The Way of Beginning Life Against Rorokan Paraji

There are some placemans who help the chieftain to carry out the
government in Kesepuhan Ciptagelar that are named rorokan, one of them is
paraji. Paraji is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around
childbirth, pregnancy, pregnant person and toddlers. This position is held by a
woman that is gotten from greneration to generation. If the paraji does not have a
daughter, this position can be replaced by her nieces whom can be believed. And
if the paraji has a daughter but her daughter does not want to hold or cannot be in
this position, the paraaji cannot force her daughter. It can be replaced by her other
daughter if she has more than one daughter.

Paraji in Indonesian is kelahiran or in English is Birth. Paraji is the one of

tradition and culture at CiptaGelar. There are three important people of Paraji at
Ciptagelar. They are Mauwok, Maukah and Teh Nia. Paraji is also assisted with
the midwife. Paraji and midwife in this village have a good relation. They usually
help a patient together. Even though they are in a some work, they never blame
each other, they always help each other, they do what they can do to solve some
problem that is usully find in a childbirth process.
 The next generations who will continue the paraji position learn from the
senior paraji. She usually accompanies the senior paraji so that she can learn how
to be a good paraji. She will be involved in childbirth process such as helping the
maternity to start the childbirth, preparing the needs needed, cleaning the baby
and the mother and taking care of the baby and the mother until fourty days. It is
like the new generation has to do some training before she gets this potition. Even
though she is new in this potition, her senior will believe on her to do some easy
until hard dutty but her senior will give her an example before. Because they
believe that the new generation that from this generation has a talent in this
potition.

The respective duty of paraji is helping about childbirth. Paraji carry out a
maternity from the early stage of pregnancy until the toddlers grow up. Paraji
know if there is something wrong with a pregnancy such as position of baby that
is not in true position or it is called breech or footling breech.

Paraji can diagnose an abnormality of pregnancy and identify the gender

of a baby. If there is an abnormality in a precnancy that can be held by paraji, she
will do some treatment to the maternity but if she cannot hold it, she will suggest
the maternity to go to doctor or midwife at health center. The treatments that
usually she does to the maternity are massage, traditional food and concoction.
Paraji can know the gender of the baby from the position, if it is in the right the
baby is a boy and if the baby is in the left the baby is a girl.

After a childbirth if there is a laceration, paraji never gives a suture in

maternity’s vagina because the countrysides believe that something is broken
naturally, it will recover naturally too. The only thing that we should do is help it
to recovery weel and soon. Paraji will make concoction and suggest the maternity
to eat herbal food and medicine. Paraji usually uses traditional condiment such as
turmeric, ginger, betel, and others.
 The herb used is padi shouldn’t to itch, money to 4 months, the flower
have a symbol of beauty, nasi kuning to 9 monts, 3 monts is tread on earth, kapur
barus and kunyit for the herb, young papaya to release the milk, etc.

Maternity who gives birth a baby always in squat position. It is not like
usually that a maternity gives birth a baby with lying in a bed. When the maternity
is in squat position, her vagina will face a concoction that is burned and the smoke
will help the childbirth. Parajih and the maternity believe that squat position can
make the childbirth process well and easily.
 After the baby was born, paraji will take care of the baby and the mother.
They will be cleaned by paraji. Paraji will cut the umblical cord and put out the
placenta with pushing the maternity’s belly. Paraji never puts her hands to
maternity’s womb to put the placenta out because paraji is afraid if she does not
put the placenta but the womb.

Paraji help expectant mother to give birth until after giving birth 40 days.
The procedure to know when the expectant mother give birth is Paraji should to
touch her stomach with fabric. The suggestion is expectant mother will feel
stomachache. After the give birth expectant mother usually be given a herb. The
herb is like kanyut kundang, daun sereh, babadotan, etc. The herb very useful to
cleaning up women’s genitals too.

The Unique tradition is when the expectant mother was give birth, her
genital is not sewn on like another town because they believe the herb will heal
her wound. Furthermore, after giving birth the expectant mother shouldn’t be in
sleeping position. She should to keep sit so that keep the blood out. When the
expectant mom keep sit, under her butt there should an ginger and ash which is
medium warm. Her seat should not to move or sloping. It has a special rule for the
virgin, she should to keep sit during 7 days and 7 nights. Moreover, to fast to heal
she should to get massage during 7 days and 7 nights.

