Supernatural Savvy
Mix a dire economy, a political fuddle and a newly liberalized press and what do you get? A frazzled public desperate for reassurance turning to the most ancient of comforters—paranormals. Pati, a small town in Central Java, is poised to take over from Mt. Kawi as the nation’s soothsaying hub. Hoards of female seers assembled there recently to form a national alliance, vowing to cast their spell throughout the country...
June 12, 2001
About 500 women squeeze into a house on Pati’s Jl. Kartini in mid June. At first glance, it looks no different than an arisan, where housewives meet to take turns winning cash bonanzas. A roaring tide of nattering washes over as the ladies swap the latest tittle-tattle, occasionally subsiding momentarily for the ingestion of local snacks. But today is different. Blaring shrills of laughter belie the formation of the Association of Indonesi
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