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Initiation

The Path of Initiation

Apprenticeship

Teacher, Peers, and Preparation

To become a kerei requires a learning period of many months — a commitment that reshapes a man’s daily life, his relationships, and his place within the community. The journey begins quietly, usually after marriage, when a novice chooses his teacher: a paumat, a master shaman from another uma, often an uncle or respected elder from another lineage. A father cannot train his own son; that responsibility must lie outside the immediate family, ensuring that spiritual power flows through wider social bonds.
 
A novice rarely trains alone. Several young men may enter apprenticeship together, learning side by side and forming friendships that last for life. Their shared discipline — taboos, study, self-denial, and ritual — creates a brotherhood of spirit. The paumat is honored with pigs and gifts throughout the training period, and the bond between the two families deepens as the novice progresses.
 
Before the first ritual begins, the entire community works together: sago flour is prepared in abundance, wood is gathered, bamboo is cut, pigs and chickens are raised, and kabit — the red-dyed bark loincloths of the kerei — are crafted.

Pukereijat

A Journey of Seclusion, Training, Rituals, Ceremonies, and Initiation

The journey toward becoming a shaman — known as Pukereijat — unfolds over many months and through several distinct phases. It is anchored by a cycle of five major ceremonies. During this time, all non-essential work becomes taboo; the rhythm of ordinary life slows so that spiritual labor may take precedence.

Tadde

The First Rite — Opening the Path

Tadde marks the official beginning of the novice’s path.
As dusk falls, the house is ritually cleansed. The kerei summon ancestors, protective spirits, and drive out harmful forces. When the drums begin, the entire uma vibrates with their resonance: the deep, warm rhythm of the kajeuma — palm-wood drums covered with python skin and heated by the fire to sharpen their voice.
 
Throughout the night, shamans dance to these rhythms. Their movements imitate the forest’s creatures — birds, butterflies, monkeys, and other beings whose gestures carry strength, grace, or agility. These dances are more than performance; they awaken the novice’s soul and call upon ancestral presence.
 
As the hours pass, the dances intensify. Some kerei enter trance, guided by visions, communicating with the world beyond, seeking signs, approval, or warnings. The atmosphere is electric — the boundary between the human realm and the spirit world grows thin.
 
Tadde is both celebration and summons: the moment when the novice steps into a lineage of mediators, watched closely by spirits and ancestors.

Seclusion in the Pulaeat

A Retreat for Purification and Discipline

After Tadde, the novice and his wife retreat into seclusion at the pulaeat, a small hut deep in the forest, built by the novice with help from family and friends. Here, far from the rhythms of community life, the real work begins.
 
In a private ceremony at the pulaeat, the paumat — the novice’s teacher — informs the ancestors of the novice’s intention. Offerings are made, and their support is requested, for no shamanic training can succeed without ancestral approval.
 
The months that follow are marked by strict taboos.
The novice and his wife live simply, without decoration or adornment, focusing on discipline, restraint, and mental preparation. They raise pigs and chickens, tend decorative plants for future ceremonies, and avoid all activities forbidden during this sacred period. Their life becomes quiet and inward, preparing the novice’s soul for the ceremonies ahead.

Preparation for Training

Crafting the Identity of a Future Shaman

While the novice lives in seclusion, family members and close allies prepare his ceremonial attire — the outer expression of his new identity. They craft:
  • the luat, a beaded headband marking clan identity
  • the tudda, a heirloom necklace of ochre-colored glass beads
  • the lekkau, upper-arm bands of decorated rattan
  • the jarajara, a feathered and leaf-adorned hair ornament
  • the sabo, a skirt of cloth strips and decorated rattan, worn in ritual dance
These garments are not merely decorative; they are tools of spiritual communication. Through them, the spirits recognize the novice as a person ready to speak and listen across worlds.

