I attended the ancient Javanese Methil rice harvest ritual in Madiun

When my family in Madiun invited me to witness the Methil tradition, I’ll be honest, I thought this kind of ritual had disappeared. But here I was, standing in vibrant golden rice fields, watching and take a part in the ritual.

For context, Madiun is a small town in East Java, Indonesia. And the tradition is still running strong here.

The ceremony started with a barefoot shaman circling the paddies, carefully placing sesajen offerings at specific spots. Each one was this beautiful little arrangement of frangipani flowers with cash notes tucked in, meant as gratitude to Dewi Sri, the rice goddess.

I’m a big city kids so walking around the rice fields is quite difficult for me. But alas, I love culture! Then, just as we’re lighting the merang straw and incense for the final phase, the rain hit. A full-on downpour. We’re all getting absolutely soaked, but the shaman just looks up and says, “The show must go on.”

Apparently, the rain is actually a good sign, proof that the blessings are flowing. So we kept going with the chants and the first symbolic rice cuts, mud squishing under our feet.

After the main ceremony, my family and I went back home. Meanwhile, the shaman and farmers are doing melekan tonight, an all-night vigil where they’ll stay awake watching wayang kulit shadow puppet performances. It’s their way of honoring the spirits and keeping watch over the harvest. I’m spending the evening with my family instead, but knowing that ancient tradition is happening somewhere in the village adds to the magic of it all.

These paddy plants have been hanging here since last year’s ceremony

---

Tomorrow, we’ll gather again for nyadran, a ritual where we’ll visit ancestral graves to clean them and leave offerings, connecting the living harvest to those who came before us. It’s this beautiful cycle of gratitude, to the land, to the spirits, to our ancestors.

You may call it superstitious, but there’s something special about being part of rituals that have survived this long. To be honest, I’m amazed that they’re still here, still vibrant, still connecting people to something bigger than ourselves.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​..