AN ANALYSIS A MYTH OF “DON’T SIT ON PILLOW, YOU’LL HAVE ULCERS”

BY USING STRUCTURAL THEORY

( Build the character of children to be polite and always maintain ethics in life )

Dyan Sethya Nugroho _ Pekalongan University _ Indonesia

(Argumentative Essay)
(A Myth of Kaliboyo Village)

I. Introduction
Myths are Origins. Myths are often stories of origins, how the world and
everything in it came to be in illo tempore (Eliade). Myths are Dreams. Sometimes myths are
public dreams which, like private dreams, emerge from the unconscious mind (Freud). Myths
are Archetypes. Indeed, myths often reveal the archetypes of the collective unconscious
(Jung). Myths are Metaphysical. Myths orient people to the metaphysical dimension, explain
the origins and nature of the cosmos, validate social issues, and, on the psychological plane,
address themselves to the innermost depths of the psyche (Campbell). Based on the
explanations of the experts above, we can see that Myths are important story in our life.
maybe people believe or maybe they do not believe about them. the percentages of believing
them are higher. The one of Myths that people of Java belief is if we sit on a pillow, we’ll
have ulcers.
Ethics and being polite are a reflection of a good personality. However, many
children sometimes ignore it. They sometimes step on pillows, sit on pillows and so on.
That’s why their attitudes and ethics are not good. It will effects when they grow up.
There are many people believe the Myth. But most of us don’t know why if we sit
on a pillow, we’ll have ulcers. We never think why this will happen if we do that. They just
believe them but never find out the truth about the Myth. It also happens in Kaliboyo village.
Some experts stated that the Myth is a story. It can be true or false. It depends on the people
thinks about it. the Myth of “we sit on a pillow, we’ll have ulcers” can build the character of
children to be polite and always maintain ethics in life.

II. Discussion
The Myth of “Don’t sit on a pillow, you’ll have ulcers” is believed in Indonesia
especially in Java. There are many people have not been able to explain scientifically the
relationship between sit down on a pillow and have ulcers. But in fact, there are many people
still believe the Myth. The Myth appeared because long time ago, there are children didn’t
have good attitudes. For example, they have a bad habit. it’s one of the reasons.
 On the bed the pillow is where the head is. The position of the pillow will
determine the direction of our position while we are sleeping. If the pillow is on the east side
of the bed, then our feet will point to the west, so if the pillow is on the north side then the
foot will point to the south. From here, we are always invited to know the direction of the
wind.
In my opinions, "the prohibition of sitting on a pillow" is a form of implementation
of awareness, understanding and belief in something. The Myth is actually local knowledge
that contains elements of truth. So it will be implemented for generations or continuously.
The term "boils" is only a symbol or simple language. So children understand the "sanctions"
or prohibitions in question easily.
We usually sleep on a pillow. "head" is believed to be upstream. “Hulu” is the
source of life, guide, highest, and so on. Parents always give knowledge to their children to
always respect the upstream as a source or guide of life. If they are violated, they can have
“karma”. it is believed that their life will not be prosperous.
In my village, the upstream is the sun. Because there is the sun, life takes place
on this earth. The sun rises from east to west, causing day and night. Because there are day
and night so there are days. There are days so there are dates, there are dates then there is a
calendar. So calendar is one of the guidelines for everyday life.
About the matter of sleeping position, in our body, the head is upstream, so it is
appropriate for our head to be placed in the honorable part. It’s like the forms of sun respect
as upstream, it is believed that when sleeping, the head position must be in the east position,
so that our body stretches from east to west or also from north to south.
Second, in my opinion, the truth of the Myth is proven through one of attitudes
and behavior. It’s proven when someone stepped on the pillow, their feet were dirty and then
they slept on the pillow, it would have an impact on their face.
Third, I also think that when they sit down it will have the same effect. the
pants that they wore sometimes sit on a dirty chair and their pants are dirty. Then, they sat on
a pillow. So it will have the same effect on their faces. That’s why they have ulcers.
Based on the explanation above, the myth of “Don’t sit on a pillow, you’ll
have ulcers” tells that it have an effect of the ethics and good attitudes of the children in the
future. The pillow is used for the head, so it should be obeyed. If it’s not, it will impact in
human life such as their life will not be prosperous, or have “karma”.

III. Conclusion
The ethics and good attitudes should be given especially for children. There are many ways to
educate them. one of them is by using the Myth of “Don’t sit on a pillow, you’ll have ulcers”.
The Myth explains how the ethics and good attitudes have impact to the children in the future.
 We sometimes think that the Myth is just Myth and we just believe or not. We don’t want to
know about the Myth. But actually, there are some morals there. we can believe about the
Myths but we should know about the contents of them.

IV. References
N.S. Gill. 2019. What is Myth?. Taken on 27 April 2019 from
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-myth-119883