Forbidden Fruit

It's a story reminiscent of the children's fairy tale of the witch offering the young beauty a poison apple... too fantastical to believe!  However if you munch on this acidic snack in the Galapagos, unless you're a giant tortoise endemic to the isles, the outcome is not that you'll fall into a long languid beauty sleep until prince charming comes to your rescue with a life-giving kiss, but more likely that, unless you get immediate medical attention including a stomach pump, you may die within 24 hours!

A Brazilian surfer friend of ours found out this harsh reality two days ago, and luckily is still here to regale everyone with his tale... (We don't know about the three young British vixens that offered him the forbidden fruit, saying they had been eating the fruits all morning - they boarded a plane the same day and we don't know if they ever realized that the 'plums' they thought had been crunching on all morning, were in fact, death apples!?)

There is a tree here in Galapagos called "Manzanillo" (literally translated from Spanish, the meaning is 'little apple' - in English it is called the Manchineel tree).  Hippomane mancinella is one of the most poisonous trees on the planet, and the only poisonous plant native to the Galapagos islands.  It's forbidden fruits resemble Granny Smith apples, in miniature, and certainly look juicy and tempting to any dehydrated hiker in the arid, scrub-brush, cactus landscape and rocky coastline of the islands.  The rounded leaves, grey bark and general tree-shape also look a bit like an innocuous apple tree, but alas, the giant tortoises native to the islands are the only species that can feed on the plant and not succumb to a bitter end.  In fact, this trees leaves and fruits make up a main part of the diet of the indigenous land-tortoises.  Some joke that perhaps this is why they are so wrinkled and gnarled.

Humans should not ingest the appealing, yet highly-venomous fruits - there are signs everywhere telling you so.  Many trees are even marked with a red X, and in many cases, especially in urban areas, the entire trunk that is within reach of human hands is painted over to avoid an inadvertent encounter.  If you obey the general rule on the islands of not approaching or touching any of the plants or wildlife, this tree  shouldn't be a problem.  But if you're curious, hungry/thirsty, or have a death-wish to tempt fate, and decide to take a bite, our friend tells us you can expect the following:  An extremely acidic, uncomfortable feeling in your throat, which them virtually swells shut. Stomach cramps and aches.  And, upon visiting the hospital and telling them your woes, immediate hospitalization, stomach pumping, enema, intravenous re-hydration and feeding through a tube, and 24-hours of uncomfortable surveillance waiting to see if the grim reaper is coming for you or not.

In fact, not just the fruits, but the bark and leaves (or the milky-white sticky sap it produces, actually) are also poisonous and causes an allergic reaction if you inadvertently rub up against it... It is said that even standing under one of these trees in the rain is enough to cause the skin to break-out in a violent red rash with blisters and boils!

Spring Cleaning...

Hello all!

Well, It's been a while since I updated my blog, and I have a pile of drafts that need to get posted or chucked... so forgive the seeming lack of chronological or geographical order to the next batch of blogs (well, actually, they'll appear to be the most recent batch - between the end of November and January)...  As you can see from the map on the right, I'm working on this house-cleaning project from Galapagos, recently recovered from a bout with dengue which was not so fun and very lonely (especially after unexpectedly having to spend two lonely and frustrating weeks in Guayaquil immediately prior, which, as it turns out, was the cause of the dengue in the first place (there are no nasty dengue-carrying mosquitoes in the islands!)

Magic Cream

Since I was little and visiting our family cabin in BC in the summers, I have known this little tube as "Magic Cream", as do all the neighbours!  Cetavlon is a french antiseptic cream that we can't get in Canada, but without fail, my Aunt would bring several tubes to re-stock every summer.

It's magic I guess comes from the only listed active ingredient, Cetrimide, a mere .5g...   I was happy I carry some with me, as I'm employing it as a remedy for my rotten road rash.  I hope it does its thing!

Road Rash

Yikes - I am thankful that I'm here to write this post to you all... I took a little spill off my motorbike yesterday for the first time... and hopefully last.

