Fantastic experiences
on the Muluku
Islands
flying with crazy bamboo and petting an eel
~ Magdalena
Gigova ~
“This actually is one very mystical and
ancient ritual also known as “the crazy bamboo”, which can be seen only on the Muluku Islands
in Indonesia ”
S
|
even complete strangers are incredulously hugging a
long bamboo tree. On the side the most ordinary man is muttering something at
coconut shells. He lifts his primitive night-light, gets closer to the long
tree and together with the smoke the bamboo goes crazy. The modern, sane people
begin to feel as if some sort of unknown power is making the tree act as if
it’s alive. It pushes them to one and to the other side, it tries to get away
and at the next moment it just lifts them a few inches off the ground. Sounds
strange, right? Even if we accept that the levitation is a result of the
group’s psychosis and it is stimulated by the scent of the enchanting herbs,
what can we say about the numerous witnesses, who are waiting for their turn at
the “bamboo gila”. This actually is one very mystical and ancient ritual also
known as “the crazy bamboo”, which can be seen only on the Muluku Islands
in Indonesia .
You have never heard about
this place? Then maybe you are not that big of a fan to the exotic and the
diving. The Muluku islands are part of Indonesia , they spread over
851 000 kilometers of land and see. The
hard ground is actually around 7.6% or 86 000 kilometers, that are spread
between 1000 different islands. The locals call the capital of the Islands – Ambon “the city of the thousand churches”, even though after
the Japanese destroyed them during the Second World War their number decreased
drastically.
The “ambonians” (the
citizens of Ambon ) have darker skin color and
curlier hair than most Indonesians and they are proud exactly with the magic of
the “crazy bamboo”. This ritual can provoke empathy only here. Whoever took
part in this ritual already knows that the shaman cuts a 3 meters long and 15
centimeters thick bamboo stick. He ignites the his nigh-lighter with shells of
bamboo and nuts, he casts short and only known to him mantras in the ancient
language “ternate”, after which he yells three times “Gila”. The bamboo tree is
being held by 7 people – fans of strong experiences and fantastic emotions. Out
of personal experience I tell you that it seems like the tree is floating by
itself in different directions until the shaman stops it with one single
gesture of his hand. The unexplainable power throws the people like tree
leaves, while they are trying to overpower the “dance” of the bamboo. The
locals here claim that the more skillful priests of the ancient gods were able
to achieve levitation – the crazy bamboo lifted them over 20 centimeters off
the ground. Our wizard was called Friz – a native born ambonian, who was
painted all over his face with magical symbols. Apparently he was a little out
of shape, because he was throwing us from one side of the square, to the other
but he was not able to lift us in the air. Even so the sense of the unclear
energy, which guides the will and the mysteriousness behind this crazy bamboo
stayed. It is unclear how and from where did the crazy bamboo appear on Muluku
Islands ,
but it is said that this is an ancient mystical ritual for lifting the spirit
of the soldiers before battle. Because
nowadays there are no fighting tribes on the island the ritual with the “Bambu
Gila” is turned into attraction for the tourists – a real challenge to the
imagination.
The preparations for Bambu
Gila start with a special ceremony, during which the shaman prays to the
spirits that are haunting the bamboo to allow him to conduct the ritual. “The
crazy bamboo” is chopped off of the mountain with volcanic origin called
Gamalama, which is situated in the northern part of the archipelago – in Ternate . Then they rub the tree with coconut oil and cut
it to the appropriate size. After that they search for seven volunteers ready to
hold the bamboo. The shaman goes around and casts his strange prayers, while
the tree itself becomes completely incontrollable. Even though the modern man
is skeptical about this whole thing when he sees the crazy tree “playing” with
the group, he begins to believe in magical powers. Sometimes the shaman gives
the tree such a heavy weight that the seven volunteers cannot lift it and they
collapse to the ground after their efforts. The ritual ends with the shaman’s
defeat over the evil powers. And his percussions are distributed to the public
so they can all try their musical abilities with a childish enthusiasm.
The other attraction on the
Muluku
Islands
that goes beyond people’s fantasy is petting eels. It is known that here is the
place where the poorest person eats a lobster for dinner. When he gets hungry,
he just goes and catches it. The population of Ambon
eats around 55 kilograms of fish per year. Some of them even more. Some people
even use it as a pet. The village Waii complements its very modes budget by an
unusual tourist service. The main tourist revenues come from algae farms,
renting boats, diving and fishing. But nobody is ever allowed to go fish for
eels.
The locals bring up the two
meters long creatures with love. The strange feeling that you are petting
something that resembles a snake so much makes you want to take of your shoes
and go into the water where all the pricy fishes are, just like the small peasant
children. The soap is clearly not frightening them, because even with the
pouring rain the women around are hitting their laundry into the stones. The
small children, who want to impress us, since we are their guests, are doing
all sorts of loops into the water. One young man dressed only with a loincloth
starts to break raw eggs and makes strange noises, so he can attract the eels.
We expect them, but they don’t come. As if they are scared to get wet from the
pouring rain. Finally one eel plucks up courage and comes to us.