Tukad Banjarnyuh

Whilst at the yoga retreat the other guests requested to visit the Shaman, which is not something I really wanted to do, but as it was cheap and new experience I thought 'why not?'. I had heard from another traveler I read a bizarre but enlightening experience.

A Shaman is a man that Balinese people believe is in touch with the spiritual world, he can communicate with spirits and read people's auras. To become a Shaman you visit a Shaman and they help it happen, but I haven't been able to get any clear answer as to how or why this happens really. With his gift he helps people in their life with physical, health and practical support. In Bali 50% of people will chose to visit a Shaman instead of a doctor, but this is perhaps because he is cheaper and they have to pay for all healthcare services.

I entered the experience with an open mind, but am perfectly happy with my life and have nothing I need him to cure or give me guidance with. So perhaps this was part of the problem.

For the experience we had to wear local clothing, which was a long skirt and lace top and a scarf around our waist. Then we were taken to the Shamans property. It was a typical Balinese building, within nice gardens and with many bird cages all around. They collect birds and on Sundays they have competitions to see whose bird makes the best song. The Shaman had some lovely birds, including a little owl. I couldn't help but pity them, a creature with the ultimate freedom-the gift of flight, restricted to a small cage for its' whole life.

We sat for a long time on the floor outside the Shamans room whilst he pottered around the property blessing various things. Then eventually we were blessed by his assistant, which involved having water put on our hands, in our hair and we were to to drink it three times from our hands. The lady was putting it onto us with a lotus flower. I pretended to drink it as it felt like asking for gut trouble otherwise! Finally we were blessed with water on our foreheads and we had to put rice onto it. We then had to meditate whilst holding onto incense in front of our chest. It wasn't a nice experience because the incense was burning right into our noses and the ash dropping on our legs. But it meant we were blessed!

After the blessing we entered the Shamans room individually and a man from our retreat sat in with us to translate. The room was small, had incense in it and lots of random statues, one of which was a scary looking pig. The Shaman sat on the floor and we sat in front of him. The Shaman blessed us and gave us a bracelet for our right hand and instructed us to wipe our bottom with our left hand because now our right hand was holy and in touch with the gods. He then put his thumb against ours and muttered some stuff, held the elbow tightly whilst still muttering and then did the same at our shoulder and head. From this he had sensed our aura. He told me that I still had good energy. Given how sceptical I am and how hungry I was after waiting so long for him I wouldn't have been surprised if my energy was bad to him! (he told Brooke she had bad energy, so he wasn't just being nice to us all.) Then I was to ask his a question. Thankfully as I was last I had been prepared for this, had I gone first I would have had no idea what to say because I have nothing I expect him to help me with and nothing in my life that needs to change. However with a stretch of imagination I told him I would like a partner to share my life with. He then did more of the holding arm and muttering stuff and then he replied telling me that I should use my god's as my support and guidance and speak with them. I told him I don't believe in any god's! So then he told me that in Balinese culture they believe everyone has four brothers on the earth who they can rely on and speak with and that I should use my brother's for guidance and support. So I said 'right, so I'm meant to live a lonely life but speak to my brothers more?!', 'yes' was my reply. I asked if he meant my actual brothers, because it was not really very clear from his lar-dee-dah description of brothers and guidance, and he said yes. He told me to ask my brother for guidance and advice and I told him my brother wants different things for my life than what I do, to which he had no reply. Then he asked what other questions I had and I told him I was perfectly happy with my life and had nothing else to ask him....so I left his room thinking what a waste of time it was. I am sure he probably now felt I had bad energy, as I did not believe in the same things as him!

After all our meetings with him we had a final blessing and then he came outside of his room. We were told that he loses his power once he outside of the rooms and so now he is a normal person, and did we want a photo with him?! I couldn't help thinking what a scam the whole thing was, and how they wanted to promote it with photos of him being taken. The other women were far less sinical so I kept my views to myself and went along with it.

Kathy was told she had good energy and she was given advice about her career and her personal life and Brooke was told she has bad energy and then received advice about many parts of her life. I think my encounter was the shortest and by the sounds of it I got the most wishy washy reply, but perhaps this is because I didn't really expect anything of him and even though there some truth that I would like a partner I certainly don't expect that meeting an old man in Bali is going to make this happen! So maybe he really can read people's auras and knew not to waste his time on me, as a non believer.....or maybe it was just an imaginative and bizarre performance that had no real insight into my future, but was weird and wonderful enough to make someone believe. I'll let you decide.

I don't doubt that for some people the Shaman can help them in their life, but I do doubt I need him to help mine. As a positive and secure person I have all I need. Personally I think people with less confidence and who have experienced a hard time in life they are looking for something to give them positivity. The Shaman could be this for them and once they believe they have been helped they then make more confident choices in life, which coincidentally helps to solve the problems they initially had. So whether he is in touch with another spiritual world or not, his contribution to those who believe is worthwhile and harmlessly makes a difference.

I am glad to have the experience, it is fascinating to see how different our beliefs can be when we all live on the same planet and have the same basic needs. But as you can probably tell my life hasn't been changed and I certainly haven't given up hope in meeting someone, just because an old man in Bali told me it won't happen!Read more