Adam (front left) getting ready for last year’s Kaamatan Festival.
WITCH doctors, healers, spiritual guides. Whatever you wish to call them, they were once much respected, trusted and depended upon in many cultures in the world.
This is also the same for Sabah, a land of many unique customary beliefs and traditions, and which at one time depended a lot on what are known locally as Bobohizans or Bobolians (priests and priestesses) in everyday life.
The people can call on Bobohizans for every little thing, such as guidance on whether to build a home now or later, to more daunting matters like seeking healthcare, performing customary rites for weddings or funerals, and even to connect with the spiritual world.
However, this is not the case now with new technologies and the digital age, where Bobohizans and their practices are often frowned upon as non-believers of God or witchcraft.
With the practice seemingly dying, a young bespectacled man who wears his long hair in an updo French twist has taken up the task to preserve the ancient knowledge and belief.
He is one of the youngest and few remaining Bobohizans in Sabah who can often be seen performing customary rites at weddings, Kaamatan and other events.
Adam Gontusan, who still refers to himself as a novice, hopes to change people’s perception while reviving and upholding the ancestral traditions of the Kadazandusun and other natives.
Adam conducting a padi ritual.
The 32-year-old who grew up in a Catholic household, said he had heard stories of the Bobohizans and their work from his father when he was a child.
He had always been intrigued by the tales, and it was in his early adulthood that he wanted to delve deeper into the area while also maintaining his religion.
He also wants to prove that traditional customs and his religion can be practised, preserved and understood together.
“People think we ‘rear ghosts or spirits’, but this is not true at all. There is a need for all beings and spirits to coexist,” he said.
He said mutual respect for all matter and beings is vital for balance in this world, seen and unseen.
Adam also clarifies that being a Bobohizan or learning the “trade” does not make one “lost”, as claimed by many.
“We uphold and protect our ancestral beliefs, customs and traditions,” he said, adding these beliefs and customs are the identity of every race and religion.
Adam uses the Komburongoh to communicate with his spirit guardian.
He said without traditions, there is no identity, hence the need to preserve them for future generations.
Speaking of his job as a spiritual healer, he recalled one of the scariest and unforgettable incidents when he saw a “monster” when trying to “cleanse” a client’s house.
Adam said he usually can feel the presence of these beings but seldom can he really see them.
He said in that particular case, the monster had red eyes and long legs and was ugly.
Adam beating a special drum as one way to call upon spirits or announce his presence to them when arriving at a new place or before performing some rites.
He was outside the house when he saw it so he ran back inside and told the occupants that he would come back another day to continue the ritual.
Adam said he eventually cleansed the house from afar, with the help of his spiritual guardian known as “Divato”.
“We have so many beliefs and traditions, and I feel we should not discard them just because times have changed,” he said.
With the number of Bobohizans down to less than a dozen in Sabah, Adam just might be the person to save that one piece of tradition and, hopefully, revive a dying belief and practice.
