Pustaha

Between the cover-panels are pages of the pustaha, folded like the book music used in a mechanical street organ. The 56 pages are made of the bark of the agarwood. The bark page reaches 17 meters in length if unfolded. The ink is made of a mixture of boiled tree resin and other ingredients. Bamboo skewers, buffalo horn or the grain of a sugar palm leaf is used for the writing.
The Great Pustaha contains descriptions of all kinds of spells and incantations needed by the datu [ritual specialists]. Examples of formula in the pustaha are a formula to destroy other villages; formula to eliminate opponents; to inspire love; stories about the creation of the world.
The Wikipedia page for the Great Pustaha

Is it spooky season yet? Let's say it is. For Art Thursday, pustahas, which are small books of "magic knowledge" written by Batak (Sumatra, Indonesia) magician-priests.

Pustaha
photo by Ángel M. Felicísimo

The Great Pustaha
Marc Chang Sing Pang

Libri Pustaha raccolti da Elio Modigliani in Indonesia tra il 1886 e il 1894
Sistema Museale di Ateneo - Università di Firenze

Divination Book
Tropenmuseum, part of the National Museum of World Cultures

Divination Book
Tropenmuseum, part of the National Museum of World Cultures