Gift from the gods: a Balinese guide to early child rearing

The influence of Western schools and other imports notwithstanding, many child-rearing practices recorded earlier in the century [in Indonesia] are still observable, especially those concerning infants and young children. For the "manual" that follows, I propose as the fictive author a male healer, or balian, who is trained in traditional Balinese healing arts to cure diseases of both physical and spiritual origins.