I was pretty darn lucky!  The entire lane was full of oil and I don't think there was any avoiding what happened...  The bike lost all traction, and all I had time to think was "Oh shiitttt...", then my head bounced off the pavement and I proceeded to skid on my chin for about 50m along the road with an unsettling view of oncoming headlights. Before I had even skidded to a stop I jumped up and ran the 50 more metres that the bike slid, picked it up and got it off the road, and then I checked myself over for missing appendages etc.  I was fairly shocked to find I was pretty much in tact, minus some major road rash that hadn't started to sting yet (side note:  post-adrenaline let down they have proven insanely painful!)  Apparently I was the 4th bike to slide out on it - and after I made sure they covered it with dirt to soak up the oil and avoid anyone else going down!  But I drove myself home, cleaned out the wounds and am hoping for a quick healing process.

I am not big on taking a lot of hard-core chemical drugs in general... so I'm hoping the good ole magic cream will do the trick!

Daun Bungkus

Daun bungkus (the wrapping leaf/leaf packaging) is a very popular plant in Papua... and probably well on its way to becoming extinct...

No, I'm not talking about the traditional banana-leaf wrap for foods like those below... 

...although it is certainly considered amongst the favourite gifts from the forest for the men here in Papua!

 

It is a 'traditional' Papuan treatment that has gained fame amongst men (and women as well apparently) in many areas of Indonesia for its use in enlarging the male sex organ and drive pre-coitus!?  Whether this popular belief holds any basis in fact, I doubt... but this is certainly not the only such treatment I have heard of in Asia (they are generally called "obat kuat" (strengthening medications)), and I might think that the tendency to believe in so many such 'remedies' is more a direct testament to the Asian man's lack of confidence in his unit!?

I'm just saying...

a spoof photo i found online when i did a search for "daun bungkus"! haha

I found only one other blog that talks about 'daun bungkus' - it can be found in Indonesian here.  The google-translated (and edited) text in English is below:

A lot of people are talking about Papuan efficacy leaf packs, especially men who want to have their penises bigger and stronger than before. Although until now there is no one study which states that the leaf sheaths can extend and strengthen the penis, but already many people who claimed to have proved his prowess.Papuan leaf packs has the effect of extreme itching to users in early use, but still leaves it as sought by the men believed to enlarge the male penis. Eventually the police found it necessary to intervene to curb this issue, so that eventually Papua Police issued a ban on the use of traditional herb leaf sheaths for the younger generation who want a career in the police force is felt because it can be very influential to the psychic and mental health of police candidates."We want the police and police recruits have a healthy physical and psychological as well as powerful, the use of leaf packs in our opinion it does not signify a person's confidence that doing things that are beyond reasonable," said Head of Public Relations Papua Police Comr Agus Riyanto. 

So far, of the many young people who use the leaf packs, several users have been suffering from infection and are seeking treatment to remove pus.  Based on these grounds it was also the Papua Police issued a strict prohibition of the use of leaf packs for the police and police recruits .According to Dr. Boyke the tradition enlargement of the vital tool by use of this wrapper leaf is quite dangerous and it is better to be removed from the Papuan people.Do you want your penis turned into a jumbo-size, but looking and feeling like it's been bee-stung with Papuan leaf pack use?

Putri Malu - Shy Princess

Another fabulous forest find - this plant, Mimosa pudica, is sensitive to touch.  The reaction exhibited when something brushes up against it is known as a thigmonastic response, and can be seen in the venus fly trap plant as well.  In this plant the leaves fold in on themselves at the slightest irritation they sense.

undisturbed leaves

the same leaves after being touched

You've probably seen this plant at home - I think we know it commonly as "Touch-me-not"... Here it's called the shy princess (in India the shy virgin). You can see by its pretty pink pom-pom flower why it might be considered a princess.  But these plants also have thorns on their stems, and often kids in the villages have scars around their feet and ankles as a result of playing barefoot carelessly and getting into a tangle with these spines.

I came across a patch of it the other day and after spending countless minutes playing, decided it would make a good addition to my blog, so took some pics and video.

The team tells me that this plant is often use for medicinal purposes as well, and supports treatments for smooth birthing, asthma, insomnia and malaria.

Clan Tokens

Protected not only by the spirit of the sea, which keeps sea-faring Papuans out of harms way (according to the Raja Ampat Creation myth), but also their clan token, the people of Raja Ampat should feel very safe.


The token animal belief system in Raja Ampat is very interesting.  Though different to that of North America with which I am familiar, where each individual has a token animal protector, in Raja Ampat, the protection is awarded by an entire species on an entire clan (marga).  And the people believe that it is not just their protector, but their relative.


