The Artifact Redux: Malaysian Spirit Boats

In this classic episode of STBYM’s The Artifact, Robert discusses a most nautical form of exorcism...

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff
to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,
and moments in time. In the absence of modern medicine,

(00:25):
and sometimes in conjunction with it or in spite of it,
cultural practices around the world have long looked to supernatural
causes of illness. In some cases, the source of the
illness is identified as a nefarious witch or wizard, but
other times the culprit is seen as a demon or
evil spirit. Inevitably, such identifications come with means of driving

(00:47):
the spirit away. Perhaps it is exercised from the individual
via the consumption of sacred substances, locked out of homes
with special rights, or driven off into the bodies of beasts,
or you could send them away aboards sacred model boats.

(01:09):
This practice and vestiges of it can be found throughout
Southeast Asia, with many variations turning up in Malaysia. As
outlined by Prince John Loewenstein in the Journal Atropus in
nineteen fifty eight, Malaysian evil spirit boats or kapal hantu
were neither toys nor full scale ships, but sacred vessels

(01:33):
of magical significance. They range from small wooden boats to
larger vessels splendidly decorated with sales and wooden crew members.
Depending on the stature of the afflicted individual or the
overall scope of the misfortune to be exercised, it might
be the illness or misfortune visited on a particular individual

(01:56):
or upon an entire community, but the evil spirit would
be lured onto the vessel with offerings and then set adrift,
either down a river or out to sea, as reported
in the Malay Mail in December of One of the
most important surviving ceremonies of this sort is the Wang
King or barge festival, which YUNESCO recently recognized as an

(02:18):
example of intangible cultural heritage. In the Wenkang, a procession
of ships are used to draw out wandering spirits, evil forces,
and negative energy. In this ritual, the ship's actually quote
unquote sail down the streets of Malacca City and then
are ritually burned. It is therefore through fire, rather than

(02:41):
disappearance upon the sea or down the river, that the
evil spirits are expelled into the void. According to Yunesco
related practices in coastal Malaysia and China can be broadly classified.
Is on Chun ceremonies rooted in the worship of the
deity on Ya, who is said to protect worsh appears
from disaster, especially oceanic disaster. Tune in for additional installments

(03:11):
of the artifact each week. As always, you can email
us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.
Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I
Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit

(03:31):
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