Bisan
Bisan is a Malay guardian spirit of camphor-bearing trees, said to take the form of a cicada and to reveal productive trees only to seekers who observe proper speech, offerings, and conduct.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Malay folklore
- Region
- Indonesia (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Ward-Holders
Near this figure
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Behaviour
- Withholds aid from the disrespectful
why
Bisan's favor is described as conditional on this respectful approach, along with offerings and food restrictions observed for the duration of an expedition; a party that kept the rules could expect a productive tree to be revealed, while carelessness or disrespect meant the forest simply withheld what it held.
- Respect for habitat determines fortune or misfortune
why
Bisan's favor is described as conditional on this respectful approach, along with offerings and food restrictions observed for the duration of an expedition; a party that kept the rules could expect a productive tree to be revealed, while carelessness or disrespect meant the forest simply withheld what it held.
Defensive powers
- Guardianship
why
Rather than owning or animating one specific tree the way a hamadryad might, Bisan is described as taking the form of a cicada and functioning as a kind of gatekeeper over where camphor-bearing trees can be found, deciding whether their location becomes known to a given party of seekers.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Hero meets
3 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Bisan."
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Bisan."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Bisan."