It is merely known that Gorontalo is full of its diversity of culture. The variety of culture comes from the diversity of its tribes and local wisdom. Most of Gorontalese still has deep conviction of this culture value, and they still apply the culture in their daily life. One of the evidence is the existence of mystical culture in Gorontalo. In Gorontalo, mystical culture is implemented in traditions, beliefs and dances. Those things are important assets that needs to be preserved and maintained by the next generations of Gorontalo natives.
Most of Gorontalo natives are religious people. They also already have logical, rational, and scientific mind structure. Somehow, according to many Gorontalo natives, it is not strange to believe in supernatural and metaphysical thing. Many of Gorontalo people still believe in myths to do and not do something. They still believe in evil spirit to be the cause of weird diseases, they still visit the local monk to be healed or to ask for a blessed water, and some of them still preserve the mystical culture. People can see the implementation through the dances, traditions, and rituals in Gorontalo culture. The mystical traditions and dances were heritaged from their ancestors. Many Gorontalo natives are still doing and maintaining this legacy.
Some of the mystical culture are the dance of Modayango and the ritual of Yilanggu. The dance of Modayango is a dance ritual purposed to summon a spirit to help alive humans. The Book of Modayango, Dance with the Spirit (2012, p.5) defines Modayango as “ritual to call the spirit to be a mediator to do something for human”. By doing this ritual, they believe that their needs will be granted by the spirit they summon. Another mystical tradition is the ritua...
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...in the sector of economy and the income of the province. Local citizen will build guesthouses for tourists to stay and they could work as local tourist guide to accompany the tourists.
The promotion of mystical rituals in Gorontalo only could be maximized with all efforts from every layer of Gorontalo people. The responsibility of promoting should not be done by the government only. Without the constructive action from the people of Gorontalo, this plan will only be just a plan, and along with time travels, the mystical rituals in Gorontalo will only be history.
Works Cited
Abdullah, F. (2012). Modayango, Dance With the Spirit. Gorontalo.
Pink, S. From Ritual Sacrifice to media commodity: Anthropological and media constructions of the Spanish bullfight and the rise of women performers. In F. Hughes-Freeland, Ritual,
Performance, Media. New York: Routledge.
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2) There are many rituals carried out by the Indigenous people but in particular there is one called
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Houston, Stephen. “Classic Maya Religion: Beliefs and practices of an Ancient American People.” BYU Studies 38.4 (1999): 43-64. Print.
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III. Smithson, Jayne. “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” Class lectures. Anthropology 120. Diablo Valley College, San Ramon 2004.