http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0112357017/Tasso-The-Turtle.aspx

www.ringsaroundtheworld2012.co.uk

I met David back in 1995 in Bali, and was so overwhelmed with his talent that I asked him to read/perform at Michael/my wedding at the Chedi in Bali in 1996. I am more than happy to pass on the message of this latest proud (and papa) project. To paraphrase in David’s own words about the project and what we can all do to help:

“My Sam (now 5!) goes to our lovely village Primary School. And, because it seemed like a good idea, I have been doing a “project” with them. They have now professionally recorded a song (written by me, with help on the music front – of course – from my dear friend Dave Richards!) in time for the London 2012 Olympics. It is an inspiring message of peace, hope and global unity.

The single was released last week and it has all gone a bit mad! We are already being played on regional radio and we have been filmed for national TV. BBC1 TV’s iconic “Songs of Praise” heard about the song (although it is not a “religious” song, I think its message of world peace appealed to them) and will be broadcasting it on Sunday 13th May. This is seen by 3 million people, then by half-a-million on “watch-again” services and then will be shown on international BBC Worldwide, etc…so that is our current situation.

If you want to know more, our website is www.ringsaroundtheworld2012.co.uk and you can read all about it. You can also watch a video (made by 2 local A-level students) which has a version of the audio. The full audio glory can be bought on CD (featuring the video as well ) on this site, or on iTunes from anywhere in the world. How can you help? Well, if you like the song/idea, we need to spread the word!!! Our “project” is at a crucial, crucial stage as we are, of course, an “independent” production. So PLEASE put it on your Facebook, tell your contacts and ask them to pass it on! We are also seeking any industry connections/promotion/TV/radio/distribution/endorsement possibilities!!! So, can you help? If you can, 106 four-to-elven year olds (and I!) will be forever grateful! At this stage, it’s all about people power!!!”

In a nutshell, we eventually had the opportunity to lease out the land where our house is now and we built stage one of our home in 1996. The family which owns the land is headed by patriarch Bapak (which is a honorable term of respect or “father” for an older man) Wayan. He and his wife had five children, three of whom we currently employ to manage and run our house (so the land/house is “all in the family”). The land is adjacent to the ocean and is on a coconut grove (70 trees)…as opposed to the famous rice paddy fields throughout Bali. Throughout the years, we might see Bapak Wayan walking through the land at any given moment, shirt off, machete at his side, savoring his betel nut chew and stopping to chat (in my bad Indonesian Bahasa and his growing English vocabulary).

However, not only is Bapak Wayan a coconut grove farmer, he is also a major shaman/priest in his banjar (village), so throughout the years, we would also see him, his wife, and his daughter carrying out small ceremonies on our land and at the back of our house; new moon, half moon, full moon, new year and for so many other occasions throughout the year, we’d spot them, dressed in ceremonial clothing and silently walking the land and stopping to carry out ritual prayers using stunning little offerings of flowers/rice/herbs/holy water, etc.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

The daughter additionally makes offerings on our/all of their land three times each day (called “Canang Sari”). And what is always beautiful after the offerings are complete is that animals/birds will eat whatever is edible; these offerings are a gift to all sentient beings and it is basically a ritual of giving back what has been given to you by the gods. It is a sharing that is based on gratitude for the bounty of life. Offerings appease the spirits and brings prosperity and good health to the family. It is both a duty and a privilege at the same time, and from the Balinese perspective, it’s a very natural and logical ritual to maintain a good relationship between humans and spirits.

We have known the family since the youngest son was 10 (and he is now about 28, married and has a little boy). Bepak Wayan’s wife (who we lovingly called “Ibu”, which is a respectful title for a married woman) died a few years ago from leukemia; she is extremely missed and sometimes at night I’ll still speak to her while I’m blissfully dozing off in my heavenly futon in our house on her land. In many ways Bepak Wayan’s family feels like our own extended family (he now has 7 grandchildren). We have been to their weddings, baby naming ceremonies, tooth shaving ceremonies, funerals and cremations, etc. etc. Bepak Wayan performed blessing ceremonies when we built our house, when my husband and I married, when my mother turned 80, and every few years we hold a large party/ceremony to reenergize the spirit of the land and give our thanks for all of our blessings and the joy that this home and his family and our own family and friends have experienced for so many years in this magical place.

