@Ellirahim on Twitter. Curious about everything. Learning and connecting the dots non-stop. If it’s interesting, I’ll have an opinion about it. Here for cats, science, stories, and Ancient History.
@ubi @juergen_hubert @raymccarthy @germany @folklore @rorystarr I second that Ubi! Let’s not forget the crocodile shamans in Sarawak who tracked down Bujang Senang (Easygoing Bachelor) the huge saltwater croc famous in the 90s that was terrorising the longhouses.
@juergen_hubert @raymccarthy That’s a keen observation, the original people of Malaysia the Orang Asli have a communal caretaking approach to the land. For communities that stopped being nomadic, many farm cooperatively to manage water resources, combat pests & get better prices for their produce.
@juergen_hubert @raymccarthy @germany @folklore @rorystarr Of course in Malaysia, we don’t need to tell scary stories to keep people away from rivers, lakes and oceans. We have crocodiles that do that effectively. https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/elderly-malaysian-woman-survives-deadly-crocodile-encounter-collecting-prawns-062619781.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFJ3AES5fd805gb98hEMC13IEkbXySO4hS_fX-rF9dDI7v_8U4tlETTMdT2CiG8uycgD7rsex5X0FRPYNM2chSSGiyFFVWXu9tOYaPMd977bZgx7Z9Ugq5O-ew01RSnuWjM6gqczbtN_p-aSwPB7PcLB4p3eg0BePwOy1Mz0tD2Y
@juergen_hubert @raymccarthy @germany @folklore @rorystarr Listening to this just strengthens phobia of swimming in lakes, rivers and oceans where I can’t see the bottom. - Strictly land mammal.
@juergen_hubert @raymccarthy @germany @folklore Ooh, that sounds like the influence of the organized religion. And sadly that never seems to gel with what Nature needs.
@juergen_hubert @raymccarthy @germany @folklore I’d like to think of that as eco-wisdom passed down from our early farmer ancestors.
@juergen_hubert @raymccarthy @germany @folklore In elementary school in Malaysia - as late as the 1970s - there were mentions in our textbooks of Rice Spirits (Semangat Padi) which were bound to the fields where the crop grew. Back then rice was grown only 1x or 2x a year instead of three plantings per year the way it is today. The main lesson behind the story was that the spirit needed to “rest” and farmers shouldn’t overplant/harvest.
@raymccarthy @juergen_hubert @germany @folklore
Hope to see more folk stories about these spirits. October being Halloween just makes it prime time to discussion these “things”.
@juergen_hubert @raymccarthy @germany @folklore You’ll be delighted or terrified to know that even in this day and age many people in SE Asia refuse to plant Banana plants near their homes due to the spirit associated with them.
The Thais call her Nang Tani, Malaysians call her Hantu Pokok Pisang while Indonesians and Cambodians call the spirit by different names - we all agree that it is a female and often malevolent spirit.
@juergen_hubert @germany @folklore Thanks - I should rephrase to be more precise. Are these spleenwort associated with local entities/spirits that have supernatural powers? I ask on the basis of local beliefs in SE Asia where plants and natural features often have their own spirits which can be protective, malevolent or neutral to humans.
@juergen_hubert @germany @folklore Who are Daurand and Witirod that the Devil mentions? Are those other folk deities?
@juergen_hubert @germany @folklore Rather harsh for having a doggone sense of humor.