Opening and Closing the Land: Land and power in the Idaté highlands

Lulik encounters and cultural frictions in East Timor: Past and present

“…At the margins of state political power, however, personal and clan lulik forms were nurtured by Falintil guerrillas to endow them with power and endurance, to consecrate and strengthen their alliances and appease the wrath of lulik agency (McWilliam ). Many Timorese today credit their ultimate victory and attainment of independence against Indonesian occupation to the deployment of lulik power (Bovensiepen ).…”

Lulik: Taboo, Animism, or Transgressive Sacred? An Exploration of Identity, Morality, and Power in Timor‐Leste

“…However, despite the countless stories about the dangers of lulik , there were nearly as many stories that emphasized the immense power and benefits that could be gained from a positive relationship with lulik land or lulik objects. Dom Geraldo, the former ruler ( liurai ) of Laclubar, for example, was said to have gained independence from the neighbouring domain, Samoro, through the gift of a sceptre from lulik land (Bovensiepen ). Throughout the entire Laclubar region there are a number of stories that tell how local rulers gained power and status through the gift of a sceptre from lulik land that appeared to the ancestor in the shape of a golden star.…”

“…In 1999, Laclubar's residents are said to have protected themselves from the Indonesian military and pro‐Indonesian militias by ‘opening the land’ and releasing lulik powers so that an army of land spirits rose from the ground to defend their land (Bovensiepen ). Lulik places are not just terrifying and dangerous; with the right management and respect, they can be turned into powerful and productive resources.…”

Words of the ancestors: disembodied knowledge and secrecy in East Timor

“…As I have described elsewhere (Bovensiepen in press a ), some words were considered to be so powerful that they had the potential to have drastic effects on the world. Some villagers claimed that particularly powerful words could be mobilized to bring peace and war or raise an army of spirits from the ground to defend the region against foreign attacks (Bovensiepen ). Others maintained that the guardian of the most truthful ‘key’ words would be able to bring wealth and prosperity to everyone, by releasing powerful lulik potency from the ancestral land (Bovensiepen in press a ).…”

“…Others maintained that the guardian of the most truthful ‘key’ words would be able to bring wealth and prosperity to everyone, by releasing powerful lulik potency from the ancestral land (Bovensiepen in press a ). Some narratives about potent words contained utopian or even millenarian elements, whereas other accounts took a distinctly dystopian form, predicting war and unthinkable mayhem (Bovensiepen ). The secrecy that surrounded these narratives at times created an atmosphere of anxiety and mutual suspicion, which may have been intensified by past experiences of persecution during the Indonesian occupation.…”