After the baby was cleaned, the baby will be put at a comfortable place.
The baby who is newborn cannot be seen by many people. Just particular person
can see the baby becayse if there are some problem or some disablement they
believe it can be recovered as long as the baby has been never seen by many
people. In fourty days after childbirth, paraji will take care the baby and the
mother. Paraji will make concoctions to take a bath, eat and recover the baby and
the mother. Paraji can help to burry the placenta too.

Paraji can help everyone who wants to be helped not just Ciptagelar’s
maternity. If someone wants to pick the paraji up, he or she will not be able to go
alone or meet the paraji on the way. He or she must pick the paraji up in paraji’s
house. There is a story about this case. One day a man whose wife was pregnant
and would have a childbirth wanted to pick up paraji then he went to the paraji’s
house alone. On the way he saw a woman that is like paraji that he knew. Then,
he stoped in front of the “paraji” and took her to his house but sadly the woman
that he brought was not the “paraji”. It is a ghost, it is called Kuntilanak.

Villagers believe that a pregnant woman has good smell. When a woman
is in pregnancy, she must bring something that is sharp like cut, needle and pin.
This things should be always on the pregnant woman’s body. They believe that a
ghost that is known as Kuntilanak. This ghost really wants to take the baby that is
in her womb. Because in a legend, Kuntilanak is a woman that was dead in
pregnant condition. Kuntilanak always wants to hurt a pregnant woman and takes
the baby because Kuntilanak thinks the baby is its. The baby who is new has good
smell too. When the baby is layed in a mattress there should be something that is
sharp too to protect the baby.

In helping childbirth, paraji ever faced some problem such as breech or

footling breech and a baby who did not cry and breathe. One day, paraji helped a
footling breech childbirth, when the baby was out from the maternity’s belly the
baby did not cry. Paraji uses her body to make the baby was warn and hit the
baby’s backside to make the baby cried but it did not work. Paraji still hugged the
baby until the baby was crying.

Paraji ever helped twin-birth too. But there was a sad story. One day
there is a maternity who checked up her pregnancy to a midwife and the midwife
told her that her babies are twin. But when she was borning her babies, she was
helped by paraji who did not know that her baby was twin. Then, after the paraji
helped her to born her first baby, the paraji did not know that there is another
baby was left in her belly.

Besides helping childbirth, paraji usually helps to heal toddlers who get
fever or sickness. Paraji usually give the toddlers traditional medicine with some
jampe. Jampe is a magic sentence that is belived can help them to heal the
sickness. Jampe usually is used to help the baby whom is borned with
disablement.

In this village jampe and concoction is very useful that is used according
to the baby and the mother’s condition. There are so mant things that is used in
concoction, one of them is rice. It is used to prevent itching after giving birth.
They usually use flowers too, they believe that it is signed of beauty,happiness
and calmness. With using flowers, they hope the baby will get beauty, happiness
and calmness too. Another thing is kapur sirih, it can help to prevent itching, cure
stomachache and gashes. The last is turmeric concoction, it can help to
eliminating pain, nausea and inflammation.

Paraji can do a circumcision to a toddlers girl too. The circumcision can

be done only when the girl is about two until four years old because something
that is called bengkong can’t see after the baby was give birth. Bengkong is look
like a seed. That will be removed only can be seen when the girl is in that ages.
Paraji usually does it to new woman who want to get merried with a Ciptagelar’s
man too, because they believe it is one of ways to clean the woman from filth.

Paraji can help to make some concoction for special purpose too, such as
to make the mother’s ASI is good, to make the mother’s body and the baby’s body
is still warn, to make the mother’s belly and body are still good after childbirth
and others.

There are pregnancy ceremonies that are usually performed by pregnant

women during their pregnancy. First is 4th month of pregnancy, this ceremony is
performed when the woman has reached the age of four months of pregnancy,
because at the age of four months it is believed that the spirit is blown to the baby.
Usually the implementation of this ceremony is to give thanks such as reciting
congratulations so that the baby survived the world hereafter and in good health.

Second is 7th month of pregnancy, this ceremony is known as Tingkeban.

This ceremony is carried out so that expectant mothers and babies survived when
giving birth. Tingkeban is derived from the word tingkeb meaning closed,
meaning that the woman who is pregnant should not get along with her husband
until 40 days after delivery and the pregnant woman should not lift heavy items
because it could endanger the condition of her pregnancy. In addition, in the
tingkeban ceremony there are materials that must be provided as a complement to
the ceremony. The ingredients are Kembang Jambe which means "hayang" which
is "hayang hade" or in Indonesian you want something as good as the fragrance of
the flower. So the connection with the belief system is that parents want the child
to be both in terms of physical and spiritual behavior. Kembang 7 Warna, it
symbolizes or believed to be the seven elements in life, such as strength, vision,
hearing, speech and desire. Strength is for us to remain strong in living life, vision
aims to use vision as well as possible such as reading books, reading books, etc.,
hearing must be used as well as possible so that we can listen to useful things
rather than talking, talking, a lot people who say your mouth is your tiger
therefore we must guard our talk so as not to hurt the feelings of others, last is
desire, the desire here is that every human being who descends to earth must have
a wish in his life and it is no longer a taboo by therefore make good wishes and
compete healthily with other human beings on earth.

