Pangléyakan is the term for Balinese sorcery/witchcraft, which can be for either good (tĕgĕ, right-handed magic) or for ill (kiwa, left-handed magic, resulting in disease, bad fortune, and death).1 Negative sorcery is suspected when conflicts arise, insofar as disease and discord are interlinked. Calonarang2 performance is seen as a way to alleviate sorcery’s negativity and tap its positivity for material and spiritual ends.3
The performance is presented outside, at night, at the pura dalem, the temple found by the cemetery in each village, the temple that is associated with chthonic spirits, and which is presided over by the god Siwa (correlating with Shiva in Indian Hinduism) and his spouse Durga in her terrifying form. Spiritually strong performers play the primary roles. The witch (usually named Calonarang) will morph into the mask of Rangda, representing Durga in her demonic form. The male hero...