Fast forward to last week, 24 February 2012. We were able to get away for a few restful days at the house, and prior to our arrival, I asked the manager of our house, Pak Made (Bepak Wayan’s number two son) to ask his father if it would be all right to plant a tree on the land as a memorial for the death of my beloved cat Princess, who died on my birthday six months earlier (24 August. See http://carolwolfson.com/2011/08/my-eternal-princess/ for my tribute to her.) I thought they might buy a tree that I could simply plant with some of her ashes and remember her every time I passed by the tree in the future.

What I didn’t realize was that this could not be done without permission from Bepak Wayan’s own village temple, and, the burial of any soul on someone’s land is a very serious matter—it’s not just burying a beloved pet in the yard.

A bit of background then on Balinese Hinduism (from Wikipedia): “Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual, and is less closely preoccupied with scripture, law, and belief than Islam in Indonesia. Balinese Hinduism lacks the traditional Hindu emphasis on cycles of rebirth and reincarnation, but instead is concerned with a myriad of hyangs, the local and ancestral spirits. These deities are thought to be capable of good or harm. Balinese place great emphasis on dramatic and aesthetically satisfying acts of ritual propitiation of these spirits at temple sites scattered throughout villages and in the countryside.

A Balinese temple is called Pura, and unlike the common towering indoor Indian Hindu Temple, the Hindu temple of Bali is designed as an open air worship place within enclosed walls, connected with series of intricately decorated gates to reach its compounds. Each of these temples has a more or less fixed membership; every Balinese belongs to a temple by virtue of descent, residence, or some mystical revelation of affiliation. Some temples are associated with the family house compound (also called banjar in Bali), others are associated with rice fields, and still others with key geographic sites. Rituals of the life cycle are also important occasions for religious expression and artistic display. Ceremonies at puberty, marriage, and, most notably, cremation at death provide opportunities for Balinese to communicate their ideas about community, status, and the afterlife.

A priest is not affiliated with any temple but acts as a spiritual leader and adviser to individual families in various villages scattered over the island. These priests are consulted when ceremonies requiring holy water are conducted.”

Thus, upon our arrival at the house a few days earlier, Pak Made told me that his father was searching for a specific tree for Princess (the first surprise regarding this special ceremony). He had chosen the “Cempaka”, which is a perfumed Magnolia tree; the beautiful yellow flowers are used for incense in prayer offerings in temples and ceremonies.
Then apparently Bepak Wayan had to go to his local temple and discuss/get permission from his own elders to be able to bury my Princess on his ancestral land, but where our own home has been for nearly 20 years and where we plan to retire. (In time, when our lease runs out, the house/land will return to the family unless our own family members extend the lease; we are content with this outcome, and in the meantime, Bepak Wayan still has the rights to harvest the coconuts on the land). Win-win.

I am so moved that Bepak knew how much I loved Princess and was willing to have her soul and spirit live on in his land. Much of this is to do with the fact that Balinese Hinduism is integrally linked with animism (again, from Wikipedia: “ Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism, and adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil. Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual. Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behavior.”).

Suddenly, around sundown on 24 February, on the 6-month anniversary of Princess’s death and apparently an auspicious day with a new moon, Bepak Wayan and Pak Made arrived at the house with Bepak in full ceremonial dress. Pak Made told me that his father had received permission from the temple and was going to do the ceremony then and there (it always amazes us about Bali time that you can wait for days and nothing happens, and then suddenly, out of the blue, everything happens at once!).

Bepak chose a location on the land near the house where I would be able to pass by and touch the tree every day, and where the tree could receive the right amount of sun and shade. A friend of Bepak Wayan’s planted the tree and then dug a small, deep hole next to the plant. They set up a bamboo structure for the above ground offering and Bepak sat down and assembled the burial offering, combining Princess’s ashes, rice, special herbs, and flowers and placing it all in a palm leaf with a small bamboo stick used to close it. He then stood, lit incense and started saying prayers, and sprinkled holy water to bless Princess’s remains. After about 20 minutes of prayer, he sat down again and lowered the offering into the hole, said more prayers, sprinkled more holy water on top and lit/left incense in the hole next to Princess. His friend then covered the hole with soil.

At that time, Bepak asked me to go get some cat food and place it on top of the soil where Princess and her blessed offering lay, to feed her one last time. I was stunned by the beauty of this ritual too: a last meal to feed my baby for her journey to the kitty spirit world; and, I was so moved that her burial/prayers were understood to be so important to me by Bepak and his family, and the village temple. What a true blessing.

