Hey, everyone! I hope you are doing great.
 

This time, I want to share some information about my ethnic group, Java. For you who don’t know Java, it’s an ethnic group in Central Java (a province in Indonesia). You might associate Java with Borobudur Temple or Yogyakarta. Yes, both of them are parts of Java, where the Javanese live, although Yogyakarta is a different province. 

 

Java is quiet well-known. You can find much information about it. Their hospitality, batik motif, traditional dance, traditional music, and any other kinds of art have been exposed widely. I’m sure some of you are familiar with those. However, those are not what I want to write about. Let me give you little information about superstitions in Java.

I don’t know why I’ve been interested in Javanese superstitions. As a Javanese, I’ve already known plenty of superstitions exist around me, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Only lately, I’ve been thinking about those superstitions. Now that I think of them, it seems to me that Javanese elders liked making up superstitions. Well, we know that superstitions sound funny, ridiculous, or eerie sometimes. I mean, they will make you frown or laugh once you hear them, regardless of whether you believe them or not.

Now, let me introduce some Javanese superstitions to you.

1. Girls shouldn’t eat in the doorway, or else it will be difficult to find their couple.
Hm, how should I say about this? It’s clear that eating in the doorway is a big no. It’s not a proper place to eat, and will only block the way. Certainly, it’s impolite and annoying. As for the consequence, well, they seem to be unrelated. However, it makes sense, since men wouldn’t be pleased to see such impolite girls. Only, I’m clueless why this superstition is only for girls.

2. Children are not allowed to eat brutu (chicken’s butt), so that they won’t be forgetful.
Chicken’s butt is full of fat, but it’s delicious. Maybe, the elders made this myth for good in order to prevent children from consuming excessive fat. It’s true that fat in excessive amount will be bad for our health. But hey, could it be because the parents liked the delicious brutu and didn’t want to share? We can only guess.

3. Leave no leftover when you eat, or else your chicken will die.
This one teaches to be grateful and responsible. We’d better eat all our meals up, to avoid throwing away the foods. There are many people who can’t eat like us out there, so it’s somewhat ironic to throw away foods. Just... how come our chicken die because of this? Plus, not everyone has chicken.

4. Don’t wake up late, if you do, your livelihood will be pecked by chicken.
It encourages us not to be lazy. I have no idea how and why chicken will peck someone’s livelihood, but I think, it simply means that we have to be industrious to get more living. You know, waking up late might cause trouble to your day; late for work, for instance. So, wake up early, sleepyhead!

5. Don’t sit on a pillow, or else you will get boil. Iew, this one is a bit gross. Still, it teaches us about politeness. Pillow is meant for heads, so it’s improper to place your butt on a pillow. It doesn’t make sense that you will get a boil after sitting on a pillow. But, as all those superstitions, this consequence was probably made up to make people obey the advice.

6. Don’t pretend to cry, or else your mother will die.
This superstition made me cry for real when I was a kid. I heard it first from my friend, and it was frightening for me. I was anxious and afraid that my mom would die. Maybe it’s aimed for telling children not to lie. Pretend to cry means deceiving. For the consequence, yeah, it’s true that everyone will eventually die. So, actually this superstition is right. Only, we don’t know when someone will die. In addition, this superstition will be no longer applied on one whose mother has gone.

7. Children shouldn’t be out when the sun sets, or else they will be kidnapped by ghosts.
Other version says that it’s not only for children, but also for everybody, and the consequence might vary (other bad occurences will happen). This one teaches us to be descipline, in my opinion. By issuing this one, children will stay in the house and do good deeds; praying, or studying, other than wandering around without clear reason. Interestingly, there is a hadith in Islam that states prohibition for children to come out at dusk. So, among all those superstitions above, this one is the most believable, since a hadith supports it. This superstition's called Candik Ala. I have a video project on this, just watch here if you’re curious.

Those are just some examples of Javanese superstitions. There are many out there, but I can’t write them all. Those seven are the ones that I heard often, and are still believed until now, although nowadays they're rarely said. Those are usually said by parents to their children, as advices. Can I say that Javanese parents are creative in giving advice? You might believe them or not, but it's one of the forms of culture that should be reserved.