This belief is not necessarily prevalent throughout the archipelago, but I can't necessarily narrow it down to a particular tribe, although certainly many Biak subscribe.


Basically the token animal takes care of the people of the clan, and the clan in turn cares for the token animal... they are forbidden to consume their token animal, and often the clan will lobby for the protection of the species and their habitat.  The clans are extremely respectful of their token and look to it for signs of community and clan well-being... if anything unusual happens regarding it, they believe it is as a result of some action, offense or wrong-doing on their part.


Certain family clans are connected directly to certain species… For example, the story from Yenbuba village on Mansuar Island:  The clan Sawing comprises the entire village except two families.  This clan is related directly to the oceans' whales, and they won't eat or harm any marine mammals.  In the 1990’s there was a whale that they believe was pricked by a mantis shrimp, so that it died and was beached on the beach facing the village…  the kids from the community played on the carcass, climbing up and down when it was fresh.  Several weeks later once it started to rot and reek, almost all the kids in the entire village became deathly ill.  All of the kids from the Sawing clan, that it... not the other four kids in the village.  The village elders gathered the community and they performed a traditional ceremony asking for forgiveness from the whale's spirit and nature if they had wronged it, and the children were cured.

Whether coincidence or not, or the family actually has, for instance, a shared allergy that might explain the strange story, I don't know, but stories like this bolster their beliefs and make them stronger.  I wonder if in some way this is another ancient form of resource management /species conservation???

Division

There are many instances of new villages being created in Raja Ampat... a village literally being divided into two, not physically or geographically (no new village sites), but purely administratively.  It is extremely strange, especially considering that there is no increase in population to warrant it.

The longer I'm here in Raja Ampat, the more conspiracy theories I'm exposed to, and the less preposterous those conspiracy theories sound... this splitting up of villages, for instance, seems to me to be based more on two alterior motives than the need for new administrative clout due to population expansion…  Those two reasons have to do with money and power.

Regardless of very small populations, an additional village means an additional set of administrative officials and an additional set of monies that are distributed yearly…  This infusion of cash should be a good thing for community development... right?  Well, in addition to the new funds, it turns out the new officials are not elected, as I had always assumed they must be (you know, the ‘head of the village’ is originally from the village, and elected by and represents the people)… but no, that is not necessarily the case... they are appointed, and almost always foreigners (from other parts of Indonesia, most often Java).

In this way, it splits up the native people and strips them of any administrative powers they might have to empower their own communities and people.  Because the head of the village feels no connection or responsibility to the community, he robs the coffers blind and does nothing to further the community and feels no remorse about it at all.  Every trip I have been on with the Kalabia in the past 6 months has had at least one or two new villages either just placed or in the works…  It has basically become a bit of a joke… ‘Village limits’ are just lines drawn through the centre of town… they’re not actually ‘new village sites’!

The worst part is that the people are blindly happy and proud that they have received a ‘new village’, and in a lot of cases, completely oblivious at what is actually happening.

The splitting up of 'Districts' (originally 4 when I first came to Raja Ampat, now 24), has been sited to me as another means of dividing the people...  And not only that, but because each District must have a military police post, manned by migrants brought in from other parts of Indonesia, the area ends up being blanketed in an Indonesian military force.  This seems suspiciously convenient given the current state of the Papuan freedom movement, and the genocidal techniques the Indonesian government has employed in the past to quell uprisings in both Timor and Papua... Doesn't it?

Sorry, I usually try to keep politics and work out of these blog posts... but I guess it's just getting too exasperating!

Why Sigh?

Why Sigh?

Waisai (pronounced as above) is the new capital of the Raja Ampat regency.  You would think with the opportunity to create a capital city from scratch, you would make sure you got it right… learn from past mistakes, or mistakes made in other places, and be able to create something inspired... incredible…

Disappointingly, not the case here…. Unfortunately there are plenty of reasons to sigh in exasperation when you visit Waisai.  The rate of growth is entirely uncontrolled and the cause of so many issues, planning is helter-skelter and driven by corruption… I won’t stop short of calling it a disaster, much more so because it is the gateway to the relatively pristine area of Raja Ampat.  Garbage fills the streets and waterways.  Where healthy mangroves were just 2 years ago, with clean clear water, now sit puddles of murky malaria-carrying-mosquito-breeding mud.  The beachfront, which was a nice blacksand beach, was reclaimed - extended out into the sea, and then because of course it was immediately damaged by wind and wave action, a hideous seawall was built, and behind it filled in with white sand (brought from other beaches, which, duh, now have serious erosion issues)… do I need to even mention the state of the current sea wall?

