Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 552 Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Arts and Arts Education (ICAAE 2020) Langkahan Myth and Ritual in Javanese Weddings Tiwi Purbandari1,* Sutiyono1 1Program Pascasarjana, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia * Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Myth is one of the people's beliefs. There are many kinds of myths in Java, one of which is the Myth in the Ritual of Langkahan which is done at a wedding. It is a tradition that started a long time ago but is still done by Javanese people now. This study is initiated due to the tradition done by the Javanese. Langkahan is a ritual done when younger siblings get married before their older sisters or brothers. The data in this study were collected through observation and interviews with the brides and bridegrooms, cultural experts, people done the ritual, and the researcher's experience. Langkahan as a ritual is done because of three feelings, one of which is lust-unlust. It is a feeling possessed by those whose younger siblings get married first. People tend to believe that there is some kind of effects of not doing this procession, so this procession is mostly done to avoid the effects. As traditions need to be preserved, Langkahan should still be done. It is a traditional cultural legacy from ancestors that serves as a symbol of the identity of an area. Moreover, it shows respect for older siblings whose younger siblings get married first. Keywords: Myth, Tradition, Langkahan, Javanese wedding 1. INTRODUCTION The culture that has been inherent in society and Focusing on the scope of society, there are has been inherited a long time ago, will be complex behaviors including lifestyles, cultures, increasingly conceptualized in people's life so that it customs, beliefs, etc. Thus, cultures and customs are becomes a belief that is difficult to get rid of. The more essential in human life. In the scope of cultures, beliefs that are still developing in a community are a custom and a belief are often referred to as a myth. usually maintained through their local characteristics The term myth in Indonesian comes from the in which the local characters eventually become word "mythos" (Greek) which means the story of the wisdom that is always held firmly by the community gods, a fairy tale of the earth and everything in it [5]. later. Myth also means stories about gods, earth events and Indonesia has a variety of cultural arts in its their contents, and beliefs in the supernatural world regions. Each region has traditional cultural arts with [5]. People believe that doing things against the myth unique and artistic concepts in accordance with the is a sin. The existence of myths is closely related to region characters. The cultural arts are actually a customs that are still traditional in nature, especially priceless commodity of the Indonesian nation. The to those who still believe in the dynamism teachings. arts and can used as a reference for developing Myths with the rules that have been passed cannot be contemporary art and culture [3]. The values of local simply dismissed, there will be many things that must wisdom that still exist are usually still maintained by be passed to change. people. Something becomes a belief in the There are many myths in Javanese society. It is community because the culture has been attached and believed when Langkahan is not performed, bad has become an essential thing in their life. Thus, the things will happen to both the older sisters/brothers culture that has been passed down from generation to and their younger siblings. For example, if a younger generation cannot be separated from one another. The sibling gets married before his older sibling then existence of such a correlation between culture and things will not be good for both of them. The older society makes culture a very important thing for siblings are believed to find it difficult to find a mate, humans. so will younger siblings who will not be at ease. Therefore, Langkahan ritual is held. Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 105 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 552 2. RESEARCH METHOD This study employed the qualitative method with a structuralism theory approach. It was conducted in Panjen Wedomartani village, in Ngemplak Sleman. This location was chosen because people from this village always do and preserve the tradition of doing Langkahan ritual. Figure 1. Langkahan offerings The primary data were collected directly from the field through observation, documentation, and The offerings prepared for the procession are interview with people from Yogyakarta palace, explained below. wedding makeup artists, and the researcher’s experience in doing the procession. Then, the 3.1.1. Tumpeng golong secondary data were collected from books and internet websites. It is a cone-shaped Javanese rice dish made of white rice. This dish is a symbol of nobility. 3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION 3.1.2. A whole grilled chicken 3.1 Langkahan Ritual in Javanese Society This dish is a symbol of goodness that will come Langkahan comes from the word “langkah” which ahead. The older siblings are expected to become means steping up. Langkahan procession is done by a noble people. bride/bridegroom who gets married before her/his older siblings. Before siraman (bridal shower), the a. A bowl of red rose, white rose, and Cananga bride/bridegroom should ask her/his older siblings for water. This offering is a symbol of freshness. permission. Besides, the bride/bridegroom should b. Wulung sugarcane is a symbol of perseverance in prepare gifts for them. The gifts are given to get life. blessings from older siblings. Java area or kejawen is an area that until the The offerings should be given in the bridal shower Diponegoro war was still directly under the rule of the because it has many symbols used to ask for blessings Surakarta kingdom and the kingdom of Dinia Agustia from older siblings. Artika Sari - Selametan Kematian in Jaweng Village, Boyolali District 154 Yogyakarta with Mangkunegaran and Pakualaman [1]. The life of the Javanese heavily depends on animism or beliefs from prehistoric times or before religions came to Indonesia [4]. Before holding this procession, the younger siblings should prepare a gift for their older brothers/sisters. The gifts are based on the wishes of the older siblings. Apart from giving gifts, several Langkahan offerings are also presented, such as tumpeng golong, grilled whole chicken, water with Figure 2. The bride gives the gifts to her older telon flowers, and wulung sugarcane. Each of the siblings offerings has its own meaning. Langkahan ritual is carried out when the Langkahan procession is done in the following bride/bridegroom gets married before his/her older steps. siblings [2]. In the procession of Langkahan, the bride/bridegroom ask for their sibling's blessings. a. The bride or groom is guided by the elders to Thus, this procession is also a subtle effort to reduce face the older sibling who is already seated in or eradicate undue prejudice between families and the designated place to offer her prayers, friends. Palilah (sincere feelings) are shown by the forgiveness, and blessings to the younger older siblings to parents to make the parents feel sibling. relieved in holding the weddings. b. Sabetan, the bride's or the groom's shoulders are hit with a broomstick consisting of only 7 sticks. 106 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 552 Sabetan is a symbol that shows the older sibling sibling, things will not be good for both parties. The blessings. older siblings are believed to be difficult to find a mate, while the bride/groom will find problems too. c. The bride or groom presents the gifts (a symbol of devotion) to their older siblings. The researcher has experience Langkahan ritual. She feels relieved and happy because her sister is d. As a symbol of permission to the younger ready to be a wife. However, she thinks that people sibling, the younger sibling is guided to walk concern about her more than her sister during the while holding a wulung sugar cane and grilled preparation of the wedding. People in the whole chicken. Then the younger sibling steps neighborhood think that the researcher is not able to over the tumpeng three times. All of these are get a date. symbols of Rila Legawaning Nala, always showing the affection of older siblings for Based on the explanation above, the researcher younger siblings. uses an empirical phase structuralism approach that elaborates three dimensions of feelings, namely Lust- unlust (happy-displeased), Spannus-losuns (tense- relax), Erreguns-beruhigung (excited-calm). Those feelings are felt by people who have to hold Langkahan ritual and those who believe in the ritual. The community believes in Langkahan tradition because it is a legacy from their ancestors that is now become a custom. Therefore, the researcher believes that Langkahan is done because of the three dimensions of human feelings involved, especially Figure 3. The older sibling guides the younger lust-unlust. This kind of feeling is felt by both the siblingstepping over the tumpeng brides/grooms and their older siblings. Based on the results of interviews with cultural expert Riyo Hamong Semito from Pawon Sokolanggen and a wedding makeup artist, 3.3 Society Responses to Langkahan as a Langkahan offerings may be adjusted based on the Part of Javanese Weddings organizer so that there is no defined standard.