACUPUNCTURE

 

Main Piece: (rough translation from Indonesian)

 

When you are sick besides coining you can also do acupuncture.

 

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese tradition and method of healing where you lay flat either on your back or your front side and an experienced and trained physician sticks needles gently into you acupuncture/acupressure points.

 

They believe that by doing this you can “clean up” or “open up” your chakra / meridian points / flow of energy throughout the body.

 

They believe that this is because all sickness in some way shape or form block or disrupt the flow of energy through the body through these acupuncture points.

 

I always use acupuncture when I am sick and it always makes me feel better very fast.

 

 

Background Information:

Why do they know this piece?

Because this is a good way/method of healing for the body.

 

Where/Who did they learn it from?

From a lot of places, books, doctors, family practitioners.

 

What does it mean for them?

A very powerful Chinese tool and tradition to cure the body of anything.

 

Context of Performance:

Talking to grandmother over the phone.

 

Thoughts:

I personally believe in acupuncture and a lot of my friends who had it before told me that it worked – but I never did it because I am very afraid of needles. This is a very well known Chinese tradition and way of healing.