Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Anthropology Shamanism Shamanism To say the sacred trances of Bali and Java was an inspirational film would be an understatement. The power of the people Bali originating from their faith and belief in their religious convictions was truly amazing. The closest thing in this country to that type of mental state is the state of hypnosis. There religious ceremonies stem from their cultures and the merging of two different worlds. This imergance created a truly remarkable civilization. The film "Sacred Trances of Bali and Java" was just one portion of this society. Once seeing this film I wanted to research a little more into the world of the Balinese. Families are so close in Bali that each member, be it brother/brother-in-law, sister/sister-in-law, mother and father, uncle and aunt all reside in the same compels. The family dwellings are surrounded by a boundary wall and inside these walls are contained the family temple, commune area, sleeping quarters, gardens and live stock. Each stage of Balinese life is marked by a series of ceremonies and rituals known as Manusa Yadnya. The first ceremony of Balinese life takes place even before the birth of the child. Another ceremony takes place soon after the birth, during which the afterbirth is buried with appropriate offerings. The first major ceremony takes place halfway through the baby's first Balinese year of 210 days. The Balinese cremation can be an amazing, spectacular, colorful, noisy and exciting event. In fact it often takes so long to organize a cremation that years have passed since the death. During that time the body is temporarily buried while an auspicious day is chosen for the creation. Since a big cremation can be very expensive, less wealthy people may take the opportunity of joining in at a larger cremation, sending their own dead. These concepts were important for me to realize after watching the film and I returned and watched the film another time after doing some research on this fascinating people. The trance states and the way in which the people of Bali was the topic of this film. It showed much symbolism as well as ceremonies. The film centered on the Horse Ritual. To fully understand the ritual and the symbolic meaning of this ritual we must look at the history of these people especially the origin of their modern day religion. The native people had an indigenous religion that consisted of many deities, however, missionaries came promoting the message of one god by Mohammad. That God's name was Ali. The people still held true to their own religion and combined these two together and created what they have now. One thing that truly stood out was the way all of the people of the culture seemed to hold true the religions sacredness including the children who very somberly washed their hands and feet as they entered the Mosque to chant the ancient words of the Islamic faith. The film centered on the Horse Ritual. This ritual represents a tale from history. The men become an army that opposed the missionaries and they will recreate the insanity that the original warriors felt when a magician casts a spell upon them that made them feel as if they themselves were horses. During this insanity they did dangerous acts and self inflicting injuries to themselves. The ritual itself was carried out by normal towns people but was orchestrated by the shaman of the village. The shaman was also the head government official who prays, fasts and recites magical words and phrases throughout the night prior to the day of the ritual. The men danced themselves into trance. Giving themselves completely to the power of the shaman. Realizing this power, the men gave themselves to the land and to the ancient ancestors and began to tremble and falling into the complete trance. Not all the men went into the trance smoothly, some had their minds go bland and their bodies fell limp to the ground. The Balinese being masters at altered states of conciseness were able to over come this by the shaman merely blowing his breath into the ear of the troubled ritual participant. The men then possessed the souls of the army of horses of the ancient tale. The ritual continued while the members of the ceremony continued to act as if they were indeed horses, eating straw as well as rose petals. Other men would whip the men as the horses would have been whipped during the time of the battle. Unlike the true horses, however, the men felt no physical pain, this immunity was a result of the deep transient state that the men were in. The film then went on to describe a man who was induced to be a normal town person. However, during the ritual that same man was ripping apart the skin of a coconut with his bare teeth, an act that would have destroyed his teeth if not in the trance. Another man, a carpenter, normal by most eyes, had safety pins placed through his cheeks and lips then continued to act as if he was a horse. The participants were then shown to dance through fire with no pain and no harm coming to their feet. The power of the shaman was said to protect the feet of the participants. Then the act of rolling across broken glass was depicted which also brought no pain to those who rolled across it. This in itself was very symbolic of many things. This they believe represented the insanity of those who defied the Islamic rule, and the fact that they were not injured symbolized the protection of the Islamic gods. Like dreams, the trance leaves a mark on the pyscye however the participants remember little if anything of the actual acts they took part in. At the end of the ritual the shaman brings those who were transformed into horse back into their original souls and states of mind. These lessons of ancient history is not left for the adults of the culture, the children also share in the events of the day. Instead of learning lessons from movies or television, 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 world as well as my own adversities, and that the power of the mind and soul is much greater than that of the body. Bibliography: Word Count: 1394
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