Halak

They Have A Word For It...

NOTE: Definition of Halak (Indonesian/non-Kamian): Dream guide. [noun]

"As a member of a scientific expedition traveling through the
     unexplored equatorial rain forest of the Central Range of the
     Malay Peninsula in 1935, I was introduced to an isolated tribe of
     jungle folk who employed methods of psychology and inter-personal
     relations so astonishing that they might have come from another
     planet," wrote Kilton Stewart, introducing "Dream Theory in
     Malaya," surely one of the most remarkable documents in
     anthropological literature. According to Stewart (a trained
     psychoanalyst as well as an anthropologist), this tribe called the
     Senoi had created the kind of utopia that civilizations all over
     the world had tried and failed to build time and time again
     throughout history.

The Senoi claimed that their tribe, numbering approximately 12,000
     when Stewart visited them, had not suffered a violent crime in
     several hundred years. Stewart observed for himself that "the
     absence of violent crime, armed conflict, and mental and physical
     diseases in their own society can only be explained on the basis
     of institutions which produce a high state of psychological
     integration and emotional maturity, along with social skills and
     attitudes which promote creative, rather than destructive, inter-
     personal relations. they are, perhaps, the most democratic group
     reported in anthropological literature."

What was their secret? Who were their leaders? According to Dr.
     Stewart, the key psychological and political practice that kept
     this remote Eden running smoothly was a community obsession with
     dreams, dream interpretation, and creative work or social
     relations based on messages from dreams. Each morning, the
     community would gather in a large hut and talk about their dreams
     of the previous night. The only leaders in the various
     communities that made up the larger tribe were the *dream
     psychologists* known as "halaks" (hah-LOCKS), who educated the
     children in the art and social system of Senoi dream work, who
     helped cement social relations by encouraging people to share the
     gifts and warnings they found in their dreams, and who led a kind
     of group consensus-gathering process based on dream work.

By drawing the whole community into a recognition of the=7F
     intuitive, holistic, symbolic mode of consciousness exhibited in
     dreams, the halaks created what can be seen as a psychological and
     social counter balance to the overly rational, analytic,
     instrumental thinking that dominates Wester industrial
     civilization. Maybe we ought to meet in the morning at the local
     coffee shop, appoint a halak, and start dreaming up our own
     utopia! Sooner or later, every gathering of friends begins to
     talk about their dreams, and some pretty amazing things emerge.
     But people rarely know where to go with such a conversation.
     That's the time to say, "What we need is a good halak."

When we were children, our mothers were our halaks.
     Unfortunately, most of our mothers were trained to soothe our
     fears, not to encourage our explorations. Our society harbors a
     few false halaks--those who think that dream interpretations can
     be dispensed like astrological advice. Until our own society
     begins to adopt some of the features of the Senoi culture, those
     of us who cannot afford psychoanalysis must each be our own halak.
     this psychosocial role might become one of the growth industries
     of the 1990s and beyond, however, as the importance of inner
     guidance (and the need for psychological services for the broader
     population) becomes more evident.