D

espite living in the capital city where modernity often casts tradition aside, some Jakartans still hold strongly to the tradition of looking for a good day to hold a special event like a wedding ceremony.

It was Oct. 10, 2010, when Michael Arsy finally had the confidence to ask his then girlfriend, now his wife, Kartika Kharisma, on a date. Puppy love that was sparked in high school grew stronger until eight years later they decided to tie the knot.

At first, the couple wished that they could get married on Oct. 10 too, not only to coincide with the anniversary of their first date, but the date would also form a memorable combination, a “pretty date”: 10.10.

“According to the Javanese calendar, good days to hold wedding ceremonies fall in October. But Oct. 10 this year fell in mid-week,” Kartika told The Jakarta Post recently. “We chose Oct. 6 instead, which wasn’t too far from our dating anniversary,” she said, adding that the wedding party was held in East Jakarta.

For many Indonesians, choosing a good day to hold important events in their lives is essential, as many believe that picking an auspicious date for an occasion will bring good luck and avoid misfortune, while many others simply follow the tradition of their elders.

A Javanese couple, Loecia Nhadilah and Joko Ismoyo, endured a more complicated process in deciding the right day for their marriage back in 2016. They did not care so much about a pretty date as long as it was held on a good day.

In the teachings of Javanese spirituality, also known as Kejawen, such calculations involve both the Javanese and Western, civil, calendars. A week in the Javanese calendar consists of five days namely pahing, pon, wage, kliwon and legi. Meanwhile, the months are adapted from the Islamic calendar.

“I have a relative who has the ability to do the calculation. I gave him Joko’s and my birth dates, in both the civil and Javanese calendars, along with the exact time we were born,” the resident of East Jakarta said.

“The result showed that the akad [wedding vows] should be conducted on Sept. 3 before 10 a.m. He also forbade the presence of any purple object in the venue. Otherwise, he said, we would have bad luck,” the mother-of-one added.

Yuyun, 51, also of Javanese descent, told the Post that she chose the date for her daughter’s wedding day. She said that every day, in both the Javanese and civil calendars combined, had a value.

In order to check whether a day is good or bad for holding a specific event, the value resulting from a calculation of the dates is taken into consideration.

“I still regard such methods as an important teaching to follow. We can even use it to predict whether or not a couple is matched according to the dates they were born,” said the resident of East Jakarta.

Yuyun added that she inherited the skill from her parents.

The second-most popular method used to pick a good day is feng shui, or Chinese astrology.

Feng shui master Dewi Sundari said that searching for a good day, in both the Javanese and feng shui methods, was aimed at setting straight someone’s intention before doing something regarded as important.

“Do the right thing at the right time. A good thing that is done at the wrong time might lead to misfortune,” she said.

While Kejawen focuses on individuals’ birth dates, feng shui is based on seasons (spring, summer, fall and winter) and the five earth elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Dewi said good and bad days could fall on any day throughout the year. People should not assume that pretty dates are good ones, simply because their nice combination is easier to memorize.

“Just like humans. Pretty people are not always good people, right?,” she said.