Brilio.net/en - All the manydifferent tribes and cultures in Indonesia have their own own myths and legends. Bali is just place with its own legends. One is the Leak.
Leak means evil sorcerer", withLe meaning sorcere and ak meaning evil. A Leak can be both male and female. Two of the most famous are female and another is male. People say a Leaks magic can only function in Bali,but either way the Island of the Gods is definitely its home.
Only leak hunters can see them and they are only visible at night. Indaylight, a leak looks like a normal human (some believe aLeak is actually just a human who studiesdark magic), while at night its head and organs free themselves from its body and they would wander around cemeteries to finding human organs to use inmagic potions. Those potions help it transform it into many objects and shapes, including animalslike atiger, a monkey with golden teeth and a pig, or inanimateobjectslikemotorcycles or fireballs, and even a figure ofRangda, the queen of black magic. In its true form the Leakis believed to have very long tongue and sharp canine teeth.
Leaksareoften identified with evil behavior, black magic, dark forces and cannibalism. Theycan fly around insearch ofpregnant womenso they cansuck on the blood of unborn children. They need the blood from afetusfor their magic practices. A Leak can be killed if it is stabbed in the neck from the bottom up, while the head is apart from the body That way the head cannot return to thebody and if separated for long enough, the Leak would die.
Leaks biggest enemy is Barong, aprotagonist in Balinese myth. He is the king of good spirits and the representation of goodness, while Rangda represents evil. But he does not emerge in the story of her origins.
Backstory
The legend of Leak was recordedin the Javanese Calon Arang myth during the reign ofAirlangga,King ofMedang, in the 11th century. In a village called Girah, awidowed witch calledhad a beautiful daughter. She was called Dayu Datu and known at the time as Calon Arang, and her daughter wasRatna Manggali.
It issaidthat Ratna Manggali committed adultery but the young men in the village didnt have the courage to marry her because they were afraid ofher witch mother. Calon Arang was so angry that she causedthedeaths of many people in revenge. Hatred for her grew so widespreadthat soldiers asked the King to punish her. The soldiers found her asleep and grabbed her by the hair, but she woke up andshot fire at the soldiers from her eyes. One escaped, though, and reported to the King
When Calon Arang found out that the King wasplanning to try her for murder she was furious. She spread evil throughout the kingdom, causinga huge epidemic.
Calon Arangwrote her magic down in a book called theKitab Calonarang. A hero then emerged in Mpu Bharada, who conquered the evil witch and secured the book so the magic could notspread. But her students went to Bali and there herknowledgewas passed down to people now known as the Leak.
A special ritual is held in Bali every nilem (new moon) to protect people from the Leaks attack.
Leak levels
In general, a Leak can change for up to 1,000 times, with at least five unique features in each form. Every form corresponds to a level that reflects how much of Calon Arang's knowledge it has.
For example, a Balinese wooden mask with fangs and long protruding tongue sticking out is called Celuluk, signifying the lowest level of Leak knowledge.
At the lowest knowledgelevel, people cantransform themselves into simple, common animals like monkeys, dogs, white chickens, goats and so on.
Mid-level knowledge allows people totransform into Garuda, amythological bird that can fly high in the sky, has poison in its beak and claws and canshoot fire from its eyes. Atthis level a Leak canalso transform into a Jaka Tunggul or a palm tree that can release fire and poisonous odor.
High-level knowledge grants the user the ability to transform into Bade, a towering wagon that carries dead bodies around Bali. The whole tower and turn into fire and turneverything around it into ash.
(brl/red)
