Sbatmi

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Sbatmi are Malayan amulets made from the seeds of the oil palm.

Shamanic healers (called 'bomoh' or 'tok pawang' in Malay) will identify the single sbatmi from a cluster of oil palm fruit and laboriously prepare it for rituals. The oil palm seeds are polished and then rinsed in holy water. It looks like a black pearl in its finished state. Accessories made of it are usually coated with a thin layer of gel due to its slightly acidic nature. Necklaces are the most common use of sbatmi as accessories.