Page 26 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

used can sometimes gives a rough guide, but identifiable watermarks are rare. In

the case of usada (book of Healing), a collection of texts dealing with healing
practices, scholars are still unable to determine a precise date with any certainty.
There are, however, two manuscripts in the Surakarta Palace library that have
been dated, and are arguably the best references on jamu and traditional
medicine in existence—namely, Serat Kawruh bab Jampi-jampi (A Treatise on
All manner of cures) and Serat centhini (book of centhini).
The former probably gives us the most systematic account of jamu. It
comprises a total of 1,734 formulæ made from natural ingredients, together with
information on their use. A further 244 entries are in the form of prayers or
symbolic figures used as powerful amulets or talismans to cure specific health
problems, or to protect the owners from any black magic aimed in their

direction.

ADVICE FROM THE SERAT CENTHINI

Still considered one of the major references on jamu, the 300-year-old Serat Centhini has plenty of
illustrative tales which not only make interesting reading but are also instructive.
For example, it tells how a certain Mas Cebolang went to visit Ki Bawaraga, leader of a
Javanese gamelan orchestra (photo left depicts a contemporary gamelan player). It was around
midnight when he encountered an acquaintance called Amadtenggara, who had a toothache; Mas
Cebolang gave him some medicine for it. He recommended chewing kenanga flowers (Canangium
odoratum; ylang-ylang) mixed with salt. The story goes that the swollen gum was pierced with a fish
bone and the patient was healed immediately. Apparently it was also necessary to choose an
auspicious date and time for this operation, to ensure its total success.

The earlier Serat centhini, an 18th-century manuscript produced on the
orders of a son of Kanjeng Susuhunan Pakubuwono IV, ruler of the central
Javanese kingdom of Surakarta from 1788 to 1820, is a celebration of life. Three
men were charged with collecting as much information as possible on the
spiritual, material, scientific and religious knowledge of Javanese culture. The