r/ChilluminatiPod

(Look out for them in a city very soon, like in a week soon 👀)

In 1993, a gruesome discovery in the deep jungles of Pahang, Malaysia, opened a doorway into the darkest realms of South Asian occult practices, Jinn summoning, and human sacrifice. At the center of it all was Mona Fandey, born Nur Maznah binti Ismail. She had spent her early life chasing fame as a pop singer, but after her music career completely flopped, she abandoned her dreams and transformed herself into a feared Bomoh—a practitioner of traditional Malay shamanism, black magic, and Jinn interaction.

In Malay occult traditions, a Bomoh acts as an intermediary between the physical realm and unseen entities, specifically Jinn or spirit entities. High-ranking politicians, wealthy elites, and celebrities frequently sought out Mona. They were not looking for spiritual healing; they wanted shortcuts to absolute power, invincibility, and the destruction of their political rivals. Mona built an empire on black magic, owning mansions, fleets of luxury cars, and living in five-star hotels. But her dark trade required dark currencies.

In July 1993, a prominent Malaysian politician named Datuk Mazlan Idris approached Mona. Desperate to climb to the top of his political party, he was promised an ancient talisman—a cane and a traditional hat allegedly owned by Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno. Mona claimed that this object, bound with Jinn magic, would make him invincible and unimaginably wealthy. The price was set at 2.5 million Ringgit. On July 2, Mazlan withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and met Mona at a remote house for what was supposed to be a sacred cleansing ritual.

Mona instructed the politician to lie on the floor, close his eyes, and place an orchid on his forehead. She told him to listen closely for the mysterious voices of spirits asking him how much wealth he desired. As the politician lay blindfolded, expecting Jinn to manifest money from the void, Mona’s assistant stepped out of the shadows with an axe. Mazlan’s head was severed in three sharp blows.

What followed was not a simple robbery, but a ritualistic butchery. The politician's body was dismembered into 18 pieces, partially skinned, and buried six feet deep under a newly cemented floor, with several vital organs and his testicles completely removed. When police later raided the property based on a confession, they didn't just find a grave; they uncovered an occult altar, statues of dark deities, ritual knives, and four glass jars filled with preserved human organs buried in the backyard. Investigators suspected Mazlan was not the first, linking Mona to earlier disappearances of an entire family and several maids, believed to be human sacrifices offered to spirits in exchange for wealth.

What truly solidifies Mona Fandey in paranormal history is her unnerving behavior during her trial and execution. Throughout her capital murder trial, she wore vibrant, extravagant clothes, smiled eerily at photographers, and blew kisses to the courtroom crowd, acting as if she were attending a red-carpet premiere rather than facing the gallows. When the judge handed down the death sentence by hanging, she didn't flinch—she simply smiled and thanked the public.

On the morning of November 2, 2001, at Kajang Prison, as the black hood was placed over her head, Mona Fandey uttered her infamous final words with a calm, eerie smile: "Aku takkan mati" (I will never die). To this day, local folklore across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore holds that Mona did not die on the gallows, but successfully bound her soul to the spirit world, becoming an entity herself. The case created such deep public terror surrounding dark magic that it directly influenced the Malaysian government to completely abolish jury trials in 1995.

Hey y'all! I just caught up with the Molasses Wave episode and heard the boys' open call for artists. I don't have a Bluesky account, and don't want to join yet another social media site. However, I am a cryptid- and monster-fascinated illustrator who loves the show (on an irregular, binge-listening basis) and would love to work with it. Hopefully the Chillightened Ones see this, and the rest of you enjoy!

Cheers~

Alex

(PS: the drawings are, in order, Colombia's Kayeri; the Flatwoods Monster from ol' U.S.A.; India's Mande Barung; a collection of labeled thumbnails; and the Basque Basajuan.)