In Indonesia, the government-appointed position of 'Spiritual Guardian' tends to Mount Merapi volcano both physically and spiritually. That’s because Mount Merapi is believed to be more than a volcano–it’s a creature of God. Mbah Asih is the Spiritual Guardian of Mount Merapi. The role of the spiritual guardian is to carry forth the traditions of ancestors, especially the culture of treating a volcano as a sacred site. Before him, Asih’s father was the spiritual guardian until he died in the historic 2010 volcano eruption that killed 37 people and left 300,000 displaced. Instead of seeing Merapi’s eruption as a disastrous event, Indonesians believe that it is “tidying up”. It wants things as they ought to be–clean and protected. When society litters and villages damage the natural environment, nature revitalizes. Asih reminds us that mankind is powerless, and able to survive only when we live in harmony with nature—in their context, with their sacred volcano, Merapi.
In Indonesia, the government-appointed position of 'Spiritual Guardian' tends to Mount Merapi volcano both physically and spiritually. That’s because Mount Merapi is believed to be more than a volcano–it’s a creature of God. Mbah Asih is the Spiritual Guardian of Mount Merapi. The role of the spiritual guardian is to carry forth the traditions of ancestors, especially the culture of treating a volcano as a sacred site. Before him, Asih’s father was the spiritual guardian until he died in the historic 2010 volcano eruption that killed 37 people and left 300,000 displaced. Instead of seeing Merapi’s eruption as a disastrous event, Indonesians believe that it is “tidying up”. It wants things as they ought to be–clean and protected. When society litters and villages damage the natural environment, nature revitalizes. Asih reminds us that mankind is powerless, and able to survive only when we live in harmony with nature—in their context, with their sacred volcano, Merapi.
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