This might sound a little strange. This is a picture that was taken outside of our friend's house. They recently had a baby boy. When they came home from the hospital, my friend Gede put the placenta inside a coconut shell and buried it in the ground outside his room. He then put a candle, and a basket on top of it. I also think a tree was planted on top of it. I still may not full understand it, but here's what I got so far: the placenta is considered one of the baby's baby brothers. It is believed that the placenta has strong spiritual power and will be with a person throughout their life. A person should treat his younger siblings (placenta, amniotic fluid, etc) with great respect. He should say goodnight to them before going to bed and thank them in the morning for protection. If they are not treated with the proper respect, a person could have some bad stuff happen to them.
Also the little baby, Made, is not allowed to leave his house for the first month. Gede told me that others could look at him with a jealous heart and suck his life out (a literal translation of what he told me). Made is also not allowed to touch the ground until he is 3 months old (Another one of our neighbors just had the 3 month ceremony for their newborn baby and he is now allowed to be placed on the floor).
Made has very light colored skin. People in our village say that Made has light colored skin because his mom, Wayan, spends so much time with Kristi. Light colored skin is very desirable here, so we are waiting to see if any other pregnant ladies will stop by the house to hang out with Kristi in order to make their baby have light skin also...
People here are consumed by all the religious rituals they are required to do. We are learning more about it everyday and looking for bridges...
