Ketut Liyer – Visiting with a Balian
Of all of these types of Balian, The Balian Tenung is the one that most accurately describes Ketut Liyer, not the least because he is over 80 years old (no one I asked, including Ketut himself, had an exact age for him) and cannot perform the physical requirements of massage or bone setting.
Ketut’s home is a typical Balinese compound, a gathering of buildings which are situated North, South, East and West, and a big open pavilion at the center with a low bed or sofa. Ketut meets people under a smaller side pavilion, and the waiting group sits under another open area – in our case, we brought about 30 people with us, so it was a large group hanging around, and Ketut saw us in twos. According to Liz Gilbert, author of “Eat Pray Love”, Ketut complained that the lack of tourists in Bali a few years ago led to him being “empty in his pocketbook.” I do not think that is much of a problem now. People come to see him every day – the big issue is making sure we don’t completely tire him out.
He smiles a lot, but when you take a picture of him, he is quick to point out that he is ugly (he is not, in fact, just mostly toothless and quite old, so sweet and charming). Ketut’s English is heavily accented, and his voice raspy. The combination makes it hard to understand him, even with our Balinese guide helping with the translation, and Ketut speaking English. One of our group was asked to show him her back, and as she turned around, Ketut nodded sagely, running his hand across her shoulder. ”Mah dick,” he kept saying. ”Good for mah dick.” Oh, we were all in a tither over that one, our eyes darting from person to person as we assessed the situation. Was he really saying what we thought he was? Could Ms. Gilbert have neglected to mention that Ketut was rude, and made passes at the female guests right in the middle of a reading? Suddenly, the light dawned. ”Magic,” I practically shouted, patting my client reassuringly on the arm. ”He says you have good magic!” Our traveler nodded vigorously, looking relieved. ”Ohhh. Thank you, Ketut!” Ketut’s head bobbed a few times. ”Yes,” he rasped. ”Good mah dick!”
