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Wet rice cultivation in Indonesia Chapter three
anthropologists agree that it is not possible to separate them, since are inextricable and
interrelated. A short analysis of the classical views on myth on one hand and ritual on the
other is useful. After the general theoretical part, we will specify myths and rituals to wet rice
cultivation in Indonesia. To illustrate how rural communities in Indonesia are giving form to
myths and rituals, we will describe some important practical examples below.
Theoretical orientation
The word myth comes from the Greek word muthos, which means spoken word or story.
Primordially, in religious-historical sense, a myth is a story about acts of gods, half-gods or
divine ancestors, committed in the ‘mythical’ primeval times. It created and ordered the
world, and therefore culture originates in it (Winkler Prins, 2002). Since the 19 th century,
quite some anthropologists have written about the concept of myths. We should analyse the
concept carefully, since the myth itself is – at least to a certain extent – an interpretation of
the teller, and at the same time, the researcher interprets it. This makes clear why there are
different explanations of why myths do exists and what their function is.
According to the 19 th century anthropologist Tylor, myths are pre-scientific attempts
to describe the existence of human beings, animals and celestial bodies. The primitive
human being, according to Taylor, is intellectually curious, as eager to explain the world as
modern human beings. In order to explain two particular observations, the primitive first
postulates human souls and then ascribes souls to all of nature. Eventually, he personifies
the souls, which thereby become spirits or gods, inhabiting all natural phenomena. Finally,
he invents myths to explain their actions. The result is animism, the belief in the
personification of the physical world (Tylor, 1913). This point of view however, does not
regard the emotional character of many myths. Moreover, it is not very assumable that
‘primitive human beings’ are intellectual per se.
Durkheim viewed myths as descriptions of a certain society in symbolic metaphysic
terms. He states that myth arises following ritual in order to explain it: “In principal the cult
(or ritual) is derived from the beliefs, yet it reacts upon them: the myth is frequently modelled
after the rite in order to account for it, especially when its sense is no longer apparent”
(Durkheim, 1965:419-220). This implies that according to Durkheim, the myth is often but
not always modelled after the rite. Thus, according to his theory, myth and ritual can exist
apart from each other. Because the Sundanese people of West-Java and many other ethnic
groups in Indonesia have a holistic view of the material and immaterial world, Durkheim’s
theory is less suitable for our analysis.
In contrast with Durkheim, Douglas focuses primarily on the meaning of myth and
ritual, not the effect. Consequently, she regards the two concepts of myth and ritual as
inextricably connected to each other. Douglas acknowledges that myth and rituals have an
effect, because it organises an individual’s life and, when practised in common, organises a
society. But their meaning, the outlook that they express, is primarily of her interest
(Douglas, 1966:63-64). Thus, she regards myth and ritual as an expression of a worldview
of a social group that maintains and reinforces their identity and traditions. As Segal writes
on Douglas view, ritual and myth exist to make a statement about human experience, not to
make human beings feel better or act better (Segal, 1980:182).
We will also follow Douglas’ view of integrating the analysis of myth with ritual in this thesis.
The main reason for this is that the worldview of many rural communities in Indonesia also
integrates myths and rituals, as part of their holistic way of life. This does not mean however,
that both concepts are synonym to each other.
We will now focus specifically on rituals, explaining the concept as a collective activity,
consisting of a ceremony in which members of a social group participate. The goal of the
ceremony is to intentionally or non-intentionally maintain and reinforce solidarity and identity
of this social group, and to confirm the collective norms and values. Consequently, rituals
encourage the social integration within the social group and the continuity of the life of this
group (Winkler Prins, 2002). This implies that rituals can have many different forms, and
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