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 * "Of Dalang and Dukun -- Spirits and Men: Curing and Performance in the Wayan of West Java" .** By Kathy Foley. __Asian Theatre Journal__, Spring 1984. 1.1. pp .52-75

Kathy Foley interprets the dual role had by wayang golek puppet masters (dalang) as both performers of actions (through their handling of puppets) and mystically empowered authors of action. She explores how a small percentage of puppet masters are attributed with the power to influence the functioning health of real persons in their respective communities. Foley sets forth the distinctions between Sundanese dalang (wayang puppet masters) and Sundanese dukun (aka “paraji”, aka “prawirasugand”, Sundanese mystical doctors/healers) and discusses how the two distinct roles in the Sundanese community overlap. Author Foley states that the spark of her interest in this line of research was founded upon her witnessing a dalang bless water at the request of a member of his community, a member of his wayang audience. A woman, apparently the mother of a sick child, had knocked upon the door during one of the dalang's lessons and requested his blessing upon water which would then later be used as a treatment for the child. The article reveals that the blessing of water is a traditional healing practice in which the Sundanese confer that the practitioner infuses the water (through blowing on the water and chanting) with the blessing of Wisnu/Vishnu, “the Hindu god who is the preserver of the universe.” Despite the fact that, within Sundanese culture, there is a clearly defined responsible party for mystical healings - the dukun - it is presented that many of the Sundanese yet prefer the healing assistance of a dalang, an entertainer whose primary function is to merely perform a dramatic script of the ritual in which water is blessed by Vishnu. The author speculates that this is due to the fact that the dukun, who are supposed to inherently possess healing powers are also thought to be equally able to use their powers to inflict agony upon others, while the dalang are acknowledged for having only goodwill in their desire to please their audiences. Albeit, there are prerequisites that effect that only a small percentage of dalang are also healers. For a dalang to be a healer: (1) typically, he must play a ruatan – a ritualistic performance in which Kala, a demonic god who thirsts to feed upon people’s blood, is staved off by the performance of a ruatan. A ruatan performance incorporates the burning of incense, the presence of food, and the singing of mantras – all staged together for the purpose of deterring the demonic god Kala’s vicious cannibalistic pursuit. (2) the dalang must have been born into a family that has played the ruatan, (3) he must be knowledgeable of the spirit world, and, (4) the dalang must have earned respect for the efficacy of his dramatic performance such that his performance seems so powerfully real that he, in turn, appears to be really powerful and so attracts the demand of members of his community to bless/make holy water. Kathy Foley notes the contrast between Western art and the wayang in regards to how “the Western art-act is framed as unreal: it is artistically efficacious” while “In Sunda…a theatre was perceived by the community as being actually efficacious”. To one familiar with western art, perhaps the only exception may be rap stars: A portion of those who sing songs concerning the trade of contraband are shown to actually take part in the same roles of drug trafficking that they portray “for entertainment purposes only”. Certainly, Western sex icons are also sometimes found to really engage themselves in lascivious behaviors, too.