Excerpts

From Volume 10: Balians: Traditional Healers of Bali

Mangku Alit

My granfather was a Balian and now this is what I do. All of this began for me when I was fourteen years old. At that time I was in a very bad automobile accident. I was the only one who survived the crash. Soon after that calamity, I almost drowned in a rivr. I went under the water several times, but was rescued. That wasn't the end of it. After the near drowning, I fell down from a mango tree and should have been injured, but walked away without a scratch. These three things happened one right after the other when I was a girl.

Then the spirits started disturbing me. This would happen each day at 8:00 in the morning and at 12:00 midnight. I was unable to go to school for a while because I was so disturbed and confused by these spirits. When I sat in a chair, they made me feel like I wasn't sitting. Instead, I felt like I was floating above the chair. When I was able to go to school, I always knew the answers even before the teacher had taught the subject. This frustrated the teachers because in Bali a student is not supposed to be seen as above the teacher. This behavior was regarded as a sign that I would become a balian.

Jero Sekar Manik

Many years ago I was a simple laborer and suffered great poverty. I developed a sickness and my mind could not focus on work so I was fired from many jobs. I went to a certain shrine and prayed many times. One day I received a vision at the shrine. The gods said that they would tell me the names of the sicknesses and how to heal them. Because of this gift, I now help many people. I never have expected a big reward or a large amount of money for my work. I just help whoever comes to me.

Before I heal someone, I pray and make some offerings. I pray to the sun god, the taxsu god, the earth spirit, and other gods. Some gods control unhappiness on earth, while others cure people. I receive songs, knowledge , ointments, herbs, and medicines from the gods. There are many different kinds of gods and godesses. That's why I must do a lot of praying before helping someone.

Mangku I. Made Pogog

I learned to be a balian from the gods. I did not learn from a book, but directly from the open space spirits. I did not want to be a balian, but my dreams told me I should do it. In my dreams I was told that if I didn't do it, something bad would happen. The god that taught me is called Kadocclinda. It is the spirit of the leech. When the spirit came to me, it first made my body feel warm all over. Certain parts of my body would subsequently become very hot. I would then cure with my tongue.

When the spirit was in me, my body did things automatically. I never had to think. My behavior just happened on its own. I would feel the person's sickness in my own body. If the person had a head sickness, I would feel a vibration in my head. When the healing was done, the power and feelings inside me would totally disappear. I would go back to being normal.