The leaving of this transient world : a study of Iban eschatology and mortuary practices

Abstract

This is a study of the eschatology and mortuary practices of the Iban of Sarawak, East Malaysia. The Iban have the notion of a single separable soul, called semengat. While a person is still alive, the semengat is the actor in dream experiences. At death the semengat leaves the body. Belief in the survival of the semengat, evidenced in dreams about the dead, is the core of Iban eschatology. The Iban also have the notion of life-images which represent an analogy of human life to plant life. A corpse is usually buried after the night of a wake. During the night the identity of the dead is the corpse, to which grief of the survivors is directed. After the burial the longhouse community observes formal mourning. The identity of the dead is shifted from the corpse to the ghost, which is the surviving semengat. About a month after death the community is freed from mourning. The bond between the deceased and the living is severed by a shaman, who cuts away the deceased's life-image from those of the living. A re-enactment of headhunting is performed to terminate mourning. The marital relationship between the dead and the surviving spouse continues to be valid until a ritual fine for divorce is paid by the surviving spouse. The most important mortuary ritual is the festival for the ghosts. Traditionally, formal mourning of the bereaved family is terminated on this occasion. The ghosts are invited from Sebayan, the Land of the Dead, and entertained at a feast. At the end of the festival the ghosts are provided with goods which enable them to live self-sufficiently in Sebayan. Thus the festival is a ceremony of final separation. Some present-day Iban celebrate this festival in modified forms which incorporate the ideology of male prestige and headhunting. The graphic view of Sebayan is depicted in death dirges. The itinerary of the journey of the dead indicates the topographic continuity between Sebayan and this world. In shamanic visions the route of the journey is symbolically equated with the physical structure of a longhouse. The Iban think that Sebayan is near to this world. Communication between the living and the dead is thus possible. The afterlife is a replica of life in this world with a modest degree of idealisation. To the Iban the afterlife is a natural consequence or continuity of this life without any drastic transformation of personal existence. After a certain span of time the semengat of the dead dissolve into dew and return to this world. The living eat the rice which absorbed this dew and so incorporate the residual elements of their ancestors. Deviant practices of the enshrinement of the dead are found among some Iban. The enshrined spirits remain in the world of the living as gods or guardians.. The Iban mortuary rituals are the coherent and progressive series of separation between the deceased and the survivors, and in this process the living sustain their belief in the survival of the semengat.