Nyi Roro Kidul and Marine Eco-Pneumatology

Abstract

Indonesia is the country with the largest archipelago in the world, with a total of seventeen thousand islands. The term ‘maritime nation’ has actually been surging through stories of local wisdom (culture), but during the colonial period, the term lost its original significance and Indonesia came to be treated as if it were an agrarian country. This paper shows that Indonesian maritime society contains various inherited values of religiosity, including myths, legends, folklore, and oral traditions about marine cosmology. Folklore, myths, and legends have an important position in society, not only referring to cultural traditions but also containing religious or theological values that are closely related to the identity of the Indonesian nation. This paper studies the mythical figure of Nyi Roro Kidul who is considered the sea guardian. The legend surrounding the figure of Nyi Roro Kidul can serve as an important trope to develop a contextual Javanese eco-pneumatology [Holy Spirit] and help address some of the contemporary ecological issues.