Prophecy
Monday, November 22, 2021
Prophecies, primbon: signs of anxiety. Traumatic changes to life in Java at the end of the 19th century, for instance, encouraged the circulation of the 'Jayabaya prophecy', Jangka Jayabaya.
Semut ireng anak-anak sapi
Kebo bongkang nyabrang kali bengawan
JAVANESE of all generations from Central and East Java know this verse. It is intoned with reverence by blue-bloods and performed by street buskers. I memorized it too when I was 14, and now at the age of 80 I can still remember parts of it—even though, old as I am, I don’t know what it means. Many interpretations have been published. But who is to say that interp
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