Metal Things

Here in Bali,Tumpuk Landup is a day that celebrates everything metal. Automobiles and motorbikes are embellished with hand-woven palm leaf plaits attached to their hoods and handlebars. Tools, electric and manual, and knives including the ceremonial kris, are given a good waft of sandalwood incense and a dose of holy water to cleanse and acknowledge the spirits inherent within. 

All Dressed Up 

 

I shudder as the matriarch of our Balinese family raises her weathered hand, a flower drenched in holy water held delicately between two gnarled fingers. She flicks the blossom, breathes out her ancient prayers, while liberally sprinkling the computer and printer three times. I cross my fingers that the blossom-studded offerings stuck with burning incense will stay put. 

Honoring the Flex Shaft 

In the workshop the electric flex shaft, used for making carvings and setting stones, seems miniaturized next to three large platters filled with cakes, a splayed crisply roasted chicken, fresh fruits, crunchy rice snacks and a rainbow of flower petals. This is a gift to the flex shaft’s spirit and a prayer that he’ll protect everyone you uses the tool.

Knives and Kris'

All the knives of the house are cleaned and gathered together along with the garden tools. They also have a special homage while the band saw at the end of the workbench sports an intricately woven palm leaf offering unlike any of the others. 

Band Saw Pretty

My Lovely Stove

The kitchen does not go unnoticed. A simple pinwheel of flowers placed there, seems to my mind, too small for the enormous pleasure my oven gives me and the many friends who dine at our table. As I turn to go out I notice the fridge has an offering balanced on its top corner edge. No metal that could cause problems to the household is exempt from being honored on this day.

Ancient and adaptable Bali merges with the modern world while retaining its unique rituals. How could this culture not influence us artists, musicians, and writers? The air breathes creativity infusing us with its electrons, edging us forward to bring life to new ideas, visions and dreams. I go to my beading table and put together a new bracelet, humming with the spirit of the place.