Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor
This paper recounts a parallel story of the Lamòling myth. The original analysis of the legend addressed the relationship between two gods, Lamòling and Lahatàla, from the Abui traditional religion. The myth evolved from ancestral times to the arrival of Christianity...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-07-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/7/211 |
| _version_ | 1828351136093962240 |
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| author | Francesco Perono Cacciafoco Francesco Cavallaro |
| author_facet | Francesco Perono Cacciafoco Francesco Cavallaro |
| author_sort | Francesco Perono Cacciafoco |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper recounts a parallel story of the Lamòling myth. The original analysis of the legend addressed the relationship between two gods, Lamòling and Lahatàla, from the Abui traditional religion. The myth evolved from ancestral times to the arrival of Christianity in Alor, with the resultant association of the ‘bad’ god as a demon and, finally, as the devil. This paper completes the myth as handed down from traditional ‘owners’ of the narrative and storytellers by telling a parallel version centered around an Abui ‘prophet’, Fanny, who was the only person able to travel to Lamòling Bèaka, ‘the land of the Lamòling gods/servants’. We also focus on a number of sacred objects and rituals associated with this religious myth and on their symbolic meaning for the Abui. This account tells a different version of the killing and eating of an Abui child by these gods/supernatural entities and of how Fanny came upon the gruesome feast. The paradoxical absence of Lamòling in this version of the myth depicts him as an immanent being, pervading and sustaining all that is real and created in nature, existing anywhere and nowhere at the same time. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T01:35:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e23be3610533468ea81470918b514288 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T01:35:16Z |
| publishDate | 2018-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-e23be3610533468ea81470918b5142882022-12-22T02:20:01ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442018-07-019721110.3390/rel9070211rel9070211Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in AlorFrancesco Perono Cacciafoco0Francesco Cavallaro1Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637332, SingaporeLinguistics and Multilingual Studies, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637332, SingaporeThis paper recounts a parallel story of the Lamòling myth. The original analysis of the legend addressed the relationship between two gods, Lamòling and Lahatàla, from the Abui traditional religion. The myth evolved from ancestral times to the arrival of Christianity in Alor, with the resultant association of the ‘bad’ god as a demon and, finally, as the devil. This paper completes the myth as handed down from traditional ‘owners’ of the narrative and storytellers by telling a parallel version centered around an Abui ‘prophet’, Fanny, who was the only person able to travel to Lamòling Bèaka, ‘the land of the Lamòling gods/servants’. We also focus on a number of sacred objects and rituals associated with this religious myth and on their symbolic meaning for the Abui. This account tells a different version of the killing and eating of an Abui child by these gods/supernatural entities and of how Fanny came upon the gruesome feast. The paradoxical absence of Lamòling in this version of the myth depicts him as an immanent being, pervading and sustaining all that is real and created in nature, existing anywhere and nowhere at the same time.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/7/211AbuiAlorLamòlingAlor-Pantar Archipelagooral legends and mythstraditional religions |
| spellingShingle | Francesco Perono Cacciafoco Francesco Cavallaro Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor Religions Abui Alor Lamòling Alor-Pantar Archipelago oral legends and myths traditional religions |
| title | Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor |
| title_full | Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor |
| title_fullStr | Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor |
| title_short | Lamòling Bèaka: Immanence, Rituals, and Sacred Objects in an Unwritten Legend in Alor |
| title_sort | lamoling beaka immanence rituals and sacred objects in an unwritten legend in alor |
| topic | Abui Alor Lamòling Alor-Pantar Archipelago oral legends and myths traditional religions |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/9/7/211 |
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