Bali has a mystical reputation and its not unfounded.
I’m not a gong banging kind-a-guy nor easily swayed but there is something tangibly different about this place… For sure, It’s nuanced and…colourful culture adds layers that will take years to understand, but from the outset, I have always thought the belief systems here add rare and palpable magic!… and that’s not a sentence I thought I would ever write!
If islands and nations where for a moment to be categorised by faith then, on a map Bali would sit alone in a sea of Islam: More succinctly, of the 17508 fractured Islands that currently make up the Indonesian archipelago, Bali is the only island that is not Muslim. The predominant faith being Hinduism, with its own intricate ways. Every day I become more aware of how central that belief is to traditional life in Bali.
For Hindu’s the affirmation of belief through participation in ceremony is an essential, central and continual part of life. Nature, natural forces and belief in reincarnation in the form of Karma all play a part.
Before I was allowed to stay on the land alone, a ceremony had to be performed to appease the spirits,
Before breaking ground on our first small building (a Pagoda), a ceremony and symbolic sacrifice took place.
I don’t pretend to understand the true meaning but I am learning fast that here in Bali, everything, every action is governed by forces that are best consulted, appeased… and acknowledge.
Weddings and the union of two people are special occasions in any culture: Here’s how they celebrate it in our village of Balunan, Sarinbuana:
Our first outing into the village: the marriage of our traditional land owners Son Jabrik. A day and honour that Denise and I will never forget.