Ngalou Abak

Necklace of Fetish Power — Gifts from the Unseen

The ngalou abak is one of the most personal objects in a kerei’s journey — a necklace worn only during apprenticeship, built slowly as the novice gathers sacred fetishes from the unseen world.
 
Each fetish, sineri, is a small spirit-charged object received through visions, dreams, trance encounters, or direct communication with ancestral beings. These objects are not chosen by the novice; they are bestowed. Each one marks a step in his spiritual growth, a sign that the unseen acknowledges his progress.
 
The necklace begins simply — a woven rattan band decorated with beads. As training unfolds, it grows more complex. Each sineri is tied beneath the beads, forming a living record of the novice’s relationship with spirits and of the powers entrusted to him.
 
When the novice appears at ceremonies leading up to initiation, the ngalou abak is unmistakable. It signals that he stands not merely as a student but as someone recognized — someone seen — by forces beyond the human realm.
 
Though it is worn only during apprenticeship, the ngalou abak is never forgotten. Its fetishes remain part of the shaman’s story, woven into his identity and carried forward into his life as a kerei.

The End of Suclusion

Beginning the Formal Study

When seclusion ends, the community gathers for a great ceremony marking the start of formal training. Often several novices enter this stage together, forming bonds that last a lifetime — brothers in discipline, vision, and ritual.
 
From this point onward, they learn the sacred songs and chants of the kerei, many in the old shamanic language of Simatalu, known only within the shamanic lineage. They receive instruction in ritual practice, healing, and the unseen rules that govern relationships with spirits, ancestors, and the souls of all living beings.
 
Step by step, the novices assume their role as bridges between everyday life and the world beyond — preparing to one day stand as full kerei, guardians of harmony and mediators between realms.

Sigeugeu

Calling Strength from the Ancestors

Sigeugeu is the second major ceremony of the novice’s training — a ritual held during the day, when sunlight strengthens clarity, intention, and connection with the ancestral realm.
 
At dawn, the novice, his paumat, the rimata, and senior shamans gather to prepare a powerful mediator: the kinumbu, a small ceremonial tree decorated with carefully chosen sacred leaves. Each leaf is selected not for beauty alone but for its spiritual qualities — purity, protection, or the ability to draw ancestral attention.
 
When completed, the kinumbu is placed beside the uma, where it stands like a living bridge between worlds.
 
Here, shamans and novices make offerings to invite ancestral presence. The rimata leads the invocations, guiding the younger shamans in calling the ancestors and teaching the rhythm of communication between worlds. Together they ring their bells, summoning their ancestral souls, asking for strength and protection. For novices, this presence can be overwhelming; many fall into deep trance when their bodies are briefly overtaken by ancestral souls.
 
Around the kinumbu, novices begin to feel the subtle shifts in presence that accompany shamanic work — the first hints of what it means to sense spirits and shoulder ritual responsibility.
 
Pig sacrifices accompany the day’s rites. Their souls carry petitions to the ancestral realm, asking that power be bestowed on the novices. Each sacrifice reinforces the link between the human community and the unseen — a relationship grounded in reciprocity, respect, and obligation.
 
These offerings are essential to Sigeugeu. They ensure that when novices take their next steps in training, they do so with ancestral support.
 
Sigeugeu marks the novice’s first public recognition as someone who walks between worlds.
 
It is a rite of empowerment, not yet initiation — a gathering of strength, a declaration of intention, and a request for guidance. The kinumbu stands as witness to this promise, absorbing and channeling the chants, offerings, and movements of those who prepare to become kerei.
 
With Sigeugeu complete, the novice moves closer to the deeper mysteries ahead — toward Lecu, the first direct confrontation with the boundaries between the human and spirit worlds.

Lecu

Fire and a Protective Anklet

Lecu is the third major ceremony of a novice’s training, a rite that brings him into direct contact with the protective forces that guard the body during shamanic work.
 
