Westerners and modern people have a bad habit when it comes to making money: they have a rational approach to economics. You work, save and invest, and then you will earn X% or more, if lucky, in one or five years. There is little pleasure to be had, and no fear. Many people think that it is the best way to become rich. Luckily there are also people, especially in Bali, who still believe there is an easier way to access money, “magik” as today’s Balinese put it. Specifically, purchasing a bererong to get rich.
First things first, though. Before purchasing your bererong you should learn a few things about magic in Bali. The Balinese have a special knack for it. No, this magic it is not of the kind nouveau gurus can sell you in Ubud: it has little to do with the “Wisdom of the East”. It fact it is more witchery than magic proper.
There is a form of witchcraft in Bali classified under “Desti teluh tranjana”. This is the world of Rangda the witch —a manifestation of Siwa’s demonic consort, Durga— who dwells in the temple of the dead, or Pura Dalem. For someone eager to arm themself with magical powers, they would make offerings to Rangda in the middle of the night. Really quite eerie. If things are done correctly, with the right offerings, at the right time and with the right help (of a balian shaman), then one may be able to obtain the power to duplicate themself into an animal of their choosing, for example. This spiritual ‘double’, better known as a leyak, can be controlled to wreak havoc on a person or a village, whilst the supplicant remains in a meditative state in their room. This witchcraft is known in Bali as pengleyakan.
The bererong is one of these magical beings. It does not simply bring illness or misfortune, it can been directed to steal on behalf of its master. In such instances, it often takes the guise of a white rat, and as such be sent safely to some wealthy villager’s house with the explicit goal of stealing jewels or money.
The belief in such magical spirits or animals is a fertile ground for village gossip and stories. If for example someone gets rich without seeming to have to work or to have inherited a fortune, other villagers may well suspect him/her of keeping a bererong. They will do so especially if the person involved tends to neglect their village duties. They won’t accuse them face-to-face, though, but spread the issue around: “How come Ketut Bodong is making so much money; something must be wrong with him; I was told that he went to visit a well-known balian in Bangli!” Once such gossip is spread, there is no stopping its consequences, especially if a threatened party – often a mother-in-law or an aggrieved party thinks it has to try some counter-magic. Black or white, one does not know, it depends on which side you are. What is sure is that the bererong is feared for practical, not for moral reasons. If someone works hard but simply can’t make it, they may be tempted therefore, to get themselves a good rat-bererong. That way at least their success will be guaranteed!
Acquiring a Bererong
The word goes around in the Balinese coffee stalls that there are special places and temples to request a good and thieving bererong, usually with the help of a local balian. Foremost among those places is the famous temple of Gunung Kawi, Bali’s most impressive archeological structure. But to go there for a bererong is not without its risk, as the bererong has to be bought. Or rather to be bartered. Against what? Here’s the catch. A child. Which is why, the one who told you about the bererong of Gunung Kawi may also advise you: “Don’t look for a bererong at this temple, because you may have to pay it with the soul of your own son.”
At the other side of the bererong story are the targets, the rich people. How to avoid having one’s money stolen by a bererong? People with “knowledge” say that one’s money should always be bundled together with alang-alang grass and that, after doing so, one should recite a protective mantra. It is better than a safe, they say. Why alang-alang grass? Because, the story goes, the grass is blessed by the gods. During the primeval churning of the milky sea by the gods and demons of old, in their attempt to create the elixir of life (Amerta), some of the elixir fell upon alang-alang, giving it the attribute of immortality.
Jean Couteau
An observer of Bali for over 40 years, Jean Couteau is a graduate of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and former lecturer at the Denpasar Institut Seni Indonesia. He is a reputed specialist on Balinese culture, having authored: Puri Lukisan (2000), Un Autre Temps: Les Calendriers Tika de Bali (2004) Time, Rites and Festivals in Bali (2013, with Georges Breguet), and Myth, Magic and Mystery in Bali (2018) – to name but a few. He is a multilingual writer, contributing for Indonesia’s national paper, Kompas, with his column “Udar Rasa” published in the Sunday cultural page (in Bahasa Indonesia). He also contributes a monthly cultural piece for NOW! Bali.
