BIYUNG AND RAMA: AN ECOTHEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE AND THE PAKEONG RITUAL IN BANYUMAS

Abstract

 The socio-ecological crisis in the Anthropocene era demands a deconstruction of the
anthropocentric-instrumentalist paradigm that has secularized nature into a mere object of
exploitation. As an alternative, this study explores the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the
agrarian society of Banyumas through an analysis of the Pakeong rain-calling ritual. Employing
a qualitative-ethnographic approach in Bojongsari Village, Kembaran District, Banyumas
Regency, this study examines the cosmological relations and spiritual-ecological dimensions led
by Kaki Tasun as the seventh-generation maestro. The findings reveal that the Pakeong ritual
represents the cosmology of Biyung (Earth/Mother) and Rama (Sky/Father), which positions
nature as a subject possessing intrinsic value. Through semiotic and hermeneutic analyses of the
mantra texts and the sixteen types of sesajen (ubo rampe), the study identifies the presence of a
mystic synthesis between Islamic Kejawen theology and agrarian ecocentric wisdom.
Theoretically, this relation converges with the principle of biospherical egalitarianism in Arne
Naess’s Deep Ecology as well as Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s notion of the re-sacralization of the
cosmos. This study concludes that amidst the currents of agricultural mechanization and
modernization that threaten the extinction of tradition, the revitalization of Pakeong is not only
essential as an effort to preserve intangible cultural heritage, but also as a form of environmental
ethical orientation that offers solutions in confronting the uncertainties of the current global
climate crisis.