they are viewers of puppets in a theatre. The puppets are not normal puppets but those of shadows that are controlled by a man. The tales these puppets tell are those of the invisible worlds of Indonesia. The puppet master, prepares in much the same way as the shaman does that heads the Horse Ritual. Local believes and ancient myths believe the puppet master does not control the puppet rather the gods and the spirits control the body of the controller and thus the tales are told by them. Other trances are entered by whipping, hyperventilating with incents as well as music and dance. They believe trances are as if you act as if, you become as if. This was seen by the example of other men wanting to take on the positive qualities of animals such as wild boars and buffalos. One wished to become a wild boar which is to believe to be clever and agile with great speed. That man was whipped into a trance which allowed his spirit to become one with a boars spirit thus taking on those qualities. Another example shown was that of a buffalo which has been symbolized as animals of courage and strength. Coming out of the trance is often the most difficult for these participants as they are not willing to leave the spirit of their chosen target animals. The men can be overwhelmed with the power of the animals and not be coaxed back to their former identity until the whip that brought them into the trance is used to break the magically appearing trance. These qualities are said to stay with the men for their lifetimes. These people of Bali are truly inspirational to me. They overcame adversity of strangers coming into their land and making them give up their chosen faiths. However, this did not destroy their inspirational ceremonies. They, to this day, still take the mystic journey into the spirit worlds to better their human lives and celebrate the history of their people. This film has definitely changed the way I have viewed the w...
