Personal Religion and Magic in Mamasa, West Sulawesi consists of an Introduction and five chapters. The first chapter, ‘Religion and Magic’, talks about ‘the other world’ that people seek when they cannot solve problems in their own lives. Therefore, they start a relationship with certain powers or beings (God/gods) who might help them (through prayers, offerings, incantations and the like). The author, C.W. Buijs, talks about Marcel Mauss’ concept of collective representation in which magic is produced by collective forces and ‘magical judgement is formed prior to the experience’ (p. 11). Thus, experience simply confirms what has happened. Buijs also presents Reimar Schefold's ideas on the meaning of symbolic acts, a system of thought indicating ‘a deeper layer, namely the essence, the soul’ (quoting Schefold, p. 14).
The second chapter, ‘Headlines of the Religion of the Torajas in West Sulawesi’, gives an overview of the autochthonous religion (aluk to yolo) of the Torajas, who inhabit the Mamasa River region of West Sulawesi, Indonesia. Until the early twentieth century, the Torajas were isolated, mainly due to their mountainous homeland. The first Christian missionaries were allowed to enter Mamasa in 1907 after Dutch rule over the region started. By the mid-twentieth century, most Torajas had become Christians—at the beginning of the twenty-first century, only about 3 per cent still embraced aluk to yolo and lived in so called ‘enclaves of the aluk’. The author lists all the authorities in the aluk and society: tokeadá (people of the highest rank, responsible for social regulation, whose ancestors are tomanurun who descended from the heavens to earth); toburake (priestesses who lead public rituals); toso’bok (priests and priestesses responsible for rice cultivation); and tomebalun (the death priests who wrap the corpse).
Prayers and offerings are an essential part of Toraja religion, so when people pray to dewata (gods) they offer them slaughtered animals, such as chickens, pigs, buffalos, and dogs (depending on the type of ritual). In general, all Toraja rituals can be divided into two essential groups: rituals for life, rambu tuka’, and rituals for the dead, rambu solo’, with special regulations concerning the time and place of the ritual, officials involved, rules for sacrificing animals, and the form of offerings. The Torajas believe that the blessings of earthly and heavenly gods are necessary for human well-being and, therefore, they willingly perform very elaborate rituals.
The third chapter, ‘Pairan, Individual Religious Responsibility’, discusses pairan, the personal relations of a human being to the gods. Buijs rightly claims that researchers always pay attention to the public rituals carried out by the community; however, they overlook personal religious activities performed privately to receive blessings for themselves and for the people around them. Despite interviewing many people—old and young—nobody was able to provide a relevant definition of pairan, however. In the end, based on many conversations with diverse kinds of people, he sums up that ‘Pairan concerns in the first place the personal life and the responsibility for each other in a family and also in the society. People experience a sort of calling and task that comes from the gods, which concerns all the relationships in which they live’ (p. 43). The author discusses the importance of the traditional house with its emphasis on the kitchen, considered to be its heart. A part of the text is devoted to the rituals connected with the birth of a child, and last, but not least, to the fact that pairan used to permeate the whole society as a religious responsibility and how nowadays elderly people are deeply concerned about pairan not being properly performed anymore.
The fourth chapter, ‘Stones and Incantations, Vestiges from the Other World of the Gods’, details other forms of individual relationships with gods besides pairan. The Torajas believe that vestiges in the form of stones and incantations from the other world of gods have the power to ensure good relations with the deities. They can be divided into ‘living’ and ‘dead’ vestiges. The former are effective if a living relationship with the gods is maintained, which means that now and then blood from a cockerel's crest must be smeared on the stone. In the case of incantations, the relationship is assured by pronouncing certain words. The dead vestiges, on the other hand, do not require a living relationship with the gods; their efficacy lies in their origin.
The last chapter, ‘Pairan and Magic, Personal Religion in Daily Life’, summarises the information provided in the previous chapters and looks into the future of practising pairan within the Christian faith. The author (inspired by Mauss) claims that magic is different from religion because ‘it is not an organized cult but it is carried and maintained by the belief of the community’ (p. 139). In the case of the Mamasa Torajas, the difference lies in these three aspects: secrecy, ownership and attachment to objects or words. Buijs concludes that due to new religions, education and political changes, pairan cannot be maintained in the modern, mostly Christian, society.
Buijs’ study of personal religion and magic reveals the blind spot in previous ethnographies, which have mainly focused on public rituals. He writes in a sophisticated and, at the same time, very readable style; the book is well designed with abundant photographs that perfectly illustrate the issues discussed. There is a convenient glossary at the end of the book, too.
The information presented, obviously supported by extensive fieldwork, is so precious because the autochthonous religion is diminishing, and since the Torajas transmit their knowledge exclusively orally, it will disappear one day. Therefore, a book that includes several eulogies and prayers in high Toraja language, which nowadays even Torajas themselves hardly understand, is priceless ethnographic material. Buijs has preserved information about an ethnic group whose original religion and the rituals connected with it will probably fully disappear in the near future. This book will enable future generations to unravel the culture of their ancestors and, thus, contribute to a better understanding of their own unique history.
