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Moving between Two Worlds: Belief and Magic

The seen (sekala) and the unseen (niskala) worlds are equally important to the Balinese, and they move from one to another with ease. A dancer moves from the world of the ancestors to the world of the audience. A puppeteer brings the ancestors down to the screen in the shape of shadows. In daily life, in life cycle rituals and in performance, the Balinese are ever aware of the spirits and energy surrounding them and the importance of establishing "balance."

The princess in Arja performs a simple yet symbolic gesture, that of opening the curtain-stepping from the secular world into the realm of the sacred.

The Balinese religion is Hinduism, yet the texture is much richer and more ancient than the Indian Hinduism which came to Bali from the ninth century. One of the most important aspects of the belief system is ancestor worship. When people die, they are cremated and purified in elaborate rituals and worshipped as ancestral deities. These ancestral spirits, if remembered and appeased, help their descendants. If neglected and forgotten, they may wreak havoc upon the family.

Moving between the two worlds of sekala (seen, conscious) and niskala (unseen, subconscious) is something the Balinese do with ease on a daily basis. This can be manifested in actions as familiar as beeping the car horn when crossing a bridge to alert the tony a (river spirits) who live there, asking their permission to pass, or praying to a deceased family member for a successful performance.

Influence on Performing Arts

The influence of the niskala world plays a large part in the performing arts. Puppets in the shadow play are actually thought of as deities or ancestors, and masks have a spirit of their own and must be propitiated. Gamelan instruments as well as dance costumes all have their own special cleansing rituals every 210 days: tumpek krulut for gamelan, tumpek landep for keris (daggers), and tumpek wayang for puppets and dance paraphernalia.

Certain objects can be imbued with supernatural power, such as a keris, mask or gamelan instrument. In many sangbyang traditions, brooms, jar lids, dolls and rattan wands become infused with the spirit. This can be seen in its essence in performances of magic: Calonarang, Basur and various types of dances and dramas which use the mask of Rangda the witch. The performance itself is a way to balance energy which has become shaky. The world is tipping too much towards chaos and needs uprighting. Often this occurs during the sixth lunar month (November-December) when disease is more prevalent at the beginning of the rainy season (see pp. 56-7, Rejang). Many villages have specific rituals to ward off pengiwa (black magic). Practitioners of left-handed magic create havoc and hurt others by casting spells over people that cause illness.

Young dancers pray before images of ancestral deities in the temple to ask their blessings for the forthcoming performance.

Trance

The Balinese accept trance as an ordinary occurrence, a way of communicating with the gods, spirits and ancestors. Certain masks, types of music and performances, such as Calonarang, are better able to induce a trance state than others. In Sanghyang (pp. 58-9), for example, a trance state is induced by a number of elements: first, there are sacred songs sung to invite the spirit of divine entities into the bodies of the dancers; secondly, the heavy smoke from the frankincense helps to induce a hypnotic state and, thirdly, group expectation: the villagers hope that the Sanghyang will go into trance. This is a type of group hypnosis and the reason that trance usually occurs in controlled, sacred spaces. One never goes into trance without others around to witness and validate it. Trance may occur in performance as well as in religious rituals. It is a sign that the deities have truly descended.

Legong dancers at Pura Desa Sumerta go into a trance after performing for 20-30 minutes. The power of the head-dresses is said to induce altered states of consciousness.

A performer so completely transforms him-or herself into the character being played that an altered state is achieved. This makes the performer more susceptible to magical spells being sent their way by a member of the audience. There are special prayers and mantra that performers recite before going on stage and amulets they wear for protection. In some plays, such as Calonarang, the Rangda dancer or the dalang (puppeteer) calls on all the leyak (witches) of the village to come to the stage area to test their magical powers. This type of "magical dueling" was quite common in the past. Many older Balinese can tell you of the time a Calonarang puppeteer performed in their village, and the next morning either a local witch or the puppeteer was dead, depending who won.

A less dangerous way for a performer to move between two worlds is in the performance itself. As soon as the dancer moves through the liminal space of the langse (curtain), he or she goes from the present to the past—a time that lives on in the performance. Some dancers linger a while at the curtain, teasing the audience, singing or speaking from behind, hesitating to emerge. Others come directly out, either miming the opening of the curtain or moving right into the dance. Whichever way it is done, the dancer becomes not necessarily a specific personage but the essence of the character. His or her own ego is forgotten. Many performers can tell of the exhilaration of doing a role well, of pleasing not only the human audience but the divine as well.

Actors, dancers and puppeteers perform for a number of religious events. The Balinese classify their rituals (yadnya, literally "sacrifice") into five main types: dewa yadnya for the deities, such as temple festivals; bhuta yadnya for the nature spirits who create chaos; manusa yadnya, rites of passage such as a tooth-filing ceremony or a wedding; pitra yadnya, death rites; and rsi yadnya, purification rites for a priest. Some dances are only performed at specific times, such as Baris Poleng for cremations or Rejang at a temple festival; others could be done as entertainment during any of the rites.

Masks used in the sacred Topeng performance are blessed before being worn. Shown here are the Penasar, Dalem and Sidhakarya masks.