Spirit of Wood. Farish Noor

      A keris hilt decorated with the leaves of the ketumbit, a common garden herb. Drawing by Norhaiza Noordin.

      Larger pieces of wood would be kept under the house of the carver himself, which was raised on posts above the ground. Before storing, woodcarvers often cut these pieces into lengths of about two feet (60 cm). These would then be left under the house, often for years, allowing them to age naturally and to dry out. It was important to store them in a place where they would not be exposed to direct sunlight as this could damage the grain of the wood.

      While the wood was being stored in this way, it was also important that it should not be moved for any reason. Traditional woodcarvers believed that while the wood was being dried, its orientation should not be altered. If this were to happen, they believed that the colour and grain (pela and coreng) of the wood might be adversely affected and might change dramatically. The woodcarver would therefore check his wood periodically, observing it for the smallest changes that would indicate to him when a particular piece was mature enough for use.

      Another curious way of keeping wood for future use was to utilize wood that had been used for other purposes elsewhere. It must be noted that this practice cannot and should not be compared to modern modes of recycling, for the wood in this case had not been simply discarded or deemed unfit for use. What the woodcarvers were doing was simply working on wood that was already in everyday service around them. An example of such a practice can be found in the way that some woodcarvers used wood that had come from parts of their houses, such as the beams or the foundations. Having decided that a particular section of the wood was mature enough, the woodcarver would simply remove that piece and replace it with a newer piece. The wood that was removed was then cleaned, cut and treated before it was put to other uses such as keris handles or sculpture. (Some present-day woodcarvers continue this practice of obtaining wood from old houses and palaces that have been dismantled or have simply been left to deteriorate.)

      Once again, there are both simple and complex explanations for the process of using old wood. On the simpler level, one could explain this as a straightforward process of replacing wood and utilizing material that had been already put to use and was thus tried and tested. But the esoteric dimension of the process provides us with a more complex explanation. Traditional woodcarvers justified the practice on the grounds that it was a good way to prepare wood that would be endowed with strong semangat. Having already put it to use in a human habitat, such wood would have 'fed' on the life forces or semangat that was surrounded it and grown even more potent over the years. To put it simply, such wood had become 'accustomed' to human beings and was thus better able to 'serve' them.

      The storage of wood was therefore not a simple process for the Malay wood carver. He was not merely keeping the wood aside for future use, but was preparing the wood for higher ends. Prior to working with the wood, the woodcarver was slowly growing accustomed to it and trying to uncover its hidden mysteries. The Malays learnt that in order to have a proper relationship with wood, they had to first discover its secrets.

      Knowledge of semangat was thus critical for the proper use and work of wood, and one could only bring out the best of any kind of wood if one possessed the appropriate knowledge of its particular semangat. Higher woods were—and still are—used for higher, nobler ends, while lesser woods were reserved for common usage. This then is the adab (custom) of wood and woodcarving.