-
Maya (Image) in Indigenous Riau World-view: A Forgotten Concept of Malayan Animist Thought and Ritual Practice
- Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
- Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
- Volume 88, Part 2, No. 309, December 2015
- pp. 3-23
- 10.1353/ras.2015.0022
- Article
- Additional Information
The early literature on Malay animism and magic includes a passing reference to a concept called maya. This reference is hardly noticeable in the literature, and when Kirk Endicott wrote his Malay Magic, he omitted the word altogether. In this article the author uses ethnographic material from the Malayan-speaking Orang Sakai of Riau to examine the concept of maya (image) as it relates to a ‘lifeless soul’ inherent in material objects, giving physical objects vitality of form, appearance and use.