The pustaha contains 'tabas' (magic formulae), oracles, medicinal recipes, and instructions for performing rituals and producing various magic cures. The written language of instruction, an archaic form of the Toba Batak dialect, is no longer used. It was believed that the knowledge in the pustaha can be divided into three types: the art of preserving life, the art of destroying life and the art of fortune-telling. The 'datu' (magician-priest) was the only member of the Batak community who could write this script, using it to record myths, legends and magical spells.
