The Bomoh

In this book, the author presents a general description of the legendary bomoh, how he acquired his spiritually inherited knowledge and how this was influenced and developed over a period of several centuries. Also, how this knowledge was used in exorcisms, séances and to cure those suffering from mysterious illnesses, the making of talismans, amulets and charms and secret techniques used for invoking spirits and powerful jin. Western writers described the bomoh as a witchdoctor and shaman who can transform himself into a ‘were tiger’, invoke spirits to enter his body and dispel them. He also had the power to control the weather. People of different faiths and levels of society in Southeast Asia still valued the bomoh’s advice and mystic power, as their ancestors had done a thousand years before.