odds and ends...

When children lose their teeth, the tooth is thrown up into the air if it is from the lower jaw, symbolizing strong teeth that will grow upwards. Those from the top row are buried in order to insure strong teeth that will grow strong downwards.

I thought until now that all the dogs here are as peaceful as the Balinese are, since they bark a little but then turn the other way, if you are a stranger passing by someones house. But my friend told me that most of them have been castrated so that they will stay close to home and since they don't have testicles the testosterone that normally makes dogs run after the females, and fight with other dogs and be aggressive (bite strangers) is no longer in their body, and they become quiet and peaceful.

The Balinese accompany people at night to their home so that they will not be on the road alone since the lower spirits are out between midnight and two a.m. My friend who is a doctor, once went to care for a patient in the middle of the night and declined their help to accompany him back home afterwards. But when he went to get on his motorbike he saw a huge angry giant standing in front of him. He saw it, and chose to acknowledge it but to continue to go home. His motorbike did not turn on so he had to push it downhill to start it. When he eventually got home he went to bed but when he awoke in the morning he felt weak. His body continued to get weaker and weaker over the next few days. His sister went to someone that "reads" energy and he told her that her brother had been out at midnight and saw the giant spirit who was angry that he dared to decline accompaniment home, as if he thought he doesn't need it! And that for his pride he was being punished by losing his inner power. He gave the sister some holy water for him to drink that he had brought from different temples that he had prayed at. Once his sister returned and told him the reason for his weakness, even though he had not told her about the giant he had seen, he drank the holy water and by the next day he was feeling healthy again. And now knows that awesome fear is important.

Balinese are not afraid of being murdered or killed or enemies, they are only fearful in regards to the spirits from the other worlds.

There is a teenager who has supernatural powers and people can go to him and he can see what the problem is and tell them what the cure is. My friends mother felt weak and achy last week and no matter what medication she received it didn't help her. After a while she slowly started to get better, but seemed to be without any spirit left in her. Her husband decided to ask the teenager what it was that she has, but they are waiting for an auspicious day to do so. The husband suspects that before she became ill she went alone to her family temple to make an offering for her ancestors, and possibly since she was alone there, some spirits went inside of her and caused the illness. So he awaits the antidote to it.