NEUOFFENBARUNGThe primordial inhabitants of Borneo and Guinea from a spiritual point of view
(May 4, 1847)
Original content summary:
The original inhabitants of Borneo and Guinea, Chinese descendants. Characteristics of the same. Government, Religion. In the beyond, they are more accessible than Chinese. (General reflection on the insane and the treatment of them.) After their conversion, they are the most solid spirits.
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1. The inhabitants of the most significant islands of Borneo and Guinea has the same origin as the Japanese; it is self-evident that we are concerned here with the aboriginal inhabitants, but not with the European inhabitants, who live here and there, dwelling at the coasts.
2. The natives of these two islands are, as can be easily understood, Chinese descendants; the religion of China must therefore be upheld here too, and also have to, because the respective rulers of these islands still have to recognise the emperor of China, and must also pay a tribute to it if the emperor of China demands it.
3. They do differ from the Chinese constitution and custom in various aspects however, and thus also has some modifications in their religion.
4. The king of this island is usually nicknamed: the Gold-footed Majesty, also the Son of the moon; only not Son of the Sun, because this title of honour is due only to the Emperor.
5. The king, therefore, has a semi-divine reputation for the people, and must at certain times be worshipped, and the sacrifices which he determines must be amply offered to him on the appointed day. If the sacrifices are not abundant, the sacrificing priests shall be laid down upon the earth, and shall be severely punished by flogging, and a second sacrificial day shall be laid; but the priests, when they are beaten, must howl as loud as possible, and this howling must be imitated by anyone who hears it. It does not happen infrequently that the whole island would be brought into the most miserable bawl.
6. The king, as a half-god, is also the wisest of his people, so his worship is also the imitation of his actions, provided he so wished and desired; if the king coughs, the whole country will soon cough; when he clears his throat, every throat must cleared; if he settles down, everyone settles down in the country, and, of course, when the conveyed message arrives that the king has seated himself. This does not happen constantly, but only in the days when the king wants it.
7. No man, except the king and the chief priest, may worship the supreme Being, because the common people are not worthy to worship and honour God; but every man who wishes to have some grace from God must go to a priest, this is the high priest, and he must first go to the king, so that the latter, as the sole worthy to present to God the cause of his people, will ask the grace required for him to do so.
8. If a man would dare to bring forward his request to the Supreme Being alone, and if this were to be done, he was usually punished with death as an sinful and sacrilegious violator of the sole royal majesty; yet, if he is of better origin, he will be beaten for an hour or so. But when he is rich and has a lot of gold, he can also get exemption of the punishment; but he has to measure three hours of gold for the royal treasure for one hour of beating.
9. It is self-evident that much fine wiles and tricks are used with this measure; since the exact measurement often consumes more than 4/5 of the time, and so on. and for that reason, the king has also changed the flogging exemption for an hour into three hours.
10. But in order for the people to not easily transgress this most extreme commandment, it is permitted, same as with the Chinese, to procure house-gods, which in the name of the king are consecrated by the priests and thereby made active and effective; these house-gods are usually extremely awkwardly made out of wood, exhibited in clay pagodas; they are increasingly revered by the people, the older and worse they look.
11. In this aspect do this people also differ from the Chinese; for the Chinese end up trashing their gods when they have not done anything for them, but this people is only concerned with the ancient gods, for the reason that, since so much was sacrificed to them, they are easier to persuade than the new ones, which are not so much hallowed by the sacrifices and prayers as the old ones yet.
12. That there is not much to be done with such a people in the spiritual world, will be easy to understand; but they are much more accessible to Christianity and to the pure Gospel than the Chinese, and especially to the Japanese, but only with a very great deal of patience, and one must deal with them as if they were madmen, to bring them on the right path. For like the madmen, these also have a number of highly false, but fixed concepts, which, like old crayfish, are rooted in their souls.
13. In order to heal them, a formal spiritual homeopathy must be employed, and they have to fast, to eliminate all harmful things they have consumed before, and they will then be able to absorb and digest a new diet.
14. But when these people are healed, they are stronger than ten others, and has a courage, and a love which cannot be compared with anything that you know here. Such a spirit, if possible, would suffer death a thousand times under the most horrible pain, but but will never deviate only a hair's breadth from the prescribed order; for this reason are these spirits also put under the protection of those who dwelled in these regions, and when they leave the earth, these spirits are almost exclusively destined to bring their countrymen on the right path.
15. As has been shown here, these two islands are typified with very few remarkable differences; but the Borneans are a little gentler than the Guineans. With this we will be finished with these two peoples, and we shall soon begin to examine another.