ABSTRACT
There is some indication of the existence of a shadowy third vertical axis, overlapping in part with the previous one, which may be read as diagonal, but nonetheless analytically distinct. This may correspond to the sky and earth, or the ranked worlds, already discussed, of gods, men and inferior beings-animals like snakes and ghosts such as tonya, the spirits of men who have suffered bad deaths, by falling into ravines where they remain in perpetuity in separate villages. This dimension appears to be connected to the system of relative status ranking, one expression of which is the formal differentiation of head height (Mead 1960). For instance, in the consecration of a Brahmana high priest, the central rite, napak, of submission to the teacher consists in the latter placing his foot on the pupil’s head (for full details, see Korn 1960:146). In palaces, certain pavilions may be raised so that the prince can stay physically superior to lesser mortals (cf. van der Kaaden 1937). In contrast, where men sit on the same level, this may be an explicit statement of status equality. This inferred distinction is not a part of the Panca Déwa system, but the terms used are still interesting. Below, betèn, is opposed to above, (di)duur, which is related to luur and leluur (or leluwur), the high Balinese words for high and ancestor, respectively. As status and purity tend to be correlated in Bali, it is logical that the lake: sea axis may be seen as oblique.