Ayakan, it is made from bamboo which contains meaning / is believed to

be the science we have to be able to be sorted and chosen which is good, which
can produce good in the world and the hereafter and which is bad which can
produce the opposite. Kalapa Gading, it is a young coconut which is depicted as a
puppet character, srikandi and arjuna, who are believed / interpreted, hopefully
their children will be obedient, well apparently, and their skin is like young
coconut, which is langsat yellow. If the baby is expected to be a boy like Arjuna
and if a woman is expected to be like a heroine. Belut, it is inserted from the upper
hemisphere where when carrying out the flower bath ceremony which is believed
to give birth smoothly and safely like an eel coming out of the hole. And the last
is Rujak Kanistern, it is sold to children, the intention is to start from a child who
is playing and spending his youth now has turned into a mother. This salad salad
tastes bitter, sad, sour and others that symbolize all the difficulties and ease of life
that will be taught to their children. Likewise, if the taste of the salad is spicy, it is
believed that the child is born a boy, but if not spicy, then the baby is born.

Third is 9th month of pregnancy, This ceremony is believed that the baby in
the womb is immediately born into the world in a timely manner, what is done in
this ceremony is to offer prayers and thanksgiving. In this ceremony, porridge is
passed for those who are pregnant, so it is believed that they will get ease when
giving birth. And the last is Reuneh Mundingeuni, This ceremony is performed
when a woman who is pregnant exceeds the maximum birth limit which should
have been nine months changed to 12 months, therefore this ceremony was held
so that the pregnant woman gave birth immediately and avoiding things that are
not desirable and not to be like a buffalo. In addition, women who are pregnant
must wear kolotok necklaces and be guided by their mothers while reading
prayers and taken to the buffalo drum, if there is not enough to surround the house
seven times. This pregnant woman must mimic the sound of buffalo and act like a
buffalo while being guided by children holding a whip. After circling the drum of
buffalo or the house, then the ovaries are bathed and told to enter the house. All of
these activities are aimed and believed that God, the One and Only God, can
immediately give his gift so that the mother and her future children will be born
safely in the afterlife.1

There is a traditional ritual to celebrate the new birth and it is called

Upacara Nureunkeun. This ritual is done after they prayed. In this ritual, at the
first Paraji brings the baby and the mother to do this ritual. Then, Paraji will
draw four compass rose in a circle. At every compass rose there will be taken
some money and at the central of compass rose or in the middle of the circle there
will be taken some money too but the sum is more than the money that is in every

1
http://ilyaszulhilmi.blogspot.com/2013/10/adat-istiadat-upacara-adat-
sunda.html?m=1
compass rose. There will be sprinkled white and yellow rice and there will be a
pedupaan and kemenyan, it always smokes.

When this ritual is doing, the baby will be given special prayer too, then
the baby’s foot will be touched to ground. It can be helped by the mother’s foot
too. The baby’s foot will be touched to ground, white and yellow rice, four
compass rose and some money that are there. Meanwhile, the baby’s grandmother
and grandfather will do Nyawer Uang tradition. In this tradition the baby’s
grandmother and grandfather will give some money and candy to the villagers that
are around the baby’s house. To make the situation is more happier, the boys in
this village usually ignite fireworks.

The purposes of this tradition are to make the baby knows about earth
from he or she still young, to acquaint the baby to Dewi Sri that is signed by rice,
and to tell the baby that he or she should done a hard work to still alive that is
signed by money and four compass rose.

This ritual will be done when the baby’s age is three days. After do this
ritual, the baby will be given a name and there will be a party with nasi tumpeng
and lalawuh.2

In taking care of baby, the villagers in Ciptagelar have some unique

tradition such as when the baby gets notch it can be healed by putting a little par
of tikar pandan in the baby’s forehead that was given a little saliva before. They
still believe about this old tradition. There are so mant other tradition about it,
some act that can be done to solve something.

2
https://www.google.com/amps/s/amp.galamedianews.com/%3farsip=23587&judul