﻿INDONESIA 
  — 
  KENNEDY 
  521 
  

  

  pagan 
  cults 
  persist 
  and 
  strongly 
  color 
  the 
  more 
  recently 
  adopted 
  

   religions. 
  The 
  magical 
  concepts 
  emerge 
  in 
  the 
  head-hunting 
  com- 
  

   plex, 
  for 
  hunting 
  of 
  heads 
  is 
  preeminently 
  a 
  religious 
  duty, 
  calculated 
  

   to 
  enrich 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  spiritual 
  force 
  of 
  a 
  community 
  by 
  capturing 
  

   heads, 
  and 
  the 
  supernatural 
  power 
  they 
  contain, 
  from 
  some 
  other 
  

   group. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  rituals 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  tribes 
  have 
  the 
  same 
  pur- 
  

   pose, 
  and 
  priests 
  and 
  priestesses 
  are 
  regarded 
  as 
  experts 
  in 
  the 
  tech- 
  

   nique 
  of 
  gaining 
  access 
  to 
  and 
  drawing 
  upon 
  the 
  store 
  of 
  magical 
  force 
  

   that 
  pervades 
  the 
  universe. 
  Mostly 
  the 
  purpose 
  is 
  beneficent 
  — 
  to 
  heal 
  

   the 
  sick, 
  improve 
  crops, 
  and 
  the 
  like 
  — 
  but 
  black 
  magic 
  can 
  be 
  used 
  

   against 
  enemies. 
  The 
  spirit 
  beliefs 
  and 
  practices 
  are 
  more 
  specific 
  

   than 
  those 
  connected 
  with 
  magic. 
  The 
  rituals 
  are 
  "pointed" 
  at 
  cer- 
  

   tain 
  recognized 
  spirits, 
  whose 
  properties 
  and 
  powers 
  are 
  known. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  these 
  beings 
  are 
  good, 
  others 
  bad 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  principal 
  purpose 
  

   of 
  the 
  spirit 
  cult 
  is 
  to 
  gain 
  the 
  favor 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  in 
  combating 
  the 
  

   malevolent 
  designs 
  of 
  the 
  latter. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  tribes 
  have 
  ideas 
  con- 
  

   cerning 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  pantheons 
  of 
  high 
  gods, 
  but 
  these 
  deities 
  are 
  

   too 
  lofty 
  and 
  remote 
  to 
  exercise 
  much 
  immediate 
  influence 
  over 
  lowly 
  

   humans. 
  Therefore 
  the 
  lesser 
  spirits 
  — 
  of 
  the 
  earth, 
  water, 
  air, 
  and 
  

   sacred 
  places 
  — 
  occupy 
  a 
  more 
  vital 
  and 
  intimate 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  native 
  

   religions. 
  

  

  Probably 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  cult 
  in 
  Indonesia, 
  as 
  in 
  much 
  of 
  

   eastern 
  Asia, 
  has 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  the 
  ghosts 
  of 
  the 
  dead 
  and 
  the 
  ancestors. 
  

   The 
  funeral 
  ceremonies 
  of 
  the 
  Indies 
  are 
  more 
  elaborate 
  than 
  perhaps 
  

   anywhere 
  else 
  in 
  the 
  world, 
  and 
  sacrifices 
  to 
  the 
  departed 
  ghosts, 
  who 
  

   are 
  powerful 
  intermediaries 
  between 
  their 
  living 
  relatives 
  and 
  the 
  gods 
  

   and 
  spirits, 
  must 
  never 
  be 
  neglected. 
  Fear 
  of 
  and 
  respect 
  for 
  ances- 
  

   tors, 
  whose 
  existence 
  in 
  the 
  afterlife 
  is 
  vividly 
  real 
  to 
  the 
  Indonesians, 
  

   make 
  for 
  stubborn 
  conservatism, 
  because 
  the 
  ancestors 
  are 
  sure 
  to 
  be 
  

   angered 
  by 
  any 
  change 
  in 
  the 
  ways 
  they 
  were 
  used 
  to 
  on 
  earth, 
  and 
  

   will 
  withdraw 
  their 
  favors 
  from 
  the 
  living 
  if 
  the 
  old 
  customs 
  are 
  not 
  

   preserved. 
  

  

  Despite 
  later 
  infusions 
  of 
  Hinduism, 
  Mohammedanism, 
  and 
  Chris- 
  

   tianity, 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  Indonesian 
  religion 
  is 
  still 
  paganism, 
  the 
  tradi- 
  

   tional 
  beliefs 
  and 
  practices 
  of 
  the 
  ancestors. 
  "Conversion" 
  usually 
  

   means 
  merely 
  taking 
  on 
  new 
  names 
  for 
  old 
  things. 
  Nevertheless 
  cer- 
  

   tain 
  areas 
  have 
  been 
  strongly 
  influenced 
  by 
  alien 
  religions. 
  Bali 
  is 
  

   unique 
  in 
  preserving 
  the 
  old 
  Hinduist 
  religion, 
  which 
  600 
  years 
  ago 
  

   was 
  the 
  faith 
  of 
  all 
  Java 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  Sumatra. 
  Mohammedanism, 
  

   of 
  varying 
  degrees 
  of 
  "purity," 
  has 
  since 
  spread 
  over 
  nearly 
  all 
  of 
  

   Sumatra, 
  Java, 
  and 
  the 
  coastal 
  lands 
  of 
  Borneo 
  and 
  Celebes. 
  It 
  is 
  

   steadily 
  making 
  converts 
  throughout 
  the 
  eastern 
  islands, 
  some 
  of 
  

   which 
  — 
  notably 
  Lombok 
  and 
  Sumbawa 
  — 
  are 
  nominally 
  almost 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  Islamized. 
  Christianity 
  has 
  never 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  make 
  headway 
  

  

  