When you look around Waisai, you don't feel like you're in Raja Ampat, let alone Papua.  Everyone I speak to one the street has moved here from other provinces within the past couple years.  I have written previously about the effects of transmigration on nature conservation, and I think Waisai is proof!

Dolphin Love

I don't think that there is anything better for the soul than swimming with dolphins in the wild!

We had a magical day sometime last week... a school of hundreds of bottlenosed dolphins were teasing me throughout our snorkel at Kicker Rock... I was hearing their clicks and squeaks... but couldn't see them, and everyone thought I was nuts-o because they couldn't see them either... but when we got into the boat, there they appeared right at our side... so I slipped back in, and it seemed they were happy to have another compatriot, as they continued to play as they had been, and we got some up-close-and-personal dolphin love!

p.s. you can be part of the action!   www.tranquilodivers.com

Wat Pho Thai Traditional Herbal Sauna

This place was perfect for a visit during my detoxifying cleanse.  The hot, steamy, herbally goodness is pretty intense, but also felt very purifying.

It's a traditional setup with a fire-powered cauldron piping steam into two separate male/female rustic steam rooms.  The steam is filled with herbs such as lemongrass, jasmine and tumeric, which are healthy for the skin and also aid the body to purge toxins.

We also pumped it up a notch with some natural exfoliating scrub of tumeric and seasalt.  I felt like a squeaky clean newborn when I left there and was apparently glowing for days!

Healing

I feel very lucky not to actually need a healing retreat... but when one of your best friends happens to be the manager at just such a retreat not sooo far away, and you happen to have to leave the country for a visa run... well, the universe was aligning itself...

So here I am at the Orion Healing Retreat Centre in Koh Phangan, Thailand.

Here's a blurb from their website (orionhealing.com):

The Orion Healing Retreat Center is set in the serene Srithanu bay in Koh Phangan, Thailand. Nestled in peaceful surroundings, amid soothing sounds and rippling waters, your mind and soul are balanced, restoring a sense of serenity and vitality.  At Orion we have created a unique life changing retreat program which combines detox, healing and yoga to create Absolute Alchemy.

Our detox retreats are specially tailored and supported every step of the way. As healers we ensure that your cleanse is a healing experience for your body, mind and soul. A personal touch is given to all our cleansers and this will ensure that your individual needs are always looked after.  Using ancient methods with modern day touches, our unique treatments harmonize, balance, attune and charge your body to leave you feeling completely revitalized.

I can't say I had the right motivation in coming here... I wasn't feeling toxic, or the need for healing necessarily... I really just wanted to see a good friend in her element, and thought the best way to do that, since she was to be working, would be to integrate myself into her life... so I signed up!  And no doubt it will have all kinds of additional positive benefits as well.  Although I am still a little upset about being in Thailand (with some of the best food on the planet) and not EATING, I am really enjoying the daily yoga, and have been to the Wat Pho Traditional Thai Herbal Sauna, and am taking advantage of being here to get some work done in my sweet little bungalow!

(All the pics are from the Orion website, since my camera is in the shop... )

Urotherapy

Is that what I think it is???  Yes, the use of urine for therapeutic reasons... also known as auto-urotherapy.

I heard about this a few years ago, but given that some people think I'm gullible, and often try to put one over on me, I assumed this was just another... and dismissed it as fiction - turns out I was wrong!

After a little investigation I found out that this is anything but a new concept!  It's not a very appealing alternative, and probably makes most people as squeamish as myself just thinking about drinking glass-fulls of your own urine (or having it injected into the bloodstream, for that matter)...  But tell that to the many people who have had to resort to it as a cure to anything from skin and hair problems (like acne, hair loss, warts, wrinkles, psoriasis, eczema and infections) to more serious illness such as multiple sclerosis, colitis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, hepatitis, hyperactivity, pancreatic insufficiency, heart disease, diabetes, herpes, mononucleosis, adrenal failure and allergies.  There is even a World Congress on Urotherapy!

