You oft hear people talking of the "magic" in Bali.
This can take many forms and is said so often that we don't give it much thought. They may mean the ambiance, the view, the feel, the people, the religious practice, a way of life, a range as vast as thought, but it is always about connection.
Valarie and I live where we do because that magic is very powerful on Batukaru. It is a living presence that imbues all life up here. You open to it, or you do not.
Eighteen months ago, on a black Javanese night, I stepped onto a pavement slab that was not there. I fell two meters but on the way down caught myself on my elbows and tore both shoulders. This has caused me a great deal of pain since then as I have greatly limited the movement of my arms to to that which is forward and low.
Had to stop writing. Bella has brought a dying kitten home and lay it in her bed.. It had been run over by a motorbike. I stroked it and spoke quietly to it as it took its last breaths. It is at peace now… Tears fall in the quiet space that death leaves. Another form of connection.
A surgeon said I would need to go under the knife and have two operations, mmm...
A chiropractor said it is very common and exercise would increase my mobility, but that I would probably have arthritis in both shoulders.
Both diagnosis are valid and both are made from a particular mindset - learned and practiced.
However, Val spoke of a well-known healer, who lives down the mountain in the village of Sandan. She had seen him about her dislocated ankle, and he fixed it.
I went to see him yesterday and he fixed my shoulders. I will need further treatment but 90% of the pain has gone and I have a huge increase in mobility.
This man is 72 and called, as healers are up here, Guru. He wears traditional dress and works only when he is near his family temple. It is a beautiful temple with most of the five interior temples in beautifully carved wood. He is soft and full of joy. Always laughing and talking quietly.
He looked at me and said I am crushing my lungs, because I hunched my shoulders when protecting myself from the pain. He spent one and a half hours working from top to toe. He cracked my back, my neck, he massaged me, he twisted and turned me, he aligned my meridians and freed and got rid of the nodules that block. At no time was I in any pain, except for the nodules. They hurt when removed. He had me lock my hands behind my head, and then he would take my elbows and, while I opened my arms out wide, he would pull them back. I felt my chest open. He knew the body better than anyone I have ever met. He wanted to know what we ate and drank. He told me to exercise. His view was holistic to the extreme.
So where does the magic come in? I felt it in his energy. It filled me, and opening to this energy, I joined with it and made sure that it flowed to every cell in my body. Learning from him, I took – shared – and connected with his healing flow.
I walked out of there a different person. More connected, more aware, and not only of my body, but of that connection with the source.
This is just one of the many magical moments that arise here on the mystical mountain Batukaru.
Please note; the healer does not do house calls, as he works in conjunction with his family temple. He does not take bookings, and each meeting takes approx. one hour. There may be one or two people in front of you. We will provide a driver and interpreter, as he does not speak English.