Penunggu The Watcher

AT CERTAIN SPOTS one must be mindful of the guardian spirit, called Penunggu. It can take many forms. On the physical plane it might appear as a toad, a lizard, a cobra, a crocodile, or a python. Sometimes the Watcher manifests through its agents, which to the eye or ear may be an owl, a skink, a centipede, or a cicada. 

The rivers are guarded by naga - dragons. The naga is a shapeshifter: it may look like an agamid, a chameleon-like lizard, so as not to frighten you. Or it can take the form of a giant python. (Rasid has seen two golden-headed pythons in the deep pool above Lata Chehek on Sungai Chiling.) Its true form is that of the dragon, similar to how the Chinese depict it.  

The naga of one river can mate with the naga of another, producing a whole family of water dragons. Logging and mining disturb the naga's home in the headwaters. Small flash floods mean that one of the anak naga (baby dragons) is throwing a temper tantrum. When the ibu (mother) comes downstream thrashing her tail, massive damage is bound to follow. 

Once, alone at Lata Chehek (which I call the Mother Fall because its goddess energy is so tangible and awesome), I encountered a very old agamid lizard clinging to a rock. It didn't move when I came up close. Then I saw why: its eyes were caked with sand and it looked like it was dying. I spoke softly to it, and poured a little water over its eyes, which slowly began to open. It certainly looked alive now! The agamid moved majestically to a drier spot on the rock and then stopped. I somehow knew it was the Penunggu of Lata Chehek. When I mentioned this to Seri Pagi, he nodded and said: “That's how the guardian chose to appear to you. Others see his snake form. Very few encounter his dragon form, which can suck you into a different world.”

Well, I knew one person in Pertak Village who claimed he had met the dragon face-to-face. 

Nadi Pak Empok & his wife
Lumoh Anak Taya in 1995 (Antares)

Nadi Pak Empok told me he dreamt of the Naga once, back in 1990. The Naga asked him to visit a particular spot along the river three times in three weeks - but Nadi was too afraid to obey. One evening, he happened to be passing near the spot on his way home, when he was startled by a roaring noise - ”like a helicopter landing on top of you.” Nadi hid behind a rock and nervously looked around. Suddenly the river exploded into shiny golden scales as a gigantic Naga raised its mighty antlered head from the water. It seemed to hang in the air for an eternity before diving back into the river and disappearing. Nadi's legs went limp and he had to recuperate for an hour before he could get up and walk home with a troubled heart. The headman of his village in Pertak had allowed loggers into the area, and the Penunggu was issuing the Temuan a warning through Nadi.

Not long after Nadi’s death, I met his elder brother in Gerachi Village and asked if he was aware of Nadi’s adventures. “It wasn’t Nadi who encountered the dragon,” he laughed, “it was ME!”