The Floating Placenta

Gede and I were standing on the dock watching a clay pot float away with Kenan's placenta inside. That's how the story ends. Here's how it begins:

The placenta, umbilical cord, and amniotic fluid are all considered the spiritual younger sibling of every child. Balinese people will take the placenta home with them in a clay pot, bury it outside their home, and make sacrifices and pray to the "younger sibling" for the rest of their life. If they ever move, the placenta will be dug up and move with them. It's a really, really big deal.

So on our way home from the hospital, Kristi and Kenan were in the back seat. The placenta and I were riding up front. We had no clue what to do with it. We didn't want to do anything disrespectful with it but at the same time we wanted to make sure and use this as an opportunity to shine some light.

It sat in our back room for one night because I had other things to think about. After that, some friends said they were worried about us. They said an unburied placenta has power and will attract the attention of evil spirits and leyak (sort of like a witch doctor). This was a really cool time to talk about our freedom from fear and our trust in the son to protect Kenan.

I decided it would be best to throw it into the sea. So the next day Gede and I drove to the ocean, walked out to the dock, and stood there for a minute. The dialogue kind of went like this...
J: Is this weird for you Gede?
G: No.
J: Are you sure?
G: Yes, it's better this way. My mother said you shouldn't bury it since you are not a Hindu.
J: Should I just throw it?
G: Do you want to say anything first?
J: No.
G: OK, just throw it...

As soon as it left my hand, I realized that we had forgotten to tear a hole in the plastic bag. So instead of it sinking to the bottom, it just floated out with the tide. Gede said if it floated back up on the shore and someone found it, it would be very startling for them, especially if they were Balinese. So hopefully, it's somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean right now...