Nyepi has a very different feel. Everything is quiet, still. The breeze has kicked up, though, to offer us some relief from the heat. There is a definite absence of spirits. I am curious what the night will be like. Theoretically, there should be no evil spirits, but I’m wondering if the gods (good spirits) also leave the island. I don’t think so.
Dwi’s wife, Nyoman — with the help of their daughters, Ade and Ari — taught us how to make offerings. The Balinese make 125 offerings every day, which is unfathomable when you consider that it took me ten minutes to make one. We learned to fold a long piece of banana leaf into a square box and then thread pieces of hard grass through it to stitch it together. We then connected wide pieces of banana leaf to the sides of the box to make the bottom. The final touch was to add flowers and shredded pandanus leaves (and later food). We also watched as Nyoman created a tower of fruit to be worn on her head for special ceremonies every six months.
The night time during Nyepi had a quality so different from every other night on this trip. The energy of the island was completely different without the evil spirits. Several people commented that they could see more clearly without all of the noise, but couldn’t explain why this might be so. I noticed the same thing. The trees were sharper in detail, the air was cleaner. I also had no anticipation, no tingling skin, and nothing out of the ordinary happened during Nyepi (day or night).
Some quotes from our hypnosis/trance workshop:
“Good body, every morning.” - (as opposed to “Good morning, every body”) spoken by a witty French man with a good grasp of the English language and its subtleties.
“I’d really like to be free from most of this pain.” ”Wouldn’t it be nice to walk on this leg without so much discomfort.” – my dad, describing how you can self-suggest recovery for physical injuries and pain.
“I want people to do what they need to do [to change], but to do it in my time [period].” – Betty Alice.
“People have to decide for themselves [to change].” – Betty Alice.
“Set yourself face to face with reality. If you don’t, the nightmares will become worse.” – my dad, describing what I take to mean acceptance of things unusual and unexpected.
And one from Dwi:
“Visitors are the messengers of the gods.” I remember Dwi saying this on my first trip to Bali in 2001. It struck me as just as amazing then as now. He said this when describing the housing structure and village life in Bali. He was encouraging us to just walk into a Balinese compound (house) and look around. It was nearly impossible for any of us in the group to feel comfortable doing so, to feel we weren’t intruding. But Dwi calmly, and with that wonderful smile, assured us that we would be accepted with open arms.
