Shadows Over Borneo
an excerpt

Paul was trained well for his job. He could tell visitors to the jungle all the things that they wanted to hear explained. He also had sharp eyes. Only eyes that have had a full jungle education can be sharp like Paul’s. He guided Sean, but he never met Lepo.

* * * *

After everybody had caught up and all the men were lining the pool a thin wail arose from the back of someone’s throat. It was impossible to tell where it was coming from. It seemed to move around the circle. Maybe one man started and the others took it up. The sound had at the same time a thin reedy sound and an earthy animal gutteral sound. It rose and fell, weaving patterns with the steady splashing sound of the waterfall that completed their circle. It continued for some time. Some of the men began to fidget. Then a voice started chanting. It was a low muttered chant, not so far from the cadences of everyday talk. It was a steady sound that went on for a long time.

Behind it, Sean could hear all the night noises of the jungle. The rustling leaves were never silent. Through them an owl hooted. An animal coughed. He felt they were surrounded by unseen life. The shaman continued his drone. It rocked Sean into a light trance. He saw a sea of blue and felt himself floating. He surrendered to the moment.

After a while he became aware of weak movements around him. He heard splashing and stumbling sounds. He felt more definite movement in the circle, but he did not understand what was going on. The he felt himself being pushed forward.

They pushed him into the centre of the pool. He stood fully dressed, up to his waist in water. He became wide awake. A man stepped forward out of the waterfall. He did not have feathers on his head, or tribal markings. He looked exactly like any other member of the longhouse. Water dripped from his features and his shirt was soaked.

He placed two hands on Sean’s shoulders and very firmly pushed him down underneath the water. Sean gulped as the pressure released and he was allowed to stand up. A jungle baptism: but it was not a baptism, it was part of a pagan ritual. The shaman tied a piece of vine around Sean’s right wrist and held the other end. A puppy on a string.

The shaman spoke at some length in his own language. Sean stood curious, watching the man’s lips move. He began to feel cold. After a long time the shaman stopped and untied the vine. That was all. Several hands reached for him from behind and pulled him back into the circle. Another man stepped forward and the Shaman submerged him in his turn.

While the individual rituals were going on the men stood talking casually among themselves. Some were joking; others seemed to be talking more seriously. Sean felt a hand on his elbow. It was Lepo.

“I’ll tell you what the Shaman said to you.” He showed Sean a rock he could sit on and himself leaned back against the boulder next to it.

“He said the men don’t normally bring foreigners to this ceremony. So when he saw you in the circle he knew there must be a special reason. He said he looked into the matter very deeply and found that the skull had spoken to you. So he called you forward early in the sequence. He always does the headman first, and then the other big men you see.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that the reason the skull spoke to you was that you are troubled. You are troubled about the women in you life. You keep yearning after women you can’t have. You should let them go. He said there are many women in the world. He said if you look, there is always one nearby who is willing to have you. There is no need to look a long way away. He told you never to dwell in the pash.

“He said that the jungle is full of spirits. The spirits are unhappy. They are bleeding. They see the jungle being cut down and they are losing their homes. Like you, they look back and they want to go back, but they can’t.

“They are looking for people to come to the jungle who care about it. They said that if you are meant to care about the jungle, if you have a spiritual connection with the jungle then you will come back. You’ll keep coming back for seven years.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“No, he said that was all he needed to say to you. Then he untied you.”

Sean went on sitting quietly on his rock and Lepo went back to the circle to await his own ceremonial. He thought about the spirits in the jungle, how fascinating it was that different people could have completely different belief systems and be affected by each other’s. He didn’t believe in theirs intellectually. Yet he had been touched by it.