Melikise Against the Pandemic: Revealing Spirituality in the Tradition of the Manalu-Lesabe Society, Tabukan Selatan District, Sangihe Islands Regency
10.2478/bjlp-2023-0000010
Keywords:
Melikise, Spiritual Values, Covid 19Abstract
Melikise is one of the traditions that exist in the Manalu-Lesabe indigenous people. Melikise is a tradition that is believed to be able to ward off evil, such as a disease outbreak. Covid 19 is a form of disease outbreak that appeared in Indonesia in early 2020. The emergence of the Covid 19 pandemic caused the Menalu-Lesabe indigenous people to carry out the Melikise traditional ritual with the aim of rejecting the outbreak through prayer to I Ghenggona Langi. This study aims to describe the ritual form of the Melikise tradition, the encounter between the Melikise and Christian traditions, and the relevance of the spiritual values of the Melikise tradition by the Manalu-Lesabe village community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method with data analysis techniques using the Miles and Huberman model, namely (1) data reduction (data reduction); (2) data display (data display); and (3) verification and conclusion drawing (conclusion drawing and verification). Based on the research, the results obtained are (1) the Melikise tradition was carried out during a disease outbreak or was last carried out in the 1970s, when dysentery was epidemic in the Manalu-Lesabe community. This tradition was carried out again in 2020 during the Covid 19 pandemic. In the ritual process, all religious leaders were included as prayer leaders. (2) The Melikise tradition is not well documented because it is only passed down orally, so there is no clarity regarding the encounter process between the Melikise tradition and Christianity. However, in the Melikise ritual, Christian songs are used, such as the Halelluyah, Psalms, Two Old Friends, and Song of the Congregation. (3) The relevance of the Melikise tradition in the actual context of society is contained in the concept of a harmonious God and a harmonious pattern of social life.