PELAMBANG ALAM LELUHUR: STUDI MITOS PETILASAN PEWAYANGAN DI GUNUNG RAHTAWU MURIA JAWA TENGAH

This study examines cultural and religious phenomena of petilasan myths in the mountain of Rahtawu, Muria, Central Java. Petilasan is a sacred site(s) referring to an ancestor(s). This research investigates oral tradition of pewayangan myths that are presented in the petilasan(s). It studies symbols of petilasan which are believed to contain socio-religious and cultural meanings and values. The Rahtawu villagers believe that Rahtawu myths symbolize �ancestral world� (alam leluhur), the relics of the ancient Javanese culture. For outsiders however, Rahtawu myths are superstitious, irrational, and ridiculous. The aim of this study is to examine religious and cultural meanings and values actively reproduced in activities of the Rahtawu Society. This study considers more than 22 petilasan scattered around Rahtawu villages. They are found in the forest, the springs, and on tops of mountains. Each of them has properties and frequently related to the shadow puppets myths. Those myths have originally delivered orally to set up a system of principles and values in the Rahtawu Society. Findings of this study elaborate in at least three aspects. First is the myths of petilasan pewayangan which are similar to stories depicted in the �shadow puppets world� in terms of location and natural conditions, the contents of the story, figures, as well as heroes with background stories mentioned in the ancestral world. Second is the existence of petilasan that reveals symbols of the �ancestral world.� Those symbols are meaningfully multi-vocal. They conveys about kinship system and values, religious, and social integration in the slopes of Muria Mountains. Third is there is a different interpretation between those who believe in myths and those who do not, but each addresses accordingly to their local wisdoms in social processes that underline the establishment of harmony. In addition, this mythical tradition reproduces varieties of meanings in two patterns: �subjective meaning� and �objective meaning�. Patterns of subjective meaning have demonstrated through cultural and religious behaviors. They are characteristically individual and personal. Patterns of objective meanings have exercised through the cultural practices and diversity. Their characteristics are communal and collective. These diverse patterns of meanings imply that local values are not always vanished when encountering global values. There are always kinds of dynamic and dialectical relations in every encounter such as the ones between the local and the global