Eat, Pray, Love

“For that, I start to believe. Now I have dream again, with father, grandfather, great-
grandfather. They tell me now I must be medicine man. My soul, I must give it to God. For do
this, I must make fast for six days, understand? No food, no water. No drink. No breakfast.
Not easy. I so thirsty from fast, I go to rice fields in morning, before sun. I sit in rice field with
mouth open and take water from air. How you call this, the water in air in rice field in morning?
Dew? Yes. Dew. Only this dew I eat for six days. No other food, only this dew. On number
five day, I get unconscious. I see all yellow color everywhere. No, not yellow color—GOLD. I
see gold color everywhere, even inside me. Very happy. I understand now. This gold color is
God, also inside me. Same thing that is God is same thing inside me. Same-same.
“So now I must be medicine man. Now I have to learn medical books from great-
grandfather. These books not made on paper, made on palm leaves. Called lontars. This is
Balinese medical encyclopedia. I must learn all different plants on Bali. Not easy. One by one,
I learn everything. I learn to take care of people with many problem. One problem is when
someone is sick from physical. I help this physical sick with herbs. Other problem is when
family is sick, when family always fighting. I help this with harmony, with special magic draw-
ing, also with talking for helping. Put magic drawing in house, no more fighting. Sometimes
people sick in love, not find right match. For Balinese and Western, too, always a lot of trouble
with love, difficult to find right match. I fix love problem with mantra and with magic drawing,
bring love to you. Also, I learn black magic, to help people if bad black magic spell on them.
My magic drawing, you put in your house, bring you good energy.
“I still like to be artist, I like make painting when I have time, sell to gallery. My painting, al-
ways the same painting—when Bali was paradise, maybe one thousand years ago. Painting
of jungle, animals, women with—what is word? Breast. Women with breast. Difficult for me to
find time to make painting because of medicine man, but I must be medicine man. It is my
profession. It is my hobby. Must help people or God is angry with me. Must deliver baby
sometimes, do ceremony for dead man, or do ceremony for tooth-filing or wedding. Some-
times I wake up, three in morning, make painting by electric lightbulb—only time I can make
painting for me. I like alone this time of day, good for making painting.
“I do true magic, not joking. Always I tell true, even if bad news. I must do good character
always in my life, or I will be in hell. I speak Balinese, Indonesian, little bit Japanese, little bit
English, little bit Dutch. During war, many Japanese here. Not so bad for me—I read palms
for Japanese, make friendly. Before war, many Dutch here. Now many Western here, all
speak English. My Dutch is—how you say? What that word you teach me yesterday? Rusty?
Yes—rusty. My Dutch is rusty. Ha!
“I am in fourth caste in Bali, in very low caste like farmer. But I see many people in first
caste not so intelligent as me. My name is Ketut Liyer. Liyer is name my grandfather gave me