Idanna Pucci writes from Iseh:     

The Gunung Agung, towering above the house in Iseh, East Bali, is not only a very live volcano, it is the seat of the Hundu Balinese Gods.  The house is, in fact, built around a sacred cempaka tree, whose gardenia-scented flowers are used only for offerings. And since mortals rank below the gods, the house is relegated  to a level just below a shrine to Mahadewa, god of the volcano and the house’s guardian spirit. You can feel the whole place fairly crackle with positive energy, the Balinese taksu.

“The German-Russian artist Walter Spies, already a legend, came here in 1937 and fell in love with the view: a vast panorama of terraced rice fields descending to the sea, 20 miles away. He situated the house at Iseh to take advantage of it. Writing to his mother, he told her, “I sold my Leica to Jane McPhee and with the money, I built a little atelier in the mountains of East Bali, as far away as I can get, so it will not be easy to find me.”

“Spies wanted to get away from the flood of celebrities who inundated his earlier house in Ubud. Among them was Charlie Chaplin, for instance, who (some local say) got his little penguin walk from Balinese theatre. Other distinguished visitors included anthropologists (Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson) and musicians (Colin McPhee, Leopold Stokowski).

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