Within Kejawen, the dukun are traditional spiritual practitioners who stand as intermediaries between the visible world and the realm of spirits and unseen forces. They are often regarded as spiritual masters, healers, and ritual specialists who draw upon Javanese mystical knowledge shaped by Islamic, Hindu-Buddhist, and animist layers of tradition. Their authority rests on a cultivated relationship with the spiritual world, expressed through prayer, mantra, offerings, and disciplined inner practice. In this way, they function less as formal clergy and more as guardians of a living, esoteric heritage that orients individuals and communities toward harmony with the cosmos.

The role of the dukun is multifaceted. They serve as healers who diagnose and treat physical, psychological, and spiritual ailments using herbal remedies, massage, ritual cleansing, and other traditional techniques. As diviners, they interpret dreams, read signs and omens, and use various methods of spiritual communication to uncover hidden information or foresee potential outcomes. They also provide counsel on personal, familial, and social matters, helping people navigate life’s challenges in a manner that accords with Javanese cosmological understandings.

Dukun are also ritual leaders who officiate at important ceremonies and life-cycle events. They may guide rites surrounding birth, circumcision, marriage, house-blessing, and death, as well as communal rituals for agricultural fertility and protection of the village. In these contexts, they mediate with ancestors, nature spirits, and other invisible beings, offering prayers, incense, and offerings to restore or maintain balance between human society and the unseen world. Through such work, they help ensure that ritual actions are not merely formalities but spiritually efficacious acts that bind the community to its sacred environment.

Another dimension of their vocation lies in protection and the management of spiritual forces. Dukun may prepare talismans, amulets, and other forms of spiritual defense to shield individuals or communities from misfortune, malevolent spirits, or harmful magic. At the same time, they are custodians of esoteric knowledge: mantras, sacred formulas, ritual procedures, and cosmological teachings are often preserved carefully and transmitted only to students deemed morally and spiritually ready. Through disciplined practices such as meditation, fasting, and other forms of ascetic training, they cultivate spiritual power and inner refinement, embodying the Kejawen ideal of aligning outer action with an inner quest for balance and subtle insight.