Seventeen years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo; a ... - Sabrizain.org

108 DYAE RELIGION
to the word. We may say it means " sacred," or " for-
bidden," or " taboo," but none of these seems to me to
convey the full force of the word mail. To the Dyak
mind, to do anything mali is to incur the displeasure of
the gods and spirits, and that means not only misfortune
in this world, but for all time. Even the children seem
to dread the word, and the little boy, who is wilful and
disobedient, will at once drop what he has in his hand if
he is told it is mali for him to touch it. There are many
things which the Dyaks say it is mali to do. Often they
can give no reason for it except that it has always been
so from ages past.
Most races of mankind believe in the existence of a
class of beings intermediate between deity and humanity.
The Dyak is no exception, and he believes that innumerable
spirits, or antu, inhabit the forests, the rivers, the
earth, and the heavens ;
but whereas among
other races
the spirits seem to act as mediators between the gods
and mankind, this is not the case among the Dyaks,
because they believe that their gods are actually present
in answer to invocations and sacrifices, and that they
visit these human regions and partake of the food given
them. With the Dyaks the distinction between spirits —
antu—and — gods Petara— is very vague. There are both
good and evil spirits. The former assist man, the latter
do him injury. Of the gods no evil is predicated, and
so it comes to pass that the good spirits are closely
identified with their gods.
Any unusual noise or motion in the jungle, anything
which suggests to the mind some invisible operation, is
at once attributed by the Dyak to the presence
of some
spirit, unseen by human eyes, but full of mighty power.
Though generally invisible, these spirits sometimes vouch-