Primal Fire: Animism and Mysticism in 21st century Jogjakarta
My abstract for a presentation at ANU as part of the Research Travel Grant on the 29th April alongside Daniel Carney from University of Tasmania and Anna Strempel from Monash University.
In light of Islam against the primordial animistic culture of Central Java, the young versus the old generation school of thought, I am presenting a paper that uses well-known sacred sites such as Mt. Merapi, Parangkusumo, the royal cemeteries of Kota Gede and Imogiri as grounds of research. Ancestral and graveyard worships, pilgrimage, rituals and offerings are still practised up to this very day alongside the spiritual belief of Kejawen or commonly refered to as Javanese Islam or Javanese wisdom. Its origins are steeped deeply in the spiritualism and history of Java with its foundation rooted from the establishment of the Islamic Mataram Sultanate in the 16th century.
At the spiritual heart of these sites is the Jogjakarta Kraton, the energy that radiates control and administrative duties to the caretakers of those sacred sites. Newspaper reports are also taken into consideration as commentaries to inform the public of customary beliefs.
