Kakang Kawah Dan Adhi Ari-Ari: Saudara Spiritual Orang Jawa (Tinjauan Angelologi Kristiani)

Javanese people believe that babies are not born alone. Babies are born with two spiritual siblings: kakang kawah (the amniotic fluid) and adhi ari-ari (the placenta). These two figures accompany humans in early life and become guardians until the end of someone’s life. It seems that the concept of kakang kawah and adhi ari-ari is also found in the concept of the Christian faith, namely the Guardian Angel, who is believed to be God's messenger, a guardian for everyone. Christian Javanese people who want to preserve Javanese culture will undoubtedly find some difficulties applying tradition and faith, even though the two concepts are similar. This paper will discuss the concepts of kakang kawah and adhi ari-ari from a Christian angelology perspective. The aim is to discover how far the concepts and rituals of kakang kawah and adhi ari-ari in the Javanese tradition are acceptable in the Christian faith. The methodology used in this paper is a literature study, and the methods used here are descriptive and comparative studies. The results of this study are the findings of the relationship between the two concepts, namely that the concepts of kakang kawah and adhi ari-ari are similar and do not conflict with the concept of guardian angels in the Christian faith. Thus, the concepts of kakang kawah and adhi ari-ari can be used to inculturation the Indonesian Catholic Church. This research also attempts to systematize the concepts of kakang kawah and adhi ari-ari. In addition, this research will be very useful for the catechesis of faith to the Javanese within the framework of the inculturation of the Catholic Church in Nusantara.