Mystical Chants in the Bajau Society: A Preliminary Observation on the Changes in the Mindset Towards the Planting Ritual

In the Bajau society, the farming community used to observe with great reverence spiritual rites which included chanting during the ceremonial events held prior to planting and harvesting. It was believed that the chants will help to make the land more fertile and to guarantee the well being of the rice spirit after each planting season. In practice, the farmers will usually invite a paddy ‘bomoh’ (shaman) to conduct the ceremony and rituals before and after the planting season. Today, the belief in these spiritual rites and chants has waned. More and more of these farmers no longer observe these spiritual ceremonies before and after planting. This paper hopes to look at the use of these chants among the Bajau farmers and the changes in their mindset towards these ritualistic chants. The perspectives taken are rooted in the Sapir-Whorf theory towards change