Merapi eruptions dispel myths

The recent eruptions of Mount Merapi that claimed more than 240 lives mostly from Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, may finally help dispel myths people living on the slopes of the world’s most active volcanos have held onto for so long.

For years, people there have believed that Merapi would never propel pyroclastic clouds onto its southern slope, especially in the Kinahrejo region in Cangkringan, Sleman, where Merapi’s late self-appointed spiritual gatekeeper Mbah Maridjan lived. They thought Merapi would not deface its supposed front slope.

But for those people, the unthinkable happened. Huge hot clouds, with energy three times bigger
than that of the three previous eruptions in 1994, 2001 and 2006, sped down the mountain and swept over Kinahrejo and the neighboring village of Kaliadem, killing over 40 people including Mbah Maridjan
on Oct. 26.

“I do believe this will change the way locals understand the volcano, just like the 1994 eruptions did for us,” Sarwidi, a member of the steering committee of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said on Thursday.

Born and bred in Kaliurang on the southwestern slope of Merapi, Sarwidi said that people in his area used to share the same belief. But the 1994 eruptions which killed more than 50 local people changed locals’ take on the volcano’s behavior.

“People, especially of my age and below, have become more rational now. Only a few elderly people still hold strong mystical beliefs, making evacuation often difficult to carry out during an eruption,” said the 50-year-old professor of volcanology at the Indonesian Islamic University (UII) Yogyakarta.

The 3,000-meter high Mt. Merapi, sitting astride the neighboring provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java, is an important icon in Javanese traditional mysticism and cosmology, especially for Yogyakarta, which is often considered to be at the heart of Javanese culture.

Believed to be the kingdom of the spirits, Merapi has long been seen as the symbol of the balancing elements of the universe forming a straight, sacred imaginary axis from the north — where it is located — to the south where the kingdom of the Queen of the South Sea Ratu Kidul lies, with Yogyakarta Palace at its center.

Followers of Javanese cosmology believe the world is basically a harmony between the microcosmic and the macrocosmic. In this case Merapi and the South Seas Kingdom are considered as the microcosmic while the Yogyakarta Palace the macrocosmic. Both are supposed to be in balance to create harmony.

Such beliefs thus explain the annual labuhan (offering) rituals held both at Merapi and on the site of the South Sea Kingdom, which are carried out to maintain this balance.

“For me labuhan is just like a tourist attraction. Nothing more,” said Mulyanto, 43, a resident from the Umbulharjo subdistrict in Sleman, 10 kilometers from Merapi.

A cow breeder, Mulyanto, said he fully trusted the authority’s analysis regarding Merapi’s volcanic activities. A better understanding of science has made him and many others in his subdistrict capable of thinking more rationally.

He was among the first to evacuate when the local administration instructed people to do so.

But for traditionalists, Merapi eruptions are a sign that the kingdom of spirits is having a party and the lava expelled is simply garbage left over from the celebration.

This is why they never imagined volcanic material would ever pour down the southern slope, since this would be like dumping rubbish in one’s front yard.

“They believed the kingdom would never dump waste in its own front yard,” Sarwidi said.

Such beliefs have often made it difficult for authorities to evacuate people when Merapi is declared dangerous. It was even more difficult when the gatekeeper, believed to hold supernatural powers to communicate with the spirits guarding the volcano, refused to evacuate.

Given the situation, it is no surprise the programs held by authorities to build disaster preparedness among potential affected communities are unfruitful.