Article
Melukat sebagai Hipnoterapi Berbasis Budaya: Etnografi Ritual Penyucian Diri Masyarakat Hindu Bali
ETNOREFLIKA : Jurnal Sosial dan Budaya, Vol. 15 No. 3 (2026), hlm. 376–391
Abstrak
Melukat is a Balinese Hindu self-purification ritual practised to cultivate inner calm amid growing psychological pressures. This study examines correspondences between melukat stages and mechanisms recognised in hypnotherapy, including therapeutic authority, focused attention, suggestion, object imagery, and symbolic anchoring. Using a qualitative ethnographic design, the study collected data through participant observation, documentary analysis, and in-depth interviews with 16 informants: pemangku (temple priests), a customary leader, hypnotherapy practitioners who were also traditional healers, and ritual participants. The data were analysed using Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña's interactive model. The findings indicate that the pemangku's spiritual authority enhances credibility and receptiveness to suggestion. The Siwa Stawa mantra functions as both verbal suggestion and inclusive legitimation of purification. Statues with waterspouts position water as a medium for releasing emotional burdens, structurally resembling object imagery. The closing acts of burning prayer cards and embracing the Nandini statue reinforce and anchor ritual meaning. Participants consistently reported calmness, lightness, and mental clarity, experiences consistent with response expectancy. By interpreting melukat ethnographically through a culturally grounded hypnotherapy framework, this study offers insights for culturally sensitive traditional and complementary health services in Bali.