I guess it could make sense... Urine contains 95% water 2.5% mixture of urea and 2.5% is mineral salts, hormones, vitamins, enzymes and antibodies.  There must be something in the combo that could act as a medicine and/or immune booster!?  Unconventional to say the least.



What reminded me of this story was another type of "Uro"-therapy that someone I recently met was attempting.  He was soaking his feet in urine each night to get rid of some fungus or something that was growing beneath his toe-nails.  He thought it was really a great treatment, until he woke up to go to the washroom in the middle of the night and accidentally knocked over the bowl of urine that he had used to do it with!  ewwww....

Again different from the only kind of "Urotherapy" I knew of previously:  cure for jellyfish stings!

Wasior Disaster

There should be no doubt about the cause of this disaster.  It is not a 'natural disaster', it can't be attributed to 'climate change'... it could have been avoided.

Unfortunately Indonesia doesn't think ahead.  The governments don't heed glaringly obvious warnings, and the dollar signs in their eyes make the environment fall by the way-side, even when it means the welfare of the people they are charged to serve and protect is put at risk.  They just cut the trees, rape the forests, build completely ridiculous road systems and destabilize watersheds so that a simple heavy rain ends in hundreds of lives lost, thousands displaced, and a city in ruin.

I was supposed to be arriving in Wasior this month as part of the Kalabia education trip to Cenderawasih Bay.  I was just discussing the situation in the Bay with some colleagues who had recently returned from a survey trip there (they were doing genetic studies on marine species, surveying for new previously-undiscovered species, and identifying potential areas for marine tourism development, but they couldn't help but see the destruction of the marine environment that was going on as a result of activities on the land surrounding their study sites)!  I was enquiring about conservation issues that we should focus our education program for the area on.  They had just finished telling me that the story there, even though Cenderawasih Bay is a National Park, is no different from the situation all over the rest of Papua, and indeed, most of the lesser-inhabited areas of Indonesia... uncontrolled, poorly-planned development, combined with rampant illegal exploitation of natural resources (illegal logging, mining and land-conversion)... then the breaking news story of a disastrous flood and mudslides burying the main town in the Bay hit the news.

We postponed our trip, as it is an inappropriate time to visit while the town and regency is dealing with a disaster of this size... Current counts (as of yesterday, 2010/10/10) have 144 dead, but another 161 missing and feared dead, over 1000 injured, and the entire town's population of over 5000 displaced (most evacuated to nearby cities due to lack of access to clean water and fear of additional flooding if rains continue).  It's a small town, but it is the capital of the main regency in Cenderawasih Bay, Wondama.

As conservationists, and educators, we definitely want to capitalize on the moment to turn it into a learning experience... be sure that the message gets through:  destruction of the natural environment holds nothing but disaster.  But we don't want to be insensitive, so we are postponing until the trauma experienced by the people there settles, they can get their homes, and their lives, back.

Of course, the 'aid' effort is committing all kinds of serious errors as well - like 'handing over 2 billion Rp in cash' to aid the recovery of the disaster... yeah, how much of that money do you think will actually get to the people who need it!?!

Anyway, there is a positive light in this story... there are a few local aid organizations from other areas in Papua who are being driven by their hearts and not their wallets to help with the recovery.  A small group of doctors and nurses called MerC have arrived to tend to the wounded, and several others are making collections of clothing, etc, for evacuated survivors.

The problem of course, is that the people responsible for this disaster aren't affected at all.  They are so far away from the sites that they are affecting...  cozy in their posh Jakarta homes, sitting on their padded pockets, watching it all on the latest flatscreen high-def television.

The climate of corruption is so thick in Indonesia it permeates every level.  There exists in Indonesia the equivalent of what we call an Environmental Impact Study (it's called an AMDAL), but it can be bought... and bought for peanuts when comparing the potential income from a large gold mine, or a large harvest of hardwood.

Light up my ... Ears?

Ear Candling (or Thermal-Auricular Therapy, because everything has to have a proper, seemingly scientific name) seems to be a new 'trend' in Indonesia these past few months.  It is an alternative treatment whose origin is in dispute, but seems to go back thousands of years in several different societies.

I tried it at home once years ago in an attempt to decrease my deafness... hey, who know, right!?  I tend to believe that for the most part our bodies take care of themselves, and we generally don't need to (nor should) interfere.  A little ear wax is probably a good thing for the proper functioning of our ears (otherwise, somehow I doubt it would exist)... but I also don't think the amount of pollution in the air is natural, and my hearing, let's face it, is not getting any better.

