MY PARENTS
My two posts earlier were two experiences which has triggered me to seek information on witchcraft and black magic. It's still hard to accept the possibility that someone I know to actually have such an evil heart to do such things. Not that I'm not familiar with these things. Somebody put a charm on my mum when I was little. We went through the worst 12 years of my life because of that. Luckily for us, my dad was patient enough to keep up with whatever crap my mum threw at him. Yes, that person made my mum hate my dad, so they would divorce.
For 12 years, we went all over the country to heal her. We sought all kinds of help, from the family's GP (at first) to all kinds of 'bomoh's and 'pawang's. My mum was, at all times, making excuses and cursing my dad for trying to heal her. She even called him crazy and all kinds of awful names. Not to mention accusations that he was trying to make her mad, and even trying to kill her. After some time, everyone else stayed away from our family. We were all we had. All the while, my dad kept silent and he kept dragging her to those places. I salute his determination, and thanks to him, I learnt the virtue in patience. Thanks, Abah, I'm really the luckiest girl to be your daughter. ='> (okay, one of the three luckiest girls...)
EARLY SYMPTOMS
I remember when my mum was depressed all the time and complained about aches and soreness on her body. My dad would take her to the clinic, where most of the time the GPs would refer her to a specialist. Then we'd bring her to have all kinds of tests and scans which revealed that she was in perfect health. Perfect, except for the pains she complained about. Now that I think about it, if I were a doctor, I might have suggested that she sees a shrink. And maybe someone did, and maybe my dad brought her to see one. This I never knew. You know what some people, especially the Malay community in a small town think of you if they find out you see a shrink - starts with a capital 'C' and nothing will be the same again. Not for you, not for your family.
Then I remember my dad, driving us all to see all kinds of traditional healers. Sometimes, as soon as he got back from working outstation. Didn't even waste time to unpack, or have a drink. Every single time someone tells him about a healer, he would bring my mum. And of course, my sister and I went along. Funny, I have just realized this: my dad used to work outstation a lot – he did maintenance for equipments all over Pahang then. He still does, only know he works around Klang Valley. Every time dad went outstation, my mum would be fine. She'd change from being 'evil stepmother' to a guardian angel, to both me and my sis. Only when my dad was around that she became a heartless, bad-mouthing person. Yeah, I was too young to notice this then.
BOMOH
I have seen many kinds of 'presentation' of these bomohs or healers. But most of them were older men, didn't talk much and look, well, I can't really point this out – scarry or sad(?). Sometimes when they were doing the 'healing' they spoke with weird voice and accents. Some even have their faces changed – straight nose became crooked, mouth lopsided to one side, their necks suddenly became stiff. I admit to admire them for being able to perform such 'magic'. How naïve! And the things they ask my dad to collect – things that were supposed to help heal my mum. I can't recall what the things were, but I remember most of the time my dad would have difficulty finding them. This one time, it took my dad about 4 months to find a special kind of plant – a special kind of sirih, I think.
And once we got the things, there were rituals – these I couldn't stand. I still can't stand them now. Too much exaggeration, and sometimes, violence. I remember one bomoh asked my mum to hold a black chicken in between her legs, and later kill it. Soon after he told my mum what she should do, my dad asked me to bring my sister out, and wait for them in the car. You'd agree that this one must have been using the wrong side of magic. Even as a kid I could tell that. I mean, come on, if you really are helping, why kill that chicken? And a BLACK chicken? I learnt some Western superstitions about black cats and all, so I thought the same thing should work the same on black chickens too, right? (For the record, this was my thought when I was 13)
RESTRICTIONS
Then there were the syarats and pantang-larang, or restrictions, which can never be broken. I remember my mum was not allowed to walk under clothes lines. So we all had to do the laundry. The funny thing was that the clothes lines were so high that I had to stand on a chair to reach. It was fine if my dad was at home – he'd hang the clothes. But when my dad wasn't around, I had to do it with my sister. She'd pass me the clothes and I hung the clothes while standing on a chair. Then I'd have to climb down, pushed the chair, and climb back up – phew! My mum would feel bad watching us do that, so sometimes she'd help a bit, did her best to avoid from getting under the lines. Sometimes, she forgot, so we had to start the 'healing process' over. My dad would have to find the weird things again, and the bomoh would start the ridiculous rituals.. yadda, yadda…
Man, I'm tired from remembering those things. Can't imagine how we managed to go through 12 years of that! Oh, yeah, because my dad was there all along. Because he kept telling us to stay strong. Because of my mum's big teddy bear (that's what mum calls my dad now). I guess we were lucky, my sister and I, that we had no problems with our studies. God is fair; He knows my dad already had his hands full so He helped make sure the kids were fine. Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah.
I'm writing these as, well, sort of introduction on my knowledge on black magic. Not as someone who practices it, but rather as someone who has observed someone else do it. And as a witness to the disasters that can be caused by black magic. Honestly, I still cry when I think back of those days when my dad dedicated his life for my mum, and for us. I'm grateful it's finally over. I'm grateful that my dad can now wake up every morning worrying only about traffic jams on his way to work.
With everything I have witnessed, I know better than to mingle in this conundrum called black magic. My dad didn't have to tell me what he did: "Don't ever cause trouble and misery to anyone. Don't ever try to use magic to get what you want. Know that you will always get what you work for the honest way. You've seen what these things can do, don't let anyone suffer from your greed."
Ya, Abah, Along akan sentiasa ingat pesan abah.
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