DISCLAIMER: If you are not open-minded to mystical, magical, and woo-woo stuff, or if it triggers you or seems like Voodoo, I suggest closing this page or deleting the email and moving forward without looking back. Not every experience is meant for everyone.
“You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.” – Glinda, The Good Witch, The Wizard of Oz
Last Saturday, I visited (according to his website) a Balinese Palm Reader and Life Coach, named Agus. This is not my first rodeo with these types of encounters. I’m a curious soul and I love seeing what all walks of life have to offer. The mystical is just another path in this game of “choose your own adventure,” in my view.
I’ve had some incredible and accurate readings with all types of humans who have a gift; astrologers, psychics, Akashic readers, mediums, tarot cards & palm readers, healers, intuitives, and energy workers galore. I love learning new things, especially about myself. I’ve also had some not-so-accurate readings from borderline scammers. Live and learn as they say. So to have this type of experience in Bali is just another one for the books…but an interesting one at that.
One thing I don’t do anymore is to find some random person on the street who wants five bucks to tell me about my future fortune, love life, and career path. Maybe they have a gift but the skeptic in me needs a little more info before I hand over my moola and my palm. I do research and find people with a legit business that they pay taxes on, and I read the reviews – lots of reviews. Agus kept coming up in blogs all over the internet. He had many great reviews on Google and other sites where they compare these types of folks, but I’m not sure how much he pays in taxes. He is running a cash-only biz.
Bali has over 8,000 healers on the island, which means there are going to be some Charlatans in the bunch but overall even the locals tell me about how they know many people with different gifts for healing the spirit and/or physical body. My jury is still out on Agus at the moment but I did learn a few things about myself and he did provide some good life advice – even if he possibly tells it to everyone.
His wife picked me up in her cute red Toyota matchbox-sized car. Traffic was shockingly horrendous so we ended up being an hour late but not to worry, Agus kept his word of meeting with me for the full allotted time. Three hours.
His home is beautiful. You enter into a grandiose space that is full of colorful umbrellas, curtains, and a beautiful fountain while incense is subtly tickling your nose. It’s peaceful and probably very mesmerizing for a first or second-timer to one of these events. I could understand how it would make a person feel like this is a very sacred, holy, and special experience. But maybe it’s part of a show? I’ll never know.
The place is at least two stories high. It’s a little bit of a maze so I’m not exactly sure how many levels we ascended but it was a few flights of stairs up to his “working space” on the top floor. Which was also decorated with more umbrellas, statues, a walking path, and beautiful plants and flowers.
Sergio, a cute (really cute) 20-something guy from Switzerland who was volunteering for the week greeted me and explained what was about to happen. After walking around a garden path, he took me into a room with more colorful curtains, lots of incense, and a huge pool full of fresh flowers, three kilos to be exact. The place smelled AMAZING. This was worth the price of admission. I immediately felt relaxed and could not wait to jump in the water. Ironically, I slipped and fell while getting in the big tub and bruised my tailbone. Clumsy accident or an omen from God? I don’t know but it left a mark and a funny memory to share for years to come.
When I arrived, Sergio had me pick two different colors of sarongs – I chose blue for the pool and hot pink for my reading with Agus. I changed into my bathing suit, wrapped the blue sarong around me, and slipped into the pool (pun intended). I was told to relax and meditate if I could for 30 minutes…if not, just relax and play with the flowers. After 30 minutes, Sergio showed back up and told me to dry off and change into my undergarments and the pink sarong. Once I was ready, I was to meet Agus in the room across from the garden. Easy enough.
I followed all the instructions and found Agus (who apparently had been meditating on me for the 30 minutes as well) lighting some incense (this stuff is everywhere). He asked me to sit down and then asked me my name. He said he was going to do a ritual that would take about 45 minutes and then we would talk. He had me lay down in this very colorful hut-looking thing with the same pretty curtains that matched the room downstairs.
He had me close my eyes. I could tell he was waving the incense over me and chanting. Maybe he was clearing the energy around me or something. I don’t really know what that was about but it didn’t feel weird.
Next, he started ringing a bell in a continuous pattern. It was loud but really nice and a little hypnotic. I couldn’t see him because I was in the hut but I heard him move to all four corners during the ceremony. He chanted while he rang the bell. This felt like it went on forever.
After he finished with the bell, the next sound I heard was a singing bowl. He did a similar ritual, chanting and playing the bowl in the corners outside the hut. Again, this lasted for what seemed a very long time.
I was totally relaxed after these two sound baths. If you haven’t ever done one before, they are great. I highly recommend them. It relaxes the nervous system and calms the mind. Again, we are off to a good start. The flower and sound baths were both excellent.
After the sound healing, he stood over my face, and with oil, on his hand, he pressed really hard on the top of my head and chanted. Not sure what that was about but it’s his traditions and ceremony we are using here and not mine. Then he put oil on his thumb and pressed really hard above my left eye and then my right while chanting. He asked me which eye hurt worse when he pressed on it. I thought, well now that you’ve asked, both hurt like heck…but I said the left side. He said I’m living too much in the physical world and I need to incorporate more spirituality. I had read about this part in someone else’s blog. Fair enough answer, but I’m not sure this is customized to each client. Again, I’m still a little skeptical.
Next, he had me move over to the seating area near him so he could read my palm under a very bright lightbulb – almost blinding. He pulled out a magnifying glass and began to twist and turn my hand. He was accurate on several topics and a little vague on others.
I asked if I could audio record the session. He said no that it would break the connection with his spirit guides. I call BS on this. All of the other legit people I have met with have let me record our sessions or send me a recording. The spirit world does not care if you need a replay. But okay, whatever, your ceremony, your rules. I’ll keep playing.