And one more little miracle from this magical experience to describe: being puppy-loved during this ceremony by our visiting stray dog Wolfie. When we first arrived at the house on this trip, an emaciated stray dog came up to the house begging for food. Pak Made explained that the stray dog had been taken in by some expat neighbors but that not enough food had been left when they went back to their home country temporarily, so some local people were trying to feed him. Unfortunately, spending hard-earned saleries on proper dog food is not easy in a countryside village and the dog was getting thinner and thinner (and dogs are quite low on the animal respect totem pole in Bali as well….). We immediately starting feeding him, and he quickly became our resident, sweet guard dog (full of bark and no bite at all…but protecting the food we put out for him from other roaming well-fed neighbors’ dogs). We were told his name was Wolfie and he stayed with us the entire ten days we were at the house (and of course, we had to make a run into town on day two of his stay with us to get enough dog food to last for the next few months; until I can get back to Bali again and make sure he and any other visiting strays are healthy—and neutered…and hopefully actually back in their proper forever homes…).

Woolfie was/is a very sweet dog, but obviously abused when younger and very, very shy; we could not easily pet him except when we put down his food and each time he finished, he would come up to me to say thank you, get a little pat on the head, and he would again run away).

Skip ahead a few days to Princess’s ceremony. I was sitting on a step nearby, tears falling down my cheek, and suddenly, there was Wolfie at my side, smooshing his beautiful brown nose into my lap, excitedly jumping up to lick my face and then without hesitation, he jumped into my lap and went belly up, completely distracting me from my sorrow to rub his belly as his tail wagged and his eyes were full of puppy love (and a full belly!). I don’t know if it was the spirits of this well-blessed land, Bepak Wayan’s wife Ibu sending out her motherly love or my own Princess’s spirit reincarnated momentarily through Wolfie’s sudden display of love to tell me everything was fine and to not worry about her. Bepak Wayan spoke to Pak Made who translated and told me that after this ceremony, Princess’s spirit will forever be with us on the land and she will protect our home.
And yet another moment of joy….Wolfie followed me when I placed the food down for Princess’s “final” meal and he immediately ate it all…not very cat like so I think Princess’s food-fussy spirit had departed by then, but Wolfie was still quite a happy boy…

And finally, the most stunning sunset ever welcomed our first dusk with my Princess on this magical land, enveloping my heart and putting my own soul at peace. A very special ceremony in paradise indeed.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/02/ff_forgettingpill/all/1

“The rise of the New Groupthink”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?_r=1

Wishing you all a joyous, meaningful and healthy 2012.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,
 
We are thrilled to announce that Snow Leopard Enterprises won the 2011 BBC World Challenge! This was only possible because supporters came together from all around the world to cast their votes for the preservation of this rare and beautiful big cat!
 
Your vote ensures the expansion of our flagship program, Snow Leopard Enterprises, within Kyrgyzstan. This will bring more families into this successful conservation program model that benefits people and wildlife alike. Thanks to your vote, millions of people across the globe will be exposed to the beauty of these amazing cats and the conservation needs they face. Because of you, snow leopards will have a safer, brighter future for generations to come.
 
We would not have come so far in the competition without your help. You took action on behalf of the endangered snow leopard, and made this unprecedented accomplishment a reality. Please share this success – the result of your efforts – with your friends and family!  Thank you.
 
From all of us at the Snow Leopard Trust
 
Please share this information on your website, social media sites and with friends, colleagues and supports.  The BBC World Challenge organizers were so excited, they decided to announce early.  Please take a look at Brad, SLT Executive Director and Bayara, SLT Country Program Director – Mongolia and co-founder of Snow Leopard Enterprises as they accept the award!  http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk We cannot thank you enough!!!
 
With Gratitude,
 
Marissa
 
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Marissa B. Niranjan
Conservation Commerce Manager
Snow Leopard Trust
4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. #325
Seattle, WA 98103
Phone: (206)632-2421
Fax: (206)632-3967
www.snowleopard.org

 
And, here is another letter from Marissa about my long involvement with the SLT (Click here to download). She is overly generous in her comments, but  I am proud of this amazing organization and have been thrilled to be a supporter for about 20 years now….if you’d like to learn more about how you can support the SLT, write to me at cawolfson@gmail.com or click on to their website at www.snowleopard.org

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/opinion/bruni-dinner-and-derangement.html