Magic in Bali
Reid Coen | Imprint Tours
One of the most interesting and alluring aspects of Bali is the authentic place of magic in Balinese life. The root of this reality is found in their Hindu-Animist religion. Stone Age Balinese Animism—the worship of the spirits of nature and ancestors—has changed little, even down to the present day. Hinduism swept across the Indonesian archipelago in the 1st century and blended with local practices. Today on Bali, they still fervently worship the spirits of the mountains, sea, and forests, and there persists a genuine belief in evil and good spirits, which in turn leads to a preoccupation with magic—both black and white.
Blue (friendly) demon guarding a Balinese village and the Hindu god Ganesha, the remover of obstacles
Image | Reid Coen
The belief in magic permeates the lives of contemporary Balinese and is a subject not to be trivialized. Understanding this phenomenon helps visitors understand much of what is encountered within island culture. The Balinese believe everyone has the capacity for good or evil (black or white magic)and that everyone accumulates spiritual energy called sakti. When a person’s heart is pure their sakti helps to withstand evil influences. Some people have a greater capacity for sakti and become priests or shamans while those with dark hearts use the sakti for harm. Adepts become Leyaks (roughly translated: witches). The universal belief in the influence of sakti leads directly to the Balinese preoccupation with ritual cleansing, offerings, amulets, ceremonies, and ritual atonement.
Collected offerings and libations at Balinese cremation ceremony
Image | Reid Coen
Girl preparing for daily delivery of offerings
Image | Reid Coen
Probably the easiest opportunities for visitors to experience a magic ceremony in Bali are the dance-drama performances, with several of the most popular dances originally based on some form of trance or ceremony. In fact, trance is a building block of all traditional dance. The inclination to trance is a permanent and widespread undercurrent of Balinese consciousness and is an accessible way for gods to enter into and affect human affairs. While taking place only during special ceremonial occasions, everyone present participates; all feel the threshold between worlds to a greater or lesser degree. Trance ceremonies of dance are always accompanied by music, a chanting choir, and incense to aid the process. It should be noted that dance performed for tourists, while authentic, lacks much of the spiritual dynamism of those performed at religious ceremonies. Even so, any dance that includes Rangda (the witch queen) will certainly include some elements of trance. As the embodiment of evil, Rangda must be controlled and defeated and the dancer playing Rangda inevitably enters a low-level trance for authenticity and protection. The performer characterizing Barong, the creature of good who defeats Rangda, will enter a minor trance during the dance as well.
(Left) Rangda, the demon queen of Layaks and (right) Barong, leader of the forces of good
Images | Reid Coen
Another common tourist dance requiring trance is the Kecak Dance. During the drama the chanting chorus and incense aid the dancers in entering a trance state that enables them to walk or dance barefoot through hot coals.
A final example of the powerful place of magic can be observed in Bali’s history. One of the most difficult events for westerners to understand is the tradition of Puputan—or ritual suicide. Balinese history had several occasions where locals faced insurmountable odds and resorted to mass suicide. Outsiders are hard pressed to understand these events but one possible insight is the consideration that the powerful belief in sakti explains the islanders’ actions. It has been suggested that puputan was intended as an ultimate act of sacrifice, whereby a local king, powerless to avoid defeat, could, in death, summon the forces of the supernatural to aid his cause. It was an attempt to enlist the spiritual elements against their enemies.
Whatever our beliefs as western visitors to Bali, the fact remains that the Balinese truly believe in magic and its active part in their everyday lives. Visitors would do well to respect that belief, no matter their own perspectives. Moreover, understanding those beliefs illuminates one’s experience of the ritualized elements of Balinese life. Attending a temple celebration, a cremation, or even a traditional dance drama have deeper meaning when one understands the spiritual underpinnings.
Offerings great and small are found every day, absolutely everywhere on the island.
Images | Reid Coen
For more of Reid’s articles on Bali, visit Imprint Tours.