As dusk approaches, shamans gather in the uma to prepare a woven rattan anklet.
This anklet, spiritually blessed and infused with protective power, is tied to the novice’s leg. It shields him from harm during the ritual that follows — a gift of resilience that will serve him throughout his life as a kerei.
 
The anklet is not symbolic alone. It is believed to protect the novice from fire, sudden spiritual surges, and the unpredictable forces that accompany contact with the unseen.
 
With the anklet secured, the novice is guided toward the fire. Senior shamans dance first, stamping around the flames, calling the spirits with rhythmic movement. Then, one by one, they lead the novice directly into the fire’s edge. He moves through the flames, protected by the anklet’s power and the presence of his teachers.
 
This test is not meant to display invulnerability but to demonstrate spiritual alignment. A novice who hesitates or shows fear may not yet be ready for the deeper rites ahead. Passing through the fire marks him as someone who can carry heat — the heat of ritual strain, the heat of ancestral presence, the heat of spiritual burden.

Sigepgep

Introspection — the Night of Silence

Lecu is followed by Sigepgep, a night of complete silence and darkness. All lamps are extinguished. Voices fall still. The uma enters a state of stillness rarely seen at any other time.
 
In this darkness, the novice reflects on what he has learned and received.
Sigepgep is a pause between worlds — a moment of inward listening before the most secret transformation begins.

Seeing Eyes

Stepping into the Unseen

A few months after Lecu and Sigepgep, when the novice has completed his period of discipline, seclusion, and preparation, he is ready for one of the most guarded moments in Mentawai shamanic tradition — the receiving of “seeing eyes.”
 
The Hidden Pool
Led by his paumat, the novice travels deep into the forest to a secret pool known only to shamans. Its location may never be revealed, not even to close family.
This secrecy protects the integrity of the rite and shields the novice from unwanted spiritual attention.
 
At the water’s edge, in solitude and shadow, the paumat performs a quiet invocation, informing the ancestral spirits that the novice is ready to see beyond ordinary perception.
 
The novice kneels over the still surface. A powerful potion is splashed into his eyes by the paumat. The moment is painful, disorienting, and sacred, but the meaning is profound: from this moment onward, he becomes seeing — able to perceive spirits, souls, and presences that lie beyond ordinary vision.
 
The world becomes layered: forest, ancestors, and the many beings who inhabit the unseen all take on new visibility.
This transformation is not dramatic on the outside; it unfolds inwardly, a shift in perception the novice must learn to navigate with care.
 
A New Kind of Awareness
Stepping away from the pool, he steps into a larger, unseen world.
Receiving “seeing eyes” is a recognition from the spirit realm — a confirmation that the novice has prepared himself properly, endured seclusion and taboo, and demonstrated sincerity during the earlier rites.
Yet it is also a responsibility.
From now on, he must protect his sight — emotionally, spiritually, and ritually — as he learns to distinguish between helpful presences and those that bring imbalance.
 
The paumat guides him carefully through these first moments of expanded awareness, teaching him how to maintain composure, how to ground himself, and how to avoid being overwhelmed.
 
Toward Alup
The gift of “seeing eyes” is the final preparation. What comes next — Alup — is the true test, when the novice must demonstrate this expanded vision before humans, ancestors, and spirits alike.
 
With his sight opened, he returns to the uma ready to face the ceremony that will determine whether he becomes a kerei in full.

Alup — The Final Test

Endorsed by Spirits, Accepted by the Community

Alup is the climactic ceremony of a novice’s initiation — the night when he must prove himself before the spiritual realm and humans alike. It is the moment when his training, sacrifices, visions, and discipline converge.
If the spirits accept him, he becomes a kerei.
If not, he must try again.
 
Preparations for the Great Night
In the days leading up to Alup, the uma transforms.
 
Huge bamboo poles are erected along the riverbank, one for each pig sacrificed during the novice’s training. They are adorned with sago leaves and wood carvings of birds, fish, and sometimes human figures. Similar carvings — umat simagere, “toys of the souls” — are hung above the entrance of the uma, inviting ancestral and human souls to gather.
 
