Jero Tapakan, Balinese healer: An Ethnographic Film Monograph

Jero Tapakan is a popular village healer on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Clients consult her about problems ranging from physical and mental illness to theft and advice on religious matters. She is possessed by non-manifest beings, who reveal causes of and possible solutions to her clients' problems - [causes such as sorcery and supernatural revenge]. She is also a skilled masseuse with a vast knowledge of traditional Balinese medicines, and treats patients with complaints as diverse as childlessness, seizures, aches and pains of the joints, and dysentery. She practices within the framework of Hindu-Balinese religion, as a person widely held to be bestowed with the divine gift of healing.

Jero's life story and healing practices are portrayed in this book. It is a fascinating case study of healing in a Southeast Asian society, and is unique because the book is integrated with film of specific patients and treatments, as well as of Jero's own reflections on her life and work.