‘The mind of a person plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.’
This passage from the Bible seems to be directed at me. Quite often, when I visit a new country, I come across a new religion as if guided by some arcane energy.
In Kemenuh Village, in every house there is a temple. It is located in a large yard with several altars.
Today they celebrated the ‘Odalan Festival’. It takes place every year – in the Balinese calendar, a month is made of 35 days and a year of 210 days. Usually, the festival lasts for three days.
This morning, an old priest came to the temple of the house where we are staying, to supervise the ceremony.
The women of the family made offerings to the ghosts to appease them and ask them not to be harmful, and then to their ancestors and God to make wishes; later, they sang praise to God.
When the ceremony was over, everybody ate the food that had been prepared under the supervision of the owner of the house. It was an oven roasted suckling pig, rice, and various local specialties.
In the evening, the celebration took place in the temple of the village. I got a blessing and felt happy. On the other hand, all religions are paths to God on the condition that we keep an open heart!
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily (English version)
– A Hidden Sicilian History (English version)
– The Vibrations of Words (English version)
– Travels of the Mind (English version)
– Una Storia Siciliana Nascosta (versione in lingua italiana)
– Viaggi della Mente (versione in lingua italiana)
Ettore Grillo's Blog 