Inside, ceremonial garments are readied, tobacco and fabrics are laid out on the veranda as offerings, and pigs are prepared for the sacrifices to come. Guests from neighboring umas arrive, including respected shamans from afar who are invited specifically for this night.
 
Honoring the Ancestors
As evening falls, the largest pigs are sacrificed to honor the ancestors.
Afterward, a great communal meal is shared — the rimata, the paumat, the novice, the shamans, and their wives all gathered in full ceremonial attire.
This ritual meal reaffirms the unity of the living community and the ancestral realm, preparing everyone for what lies ahead.
 
The Night of Ancestral Presence
When darkness settles, the shamans adorn themselves with flowers and decorative leaves that mimic feathers.
The novice covers his body and face with yellow turmeric (kiniu), the color of spiritual readiness.
 
The kajeuma drums begin — their deep, driving rhythm filling the uma.
Shamans dance like birds, stamping the floor, which itself functions as a great percussive instrument.
The ancestral spirits arrive.
 
Ceremonial garments, beadwork, fabrics, and tobacco are spread out for them on the floor; in the eyes of the shamans, the spirits take what they desire.
 
Lajo Tabak — The Dance of the Canoe
Near midnight, as the spirits settle, the shamans perform lajo tabak, the dance of the canoe.
They circle the dance floor, riding invisible waves.
The rimata holds a small model canoe and sings of the journey to Pageta Sabbau, the mythical kerei whose exceptional powers guide the living.
 
This dance opens the doorway for Pageta Sabbau to join the rituals.
 
Pageta Sabbau & the Novice
When the dance ends and the drums fall silent, the rimata sits on the dance floor before the fire and becomes the living vessel of Pageta Sabbau.
 
The novice performs a final dance in silence, then kneels before him.
Speaking as Pageta Sabbau, the rimata asks a final series of questions.
These test not only knowledge but readiness: clarity of mind, courage, and respect toward the unseen.
 
If the answers are correct, the rimata blows softly into the novice’s ears, granting the power to hear the souls.
 
The Seizing of the Fetish
Then it happens:
The novice suddenly sees the soul of Pageta Sabbau hovering above the rimata, adorned with powerful sineri fetishes hanging from his jarajara head ornament.
He must seize one.
He reaches forward with both hands — and is instantly thrown backwards, collapsing into trance.
His body convulses, his eyes roll back, and sweat pours from him. Senior shamans rush in, restraining him gently while chanting to guide him back.
After a long moment, they slowly open his clenched fists.
Inside, there may lie a sineri.
If so, Pageta Sabbau has accepted him.
The fetish is tied to his abak ngalou, joining the lineage of sacred objects that prove his power and protect his life as a kerei.
If his hands are empty, he must attempt the rite again.

The Confirmation Hunt

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The next morning, a communal hunt takes place.
Monkeys, deer, and wild boar are believed to be the domestic animals of the forest spirits; their behavior reveals the spirits’ final judgment.
 
A successful hunt confirms that the ancestors and forest beings accept the new shaman.
 
With the approval of Pageta Sabbau, the hunt fulfilled, and the spiritual realm satisfied, the novice is now recognized as a kerei. From this day onward, he is a healer, mediator, and guardian of balance — able to walk between worlds.

The Shaman's Wife

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The kerei’s wife also receives new status. From now on she shares many taboos during her husband’s healing and other ceremonies. Sexual intercourse, cultivation of crops, and fishing are forbidden during ritual periods. Her responsibilities are restrained so her husband’s spiritual work remains undisturbed.
 
After initiation, she gains new ceremonial privileges — she may now wear the ceremonial teteku, a large head decoration with a luat similar to her husband’s, adorned with feathers, beads, and mother-of-pearl that mark her place beside him on the spiritual path.
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