Sleeping with the Enemy

Saturday Kliwon Uye, is Tumpek Kandang or special rites for cattle. People make offerings for their friends, ensuring that animals remain close in their lives. On other occasions, they give the same offerings to plants. Praise is always given to cattle that have given prosperity to a human being, as they have given their power and flesh. Households in Bali who celebrate these rites are busy preparing the procession.
Sari is a young mother of a four-month old baby. She is very tired on the day, as she must do all the work by herself for all the processions, because her mother-in-law is unable to help her due to sickness, so she takes care of the baby.
“Bli Putu, help me prepare offerings for this evening, for our baby,” she asked her husband. Bli literally means ‘elder brother’ in Balinese language, a husband is usually considered to be older.
“Okay, it does not matter.” Bli Putu replied.
Spiritually, handling a baby is bit harder than those who run black magic wanting sensitively to disturb it. People may be jealous, hate, or even due to the needs of the magic itself, carry it out. That’s why a baby needs extra care. In Hindu teachings, a baby is born accompanied by four companions. They are expressed as the personification of the amniotic fluid; the blood, the vernix carcosa and the after birth. It is believed these will accompany him or her until death. A harmony among them will be one of the ways of protecting the baby.
Recently her baby had been crying in the middle of the night. Actually there is nothing wrong with the baby, as she is always handles it with care. Its hip never gets wet as she changes it’s diaper when she wets the bed. Baby powder and other needs are always on hand.
As suggested by her parents, she and her husband have tried to seek advice from a shaman. They are told that a close neighbor who practices black magic is disturbing their baby. This condition then aggravates their relationship to the ‘suspected’ neighbor. Every time she encounters a member of the neighbor’s family she is teased with allusion. The neighbor realizes it, but does not give any response. Actually, if she tells the neighbor about the matter frankly, they never mind discussing it, and claim they are doing no such thing to her.
It was about midnight, the surroundings were very dark and silent. Only the barking of dog was to be heard. They cannot sleep. It is too hot, so she opens the window. All at once they become fearful.
Suddenly she hears noise outside her room, from the street over the road. They were young boys who had returned home from the local cinema, you know it was Saturday night. They dragged their slippers so it generated more noise, as her house is close to the street. Slowly Sari got to the source of the noise. She wondered what really just happened.
“That is not a true pig that you encountered just now,” said one of the boys.
“It must be someone’s pig,” another replied.
“Do you see, it wears songket fabric on its back. It’s strange, isn’t it?”
Sari was getting intense hearing the boys. To avoid them hearing her, she tried to breath slowly and smoothly. Nearly inaudible, the more intriguing it became.
“Certainly. You know, today is Tumpek Kandang, the rites for cattle. Perhaps its master forgets to take off the fabric.”
“Why did it disappear as soon as arriving under the big tamarind tree?” another boy tried to emphasize.
On listening the last question, suddenly, all boys kept silence and looked at each other. Nobody uttered a word, they were all speechless and ran away like marathon athletes. Meanwhile, Sari sweated in her room. Fearful she lay on the bed beside her baby whilst fanning it with a small pillow.
How surprised she was when her baby suddenly cried out. She woke up her husband. They were worried if the baby may of woken up their neighbors. Her husband immediately checked what was wrong with the baby, but everything was all right. She remembered the saying of the people, it was the day of the rite, remembering she asked her husband to put an offering on the tugu, or guardian shrine of the house compound.
Fearlessly, he walked slowly whilst watching the right and left sides. From a distance, he saw a dark shadow inside the shrine complex. He soon decided on a penalty for this action.
“Now, it’s your judgment day. I will end your adventure of annoying my baby. I have waited so long this moment,” he mumbled.
As his body was big and strong, he made his approach. After uttering a short quatrain of mantra, he jumped out and caught the shadow.
“Ouch… forgive me…. Don’t kill me,” bemoaned the creature he was seated on. In fact, it was a big pig with long hair. Later on the pig changed into an unclear old woman.
“No! I’ll never forgive a woman like you. You always disturb my baby by your own actions. “Tell me what is your last wish?”
How surprised he was since the pig suddenly changed to a figure of his grandmother. He was lacking power, and they both realized their wrongdoing and prejudice. For the sake of harmony of the family, his grandmother begged him to diminish her black magic, whilst begging his neighbor for forgiveness. (BTN/Punia)

Balinese Life
Understanding the Woman

 Various sources of the Hindu’s Holy Book clarify a woman’s existence, which at the core suggests paying high respect to them. The Holy Book Manawa Dharmasastra implies that women not just respected, but loved by the father, husband’s sister/brother, and her brother (sister) in law. According to this book, the deity will be joyful if the woman is respected. Written also is, the one who wants to live in prosperity should respect the woman and give her gifts in form of jewelry, clothes, and food on certain days.

The Holy Book Slokantara, in sloka (holy verse) 38, also puts a serious intention on a woman’s existence. It explains about the stage of a woman life cycle distinguished according to her age, as follows; Kaniya, a young girl who not influenced yet by lust or n sexual bliss. Yuwati, a girl that is growing up, marked by her first menstruation. Kanta, a girl who’s breasts are expanded, but has never been engaged in copulation. Pramada is a girl who has lost her virginity.
To explain further, Bhagawan Vatsyayan in the book of Kama Sutra, clarifies 4 types of women according to the physique as follows: first, Lotus Woman, who’s face is as beautiful as a full-moonlit night, who dresses neat and simply, and who never forgets her responsibilities as a woman. Her vagina is as a blossom lotus. The fluids of love that come out from her vagina have the scent of chosen flowers. She is really amusing and never boasts about herself. As an arts lover, her voice is melodious and nice to hear, she eats and sleeps in adequate time.
Secondly is the Lively Woman who is pretty and attractive, loves to dress glamorously and decorates herself with jewelry. Her vagina is just like a tiny hill. The fluid of love from her vagina has a strong aroma, but as sweet as the honey. She has the ideal body shape, which is not too tall and not too short. She is fond of watching arts performances.
Thirdly is the Crag Woman. This kind of woman is a little bit short and tomboyish. She is highly self-confident and able to face anybody. Her vagina is quite deep and her fluid of love is brackish. Her sexual lust is adequately strong. Just like her emotional temperament, she loves bright colored clothes, such as reds, etc.
Fourthly is the Elephant Woman (buxom woman). This type of woman usually finds it difficult to find her match. She is also hard to gain satisfaction within her sexual life. Her love’s fluid has a nasty smell, because she likes to eat a caustic, salty, sour, and spicy foods.
Clotilde & Paul Urbani in their book entitled Wanita (Woman) wrote as follows: ‘Woman is a household operator who composes the nation and the world. Woman is considered as the phenomenon of God’s power. She is a loyal partner of a man. Because woman is the manifestation of God’s longing, then she is the mystery, miracle, and manifestation of a protection code. She is the household queen of a man, as the fortune source, and also a light that illuminates the house.
Woman is the storage site of God’s power, which is truly not lower than man’s. A woman contains persistence, tolerance, and pure love. Their ability to control themselves is sporadically equalized by man. For man, woman is the model and adviser in threading a spiritual life. A pure love and not egotism are congenital characteristic that lay inside the woman. The characteristic of propriety, modesty and homage of God, are the genuine jewelry of a woman. (BTN/Suambara)