Broken: A broken blood cell of a black magic victim.

It is a health museum, but locals call it a santet (black magic) museum because it houses a collection of black magic-related objects not found in any other museum.

These rare objects are among the collections of the Dr. Adhyatma MPH Health Museum in Surabaya.

Among them are small remnants removed from the bodies of alleged victims of black magic, such as nails, rubber bands and threads, small dolls used for black magic, X-ray images of the bodies of alleged victims of black magic that purportedly show anomalies, and other arcane exhibits believed to hold the power to protect wearers from succumbing to black magic.

The head of the museum’s information network and library division, Mabaroch, explained that the museum was divided into three sections: Health culture, history and science. The black magic-related items are on display in the health culture section, specifically in the traditional health section.    

The museum’s other collections include medical tools used in the 1980s, books and a laboratory.  

Despite Mabaroch’s insistence that “it is not a santet museum”, people prefer to call it one. In fact, this name alone attracts dozens of visitors daily.

“The name sounds strange. We were curious and came here,” said Hendar Priyatno, a visitor from Surabaya who brought along four friends.    

A student from Surabaya’s University of Muhammadiyah, Kholidah Aulia, said she visited the museum because her study group received an assignment on writing about the phenomenon of black magic in society.

“We came here to find additional information about black magic for our paper,” she said.  

— Photos by Achmad Faisal

Popular

Explore nearby, spend wisely: intra-provincial travel boom

Furniture exporters decry new quarantine rule

Jokowi faces storm of lawsuits six months after stepping down