The medicine man

So after offering to volunteer my time at the animal welfare, and sorting out the formalities of meeting everyone I decided to walk back town and to my hotel. I needed to go to the loo and was hoping that I would find a taxi soon although I was enjoying the walk and enjoying the complete peace within my own mind. Something that was not all that familiar to me after the past year.I found a taxi and asked for him to take me to Kutut where I was quite sure I would be able to spend some time with him and gain a greater inner peace – whilst also having him read my palm for me and tell me what my future holds.I arrived at Kutut’s house and walked into the compound and past the numerous tourist busses and saw a massive number of people sitting around, I spoke to an Australian woman who explained that it was about a 4 hour wait for Kutut and that he doesn’t spend much time with each person but that everyone here was waiting and that I would need to figure out who the person was who arrived before me and I would figure out my place in the line of hopefuls.I sat for about 30 minutes. About long enough for my bladder to tell me that 4 hours was simply out of the question. I left and thought it best to come back early and when there was less people to have to wait behind.The following day I was once again, up early, went to yoga and was ready to leave to meet Abut at 11am for my trip to the medicine man. I arrived at the hotel reception and was taken to a small motorbike, Abut started the bike and expected me to get on. This was not something I was happy about but figured that at this point I may as well just suck it up.We travelled for about 30 minutes outside of town and arrived to a compound similar to Kutut’s, but in a different direction. We were told that the medicine man was not in at the moment as he was involved in a ceremony of some significance with the people from his town but that we could return at 11am the next morning. We drove back through the beauty of the mountains and I thought of ways to try to get out of going back the following day. I failed at this and realised that Abut was not going to let me off the hook.The following day started the same. I went to yoga, came back, had a shower, met Abut and we went once again to the compound. There were a few people waiting to see the medicine man and he was dealing with a woman I can only describe as a whinging American who complained of a sore back. He seemed bored, as I was. I was here to have my heart put back together again and couldn’t really understand why she was here when she could get a massage for about $US3 basically anywhere in this place.There were several people before me. I watched in amazement as he seemed to do stuff that seemed to heal them in some way, although often the details were not clear because it was hard to hear or work out what was going on between the medicine man and his patient.Nobody came in after me, so when I was called there were only a couple of onlookers remaining. The medicine man sat there smoking and smiling and asked me what he could do for me. I was quiet and embarrassed and didn’t want others to hear. I asked him if he could read my palm. He laughed and told me that he doesn’t do that sort of thing but he was happy to help in another way, he asked me again what he could do.I sat there and thought that at this point I simply must tell him whats wrong or I will miss my opportunity to see him and perhaps be “fixed” in some way.I put my hand on my head and I said ‘I am not well, I am just sad, all the time I am sad and I can’t change it’. He told me to lie down on his mat and took his small wood stick and poked at the insides of my toes, it didn’t hurt, butch with each poke he checked for a response. Finally he got one. He touched a spot that made me nearly fly off the mat and run back to Australia screaming in pain.He nodded his head and came closer to me and waved his hands above my body and said ‘so much hurt and pain, so much, but I will fix it, I will make it better for you, just trust me’. The encounter was stranger than anything I have ever experienced and anything that I would have previously believed and quite frankly, before this happened to me I would have dismissed it as a complete wank. I didn’t though, it just didn’t feel like I had that option at the time.When the session was finished I wept. I didn’t cry, my eyes were just pouring with tears. It was different to any time I had cried before.I drove back to Ubud with Abut on the back of his motorbike and smiled all the way. I felt like I was smiling from within myself, in a way that I had never or at least for a really long time had smiled. The countryside seemed so much more beautiful that it was on the way there, or on my previous trip. I just couldn’t stop feeling completely and utterly amazingly happy and complete.I decided that taking myself to Bali was the best birthday present I had ever received.