Pawang
Malay and Indonesian title for an expert in the unseen who guides a task: the rain handler, the fishing or mining guide, the animal tamer.
Also: pawang hujan, pawang laut
A pawang is a ritual specialist in Malay and Indonesian communities. Unlike a healer, he or she is linked to a trade: the pawang hujan, rain handler, the pawang laut who sees to the sea before fishing, and in the past the pawang of tin mining, of tigers and of rice. The pawang is believed to ask permission of spirits of place and keep customary rules. Rain handlers drew world attention in March 2022 when one worked at the Mandalika MotoGP race in Lombok. Islamic scholars in Malaysia and Indonesia debate such work, since some of it addresses spirits, and many pawang now begin with prayers and Quranic verses.