Soothsayers' predictions grim for Mount Kelud

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Kediri

With volcanologists apparently unable to determine the exact day Mount Kelud will erupt, villagers in the area have turned to local mystics and soothsayers for their opinions.

While their predictions have been varied, they do all seem to agree on one thing: The mountain will erupt in the next seven days.

An elder of Sugihwaras village, Mbah (a Javanese honorific used to address a revered, older person) Mulyasih, 62, carefully prepared 12 cups of hot coffee on Wednesday afternoon.

The coffees (and a pack of cigarettes) were for the unseen spiritual guardian of the mountain. Once a week, she travels the 10 kilometers to the crater and offers them to it.

She says the ritual has enabled her to open a special communication channel with the spirit, which alerts her when something is about to happen. She addresses it as "Den Bagus", which translates into English as "handsome person".

"I still haven't received any sign from Den Bagus Kelud that the mountain will erupt. Previously, I have always received a sign -- an unseen spirit whispered it into my heart," she said.

"As long as the villagers still live in the shelters, as long as the police still guard the peak, then it won't erupt. It shall erupt the moment the villagers return to their homes and the police officers leave their posts," she said.

Another mystic, Eyang (another Javanese honorific) Kuswanto, presented a different version of events. Kuswanto said the mountain wouldn't erupt anytime soon as an important prerequisite event for such an eruption hadn't yet occurred yet.

"The eruption must be preceded by a pagebluk. The pagebluk hasn't occurred yet. It means that the time for the eruption hasn't arrived yet," he said.

In Javanese folklore, a pagebluk is the occurrence of a large number of deaths in a violent manner. Prior to the 1990 eruption, a large number of people were killed in Blitar during the nationwide "mysterious shooters" program, in which allegedly government-condoned death-squads targeted street thugs.

"And thousands of people were slaughtered in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt by the Indonesia Communist Party in 1965. One year later, Kelud erupted," he said.

He further referred to Kelud's mythology to explain the 1,000-meter high column of smoke towering above the mountain's crater and the lava dome that has emerged in the middle of the crater.

"The smoke and the dome are the soldiers of Lembu Suro. They are showing their forces to Dewi Kilisuci," he said.

Ancient legend has it that Kilisuci asked Lembusuro to dig a well inside the crater before marrying her.

Even the head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center Surono couldn't stop himself from giving a mystical explanation.

The mountain hasn't erupted yet because, Surono said, "The girl of Mount Kelud is still refusing my marriage proposal. I have repeatedly tried to comprehend her wishes to no avail. She only smiles at me."

Gas, rocks and lava are thrown up by the
Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) volcano in Indonesia.
(BBC News Day in Pictures)