Dreams, legends, spirituality and miracles: understanding tattoo narratives among contemporary urban men in Java Island, Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between dreams and tattooing in the context of the spiritual beliefs in Indonesia. Based on interviews and ethnographic study in the Island of Java, we highlight the importance of dreams, their perceived meanings and significance for male individuals, who have tattooed their bodies with dreamed imagery. Interviews revealed narratives which arise from the tattoos themselves and we relate them to myth, belief and legends familiar to the Javanese; these draw upon religious faith and also more atavistic mystical beliefs. An important source is the Javanese legend of Nyai Roro Kidul, a narrative often seen to legitimise political, royal and magical power. Dream expressions also draw upon popular visual culture as part of a dynamic and ongoing evolution of an embodied discourse of belief. Our case studies reveal that tattooing can be part of the broader mediation of belief in the supernatural where older beliefs can intervene in new domains and contexts for expression.

Keywords:

• tattoo
• dream
• miracle
• belief
• legend
• myth
• legitimisation
• mediation

Notes on contributors

Cons. Tri Handoko lectures at Petra Christian University on Indonesian Arts and Cultural History. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication Design from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and a Masters of Humanities in Performing Arts and Fine Art Studies from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia. He studies visual arts and has researched tattoos and the act of tattooing among prisoners and detainees in Yogyakarta Prison.

Geff Green is currently acting Head of Department for Media Arts and Communication at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He has focused on 20th century postcolonial cultural history in the Malay / Indonesian world and communication and identity amongst Southeast Asian ethnic and religious groups. His work spans from the Western documentary films emanating from 1930s Bali to subsequent research in Malaysia, where he has developed a strong interest in constructions of ethnic and religious identity within South East Asian national contexts and investigation through ethnographic approaches and participatory creative projects. This has led to efforts with Burmese / Karen refugees in the UK, focusing on their communication practices and identity construction as a displaced community. He maintains creative practice in the realms of digital photography, photomontage and musical composition. He sees the continuation of creative practice as crucial to maintaining the capability to cross boundaries in terms of theoretical and interdisciplinary thinking in research.

Notes

1 https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4506822/bertemu-prabowo-ustaz-somad-lega-ungkap-bisikanhasil-5-kali-mimpi-ulama.

2 The official final result announced on 22 May 2019 by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

3 https://www.nu.or.id/post/read/7644/kisah-pencipta-lambang-nu-muktamar-nu-ke-2-surabaya-1927.

4 https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/2257155/bisikan-gaib-dan-ratu-niang-datu-di-muka-rumah-angeline.

5 Isnaeni, Hendry F. https://historia.id/kultur/articles/lukisan-koleksi-istana-memakan-korban-PdW57.

6 Ritual offering of buffalo heads is still practiced today in some areas of Indonesia, both in inland and seashore locales. For example in the Surakarta Palace, Mahesa Lawung ceremony became part of the royal tradition for hundreds of years. A ritual to request safety and protection, Mahesa Lawung is carried out by burying a buffalo head in the Krendowahono Forest (Setiawan 2015). A similar tradition can also be found outside the Keraton (Palace of Sultan). For example in the sugar factories across Java Island, such as in PG Madukismo (Yogyakarta), there is a ritual to offer buffalo head pieces every year before the milling process of sugar cane begins. This ritual is believed to be for the safety and welfare of employees (Pramono 2009; see also Fauzi 2016). In Sulawesi, the maccua tappareng ceremony also offer a buffalo head to the middle of Tempe Lake, Wajo, and is intended for for the king of the lake, Punna Wae (Mustamin 2016). There are many similar ceremonies across the Indonesian archipelago, but they have seen little systematic study. In Laboya, Sumba Island, men have tattoos of buffalo heads (kaduna kamadila). Interestingly, buffalo is a representation of the god associated with prestige among men, which was obtained through fighting and murder (Saul, in Handoko 2007).