NEUOFFENBARUNGPrimordial inhabitants of Java and other small Asian islands from a spiritual point of
view (May 5, 1847)
Original content summary:
The other small Asian islands. The Javanese, a tribe of it’s own; the interior (of Java) unhealthy by toxic exhalations. Their peculiar (Janus-like) God. Other local conditions. The valley of death with the bohonupas (trees). Poisonous caves with combustible gases. They also have the Koran and the Bible. Advantages of these people above the previous. They are grounded in nothing. (and therefore not in error). Significant advice about love. Instruction in the hereafter. Excellency of the converted spirits of these people.
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1. The inhabitants of most of the islands surrounding Asia have a more or less similar constitution, though some of them are almost entirely of the Roman Catholic or the Protestant religion; only the island of Java makes a real exception.
2. This island is inhabited it’s own tribe; it goes without saying that only the aborigines are to be understood. The island itself is governed by China by means of a viceroy, but it’s coasts are mostly inhabited by Europeans; but the interior of the country is still very seldomly visited by the Europeans, because they can not stand it too long, whether it be the manifold poisonous exhalations which are prevalent on this island in a very high degree. The aborigines, on the other hand, are already somewhat more acclimatised, and their whole physique is by far more suited to the harmless absorption of these poisonous vapours than the European.
3. Just like the peculiar climate, the inhabitants have the most peculiar concept of divinity; they recognise only one god, but this god has two bodies, which are grown together back to back. These two bodies has one head, which has two faces; the one body is wholly white, the other is dark grey. In the daytime, the divinity turns the white part of it’s body and face toward man; but at night, the dark grey side. From the white part there is nothing but good, from the dark, nothing but terror and evil; therefore, no-one easily dares to walk about at night, because nothing good, but only terrible and evil can befall him.
4. The reason lies, however, in the fact that on this island, especially in the inner valleys of the island, a poisonous vapour is continually produced, which kill Europeans, and make the natives at least considerably sick, and can sometimes even kill them if they have inhaled too much of such vapours. but for the reason that the native inhabitants of this island generally live on the mountains, and during the day when the sun has already risen high, and have driven away the evil vapours, they enter the valleys to do the necessary work.
5. But one valley of this land is completely uninhabited, and the inhabitants call it the Valley of Death. In this valley are poisonous trees, called Bohonupas, which have been mentioned on many occasions, which spread their poisonous vapour through this whole valley for several miles, that no living creature can defy it in any way; the kings of this country would send criminals who are condemned to death here where thy must walk into this valley, inhaling the poisonous resin of this tree, by which means also adulterous women are killed. Only the king is in possession of this poison in a properly sealed golden container; and when it is needed, only a small tip of a needle need be dipped in it, and the slightest scratch on a person will cause in only a few minutes, the most horrible pain in the body.
6. When a hundred are sent into the valley, usually no more than two come back, and then they are granted life.
7. When these unhappy ones are sent out, they must determine the exact direction of the wind. If the wind blows towards the little poison-tree, they must follow the wind, but if the wind pushes, they must quickly take flight again; for when they have reached the air layer of this poisonous grove, they are lost without salvation. If, however, the wind continue for a long time in the same direction, they may go near one or more of the little trees, and then cautiously do their plight, after which they will hurriedly return against the wind, not resting for about 10 miles until they are safe from the effects of the poisonous air of this valley; which is really only a 20-mile-long and one mile-wide cauldron, in which there is no drop of water, and no other grass or growth, for everything dies because of the vapour of this poisonous tree.
8. Likewise are there also caves in this country, from which a constant poisonous vapour rises, but it does not spread so far in it’s poisonous intensity as the poisonous miasm of the poison tree described above, and the natives can sometimes very closely approach such caves, but of course behind the wind. They would then hurl burning bundles into such a cavity, quickly igniting this effervescent and most flammable gas, which then burns continuously for a long time; but when it burns, it is also quite harmless.
9. The strange nature of this country is then also the reason of the strange spiritual formation of these people, as has already been noted above; their double deity already stems from this.
10. But what is strange for you again is that the inhabitants do not attach much importance to this deity of theirs; they also have the Alkoran, and now, also the Bible.
11. Some of them prefer the Bible, some still the Koran; but their divinity has already almost completely been sidetracked.
12. Some of them are of the opinion that a perfect man should know all religions and take the best from them. Others say that among the many religions, only one can be the right one; but to find out which one, would be the most difficult task for the wisest among them, therefore it would be best to do something for all of them in the meantime, until one discover the right one, because in every religion, something wise and something stupid can be found; one therefore only pays homage to the wisdom in every religion and rejects the stupidities, whereby one finally becomes so wise to find out the best one from the many religions.
13. These people are basically not so stupid as someone would initially want to believe, because they are grounded in nothingness; but they are also the most accessible in the spiritual realm.
14. They only have difficulty with love, because in this world, they hold love for the greatest stupidity; but the reason for this lies therein that, under the concept of love, they understand merely the passion which is similar to a rage, by which the intercourse of the two sexes takes the form of a blind rage, and drives the animal-like fornication; putting the wisdom of man below the lowest animals. But, as is very easy to see, this is only a quite erroneous concept of love, where one takes a false and erroneous impulse of love for all love.
15. If the spirits of these people are clear about this concept, then they are the most capable beings in the kingdom of spirits, at the same time the most willing, and the most punctual in the fulfilment of every business entrusted to them. This is something especially memorable about this people; for this reason they are described rather extensively here.