1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas, 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: and moments in time. In the absence of modern medicine, 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: and sometimes in conjunction with it or in spite of it, 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: cultural practices around the world have long looked to supernatural 8 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: causes of illness. In some cases, the source of the 9 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: illness is identified as a nefarious witch or wizard, but 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: other times the culprit is seen as a demon or 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: evil spirit. Inevitably, such identifications come with means of driving 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 1: the spirit away. Perhaps it is exercised from the individual 13 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: via the consumption of sacred substances, locked out of homes 14 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: with special rights, or driven off into the bodies of beasts, 15 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: or you could send them away aboard sacred model boats. 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: This practice and vestiges of it can be found throughout 17 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: Southeast Asia, with many variations turning up in Malaysia. As 18 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: outlined by Prince John Loewenstein in the Journal Atropus in 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:28,759 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight, Malaysian evil spirit boats or kapal hantu 20 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: were neither toys nor full scale ships, but sacred vessels 21 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: of magical significance. They range from small wooden boats to 22 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: larger vessels splendidly decorated with sales and wooden crew members. 23 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: Depending on the stature of the afflicted individual or the 24 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: overall scope of the misfortune to be exercised, it might 25 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: be the illness or misfortune visited on a particular individual 26 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: or upon an entire community, but the evil spirit would 27 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: be lured onto the vessel with offerings and then set adrift, 28 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: either down a river or out to sea, as reported 29 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: in the Malay Mail in December of One of the 30 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: most important surviving ceremonies of this sort is the Wang 31 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: King or barge festival, which YUNESCO recently recognized as an 32 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: example of intangible cultural heritage. In the Wenkang, a procession 33 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 1: of ships are used to draw out wandering spirits, evil forces, 34 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: and negative energy. In this ritual, the ship's actually quote 35 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: unquote sail down the streets of Malacca City and then 36 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: are ritually burned. It is therefore through fire, rather than 37 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: disappearance upon the sea or down the river, that the 38 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: evil spirits are expelled into the void. According to Yunesco 39 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: related practices in coastal Malaysia and China can be broadly classified. 40 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: Is on Chun ceremonies rooted in the worship of the 41 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: deity on Ya, who is said to protect worshippers from disaster, 42 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: especially oceanic disaster. Tune in for additional installments of the 43 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: artifact each week. As always, you can email us at 44 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: contact at Stuff to Blow Your Mind dot com. Stuff 45 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. 46 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 47 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 48 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: favorite shows.