Note 4 — Chapter VI · Magic Rites as affecting the Life of Man (continued 3)

“In all parts of the Peninsula the Bajang is said to be of the male gender, while the Langsuir is supposed to be a female. It is usually believed by Malays that the Bajang is merely a malignant spirit which haunts mankind, and whose presence foretells disaster. In Perak and some other parts of the Peninsula, however, the Bajang is regarded as one of the several kinds of demons which, the Malays hold, can be enslaved by man and become his familiar spirit. Such familiars, it is believed, are handed down in certain families as heirlooms. The master of the familiar is said to keep it imprisoned in a tabong, or vessel made from a joint of the bamboo, which is closed by a stopper made from the leaves of the Cotyledon laciniata, the Daun chĕkar bebek, or Daun sadingin, as they are variously termed by the Malays. Both the case and the stopper are prepared by certain magic arts before they can be employed in this way. The familiar is fed with eggs and milk. When its master wishes to make use of it he sends it forth to possess and prey upon the vitals of any one whom his malice may select as a victim. The individual thus persecuted is at once seized by a deadly and unaccountable ailment, which can only be cured by magic agencies. If the Bajang is neglected by its owner, and if the latter omits to feed it regularly, it is said that he often falls a victim to his own familiar.”—Clifford and Swett., Mal. Dic., s.v. Bajang. ↑