Culture Of The Dream People

Beliefs

The Senoi people of Malaysia are also known as Dream People.

Why are the Senoi called "the dream people"? 

Dreams were very important in the life of the Senoi. They had a society free of crime and mental illness. In the morning the entire family, discussed their dreams they had that night.

The rules that the Senoi had when it came to their dreams were the following: 

If there is danger in your dream, you should confront and conquer it. When for instance a child had dreamed that a tiger attacked him, his parents would tell him that such dream-tigers could not hurt him. They encouraged him to attack the tiger himself the next time. And if he wasn't strong enough, he could call a 'dream-friend' to help him.

If the danger was fire he should put it out with water. When the child fell from a mountain, he would be able to land softly or fly etc.

Besides this the child was encouraged to have as much pleasure as possible in the dream. "Try to fly and discover all sorts of things, and always let your dream end positive". Even if the dreamer died, he could be reborn in a better and stronger body. My daughter thinks this part is especially "cool". 

When they became teen-agers the Senoi did not have nightmares anymore. All their dreams were positive.

Festivals and Rituals

The Senoi are largely animists, but a large minority profess Christianity. Many professing Christians, however, are still gripped by their old beliefs. They are more likely to believe in witchcraft.

The Senoi main festival is the Genggulang. It is a festive ritual to appease land spirits for a good harvest and is still observed in many places where the people worship the rice spirit. In this ritual, the spirits are offered sacrificial chickens, flowers, and unhusked rice. Now, the festival has lost much of its religious meaning. It has become more of a cultural event similar to the way the Chinese celebrate Lunar New Year or Westerners celebrate Christmas. The Senoi tend to be unconcerned and skeptical about religious dogma. For example, people describing life after death almost always conclude by saying, "That's just a story of bygone days. I don't believe it."