Anyway, I have tried ear candling a few times now in Indonesia, with similar results to Canada... you can't believe how much wax comes out of your ears (even as a 'diciplined ear cleaner' - which I am, again in an attempt to prevent wax build-up and minimize its impact on my already-sketchy hearing!).  Whether it has any effect on hearing is debatable.  I do feel like it clears the sinuses in general, and 'unplugs' me (but I've never had any real issues).  Some people claim that it cures infections, and does all kinds of other wonders, and Martin told me the divers in Galapagos use a similar method to remove 'air' and marine critter from their ears (he once had a miniature crab living in his ear for a day, and this is how they removed it)!  Basically, if you want to know what it'll do for you, just try it for yourself!

Check out the process and its result (for those of you weak-in-the-knees about this sort of stuff, you might just want to scroll down and read the next section without looking at the pics):

The beeswax (or paraffin) candle burns in each ear for about 5 minutes, and usually there's a slight warm tingling sensation, accompanied by some hisses and crackles and pops as the candle does what it does (if it does anything!?)... then... ta-da!

Supposedly the dark yellow/orange is ear wax (although I think some of it must be from the candle itself!?), and the whitish residue is sinus debris.  Obviously, there are some dangers to this 'remedy' as well (see this CBC story), but as long as it is done by a professional, and in moderation it should be fine.

Black Spiny Sea Urchins

You may remember reading about my previous run-in with these nasty little (poisonous) creatures...

Well, a crew member of ours has a trick to be able to touch these poisonous points without getting infected...  and he promptly demonstrated his method to us.

The key, he said, is right before scooping one up off the sea floor, is cupping both hands around his nether regions!?  Maybe his privates' poisonousness rival that of the urchins!?!

SeaWeed

Aaah, the wonders of this 'weed'!

Not only good for making jello, medicines and make-up anymore...

It's best use:  accessorizing any costume!

Seaweed farming is on par with tourism in the islands of Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida, the area of Bali Martin is calling home for now, while he enjoys showing guests the natural wonders of the seas.

This seaweed stuff is pretty incredible, really, and new uses are being discovered for it all the time, specifically with regards to new medicines...  and in fact, if done properly and sustainably, seaweed farming doesn't have to be destructive to the marine and coastal environment.  Unfortunately, in Nusa Penida, a great deal of mangrove forests were cleared and coral reefs were lifted in the creation of these expansive seaweed farms.

Hot Rocks!

If you have never experienced this unique treatment, you should indulge at least once in this exquisite moment...

I did today.

The therapist at the small spa around the corner from my guesthouse actually knew what she was doing, which was nice compared to some of the massages on the street (she even found my 'funny shoulder' without any mention from me).  It was very therapeutic, and I can imagine in the winter it would be even more wonderful for people who experience aches and pains!  The session was quoted at an hour and a half, but in fact lasted a blissful two and a half hours!

I was sort of expecting to have the stones placed on my back, etc, and left to sit there, but in fact, that is another kind of hot stone massage....  the treatment I had was called Colour Hot Stone Massage.  It is based on the Japanese Shiatsu Massage.  The 'colour' refers to the fact that the stones are actually not the usual black granite/basalt stones, but various... each stone/colour has special properties.  I received the light granite.  The therapist said that the Red Jasper was good for circulation and digestion, and the White Jade was good for the renal system and body PH balance.  The stones are like half-eggs, smooth and soft, and seem the perfect size and shape to fit the contours of the body.  The stones are said to "contain repairing micronized minerals and are coupled with aromatic essential oils to relieve muscular, mental and emotional stress". (from the brochure)

The heat from the incredibly hot stones are transferred into the body tissues by the therapist, then at a tolerable temperature, they are placed on the 'chakra', and used to actually massage, centered around these points.  There was definitely a deeper healing power at work - it was incredibly rejuvenating and reenergizing, and seeped deep into the core of the body... not just on the superficial tissues like a regular 'street massage'.

There is definitely something very spiritual about this massage - this was confirmed when the therapist also explained that she has to care for her stones...  as if they were her children... cared for, nurtured... she said she gives them sunlight every day, and sometimes turns on a little music for them as well...  here are the traditional black basalt stones pictured in their cradle.

... and here are 'my stones' in their hot water heater...