He started with my character. The first thing he said was, I am an extremely sensitive person. True but vague. I am open-minded but my heart at the moment is closed. True. I am someone who likes the unique and not mainstream. I am not judgmental. I have a positive and adventurous spirit. Again, all true but if you are going to see a palm reader and healer in a foreign country, the odds of having these characteristics in your personality are probably more than likely than not. He said I am loyal, sometimes to a fault. My friends and romantic partners mean the world to me and I will do almost anything without expecting anything in return, so sometimes people take advantage of that kindness. He said I shouldn’t worry about that because that is their karma, not mine. My karma from previous lives is finished and now I am to be happy and give love everywhere I go. Good advice. He went on to talk about how I’m a spiritual light being and coached me on how to use my unique personality to have the best life possible. This resonated with me but it was nothing too specific.
He told me I am a world traveler – again, not out of the box with this one – an American in Bali. He said I will own two homes later in life – one in America and the other in another country. I like this prediction because it’s on my bucket list and a dream of mine. Point for Agus.
He said I am very lucky. I have many spirits surrounding me and looking out for and protecting me. Good to know. He said my money line is strong and I will always have everything I need but I will have to work for my money – it will never be given to me, like through an inheritance or something. General but I have heard this from at least six other readers.
Next, he spoke of my love life. Surprisingly, he was very accurate about this area of my life, including mentioning specific dates of breakups. He told me my future about a new partner coming into my life but I still need to finish the karma with a past love. Not sure about this, so we will see. Maybe I’ll write a follow-up post to this later in life. Stay tuned.
After the romance portion, we discussed my career. He said I climbed to the top of the mountain and then walked away from it all – which is true. He also said this was the right decision. Whew. He said I am on a spiritual journey at the moment and I will take what I learn and integrate it into my next career which will be completely different from my previous line of work. I asked him about specifics but he said he couldn’t tell but life will reveal itself soon enough. Hmmmm.
He said many more things about all of these areas but since I don’t have a recording, I can’t remember them! Grrr.
In the end, he asked me if I had any questions, which I did. They are personal so I’m not going to share them here. I wasn’t too pleased with his responses – too vague – and at this point, I kind of kept pushing him which changed our dynamic a little. This is where I got more skeptical. While I do think that Agus has been trained to read a palm – and many things did match up with what I’ve heard from other readers and he was accurate about my past – I’m not totally sold. He gave me some really valuable life advice which I’m sure is also in many books and Youtube videos – we are not reinventing the wheel with general life advice.
Once the talking portion was finished, he had me follow him 11 times around the garden path and then into a little area with a statue where he threw more good-smelling flowers on top of my head and chanted. This was the end of the ceremony.
His bio said he was previously a tour guide. Tour guides are good at reading body language – it’s a skill as well. We are all energy and the telltale signs are obvious if you know what to look for. I’m not saying he is a phony because I don’t know, only he knows. And like I said, he was accurate with some specific dates and timelines of my past.
Listen, life is full of signs, omens, and clues if you stop and look. Even our bodies and the food we eat are connected. The thumbprint is like the rings in a tree. The lungs are shaped like tree branches and leaves – both of these recycle air. Kidney beans strengthen your kidneys and are shaped like the kidney so we can recognize them. Red foods help the blood and heart. Our feet and ears have acupressure points for every organ in the body. Etc, etc, etc… So it doesn’t seem so far-fetched that our palms could hold the key to many past and future events in our lives, maybe we just need a little help from someone with the keys to unlock the code.
Visiting a healer, psychic, palm reader, etc. is based on faith and being open-minded to something other than our own hamster-on-a-wheel thought pattern. It’s not magic. Like healing an ailment when using a Placebo pill, an athlete believing that his dirty socks are the cause of his winning streak, or even just the preacher from church giving a thought-changing sermon that alters the way we look at life. We assign what is valuable and “true” when we believe in something but ultimately you get to choose what you believe.
In conclusion, what I learned from my time with Agus is, that I have done so much research, I know myself better than anyone else but for most of my life, I’ve looked to outside sources to heal me or fix me or change me. I should never give my power away to another, but I can use these folks as tools to better know and understand myself, just like I would a doctor, trainer at the gym, or therapist, and then make the best choices for myself and my life. I need to trust and believe in myself first and foremost. Maybe this was the point of the meeting. Maybe that was my gift from Agus. I’m still mulling it over.
At the end of the visit, I paid him in cash and he gave me 6 months’ worth of tea and incense, and a bracelet I had picked out with Sergio in the beginning. Agus had placed it inside the singing bowl while he played it so it had the energy and vibration of the sound. He gave me instructions for the teas and said I was to wear this bracelet for the next 44 days – same as my age. You know the rebel in me will take it off a few days prior just for giggles…and then be on the lookout for lightning to strike.
He also gave me a detailed morning and evening ritual that he said would change my life in a positive and healthy way. It involves incense (of course), praying (talking), meditating (listening), and writing a list of things I’m grateful for every day. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I already do these things every morning but maybe adding it to the evening will create a surprise shift somewhere in my life.
Do I feel good about the appointment? Yes. Would I recommend you do it? That is something you need to decide for yourself. All in all, I’m glad I did it. It’s another interesting experience, totally unique to anything I’ve tried before, and it makes for a fun story to share! The sound bath made me feel very relaxed and my body felt good the next morning. Not to mention, the flower bath is one of the highlights of the trip so far…it was euphoria! As for the predictions, time will tell.
Oh, one more thing, he also told me I would die at 90 which is contradictory to every other reader who has told me I’m out at 84. Someone can fill in those blanks in my memoir later. For now, I’m going to continue to be open to new experiences, make more memories, meet interesting people, eat delicious food, travel to distant places, and not take myself (or life) too seriously…none of us are getting out of here alive.
Goodnight and much love from Bali! 🇮🇩
