ABSTRACT
Space is highly ordered in Balinese thought and its use is organised according to definite rules. Within this framework, ritual position and movement possess a complex significance. In the closed cycle of life, death and rebirth, for example, the location of ceremonies varies with changes in status and provides a tangible expression of the fate of the human soul. The basic dimensions are defined by reference to terrestrial and empyrean phenomena and are identified with processes in nature which are perceived as changeless: the course of the sun and the downhill flow of water. From this, there emerges a connexion between the interpretation of space and the traditional political order, founded upon a theory of caste. For the main directional axis is associated with ritual purity, which also constitutes the ideological principle underlying the system of ranking. Through the medium of the spatial grid, purity-or innate religious difference which justifies political inequality-is represented as a natural and unquestionable quality. This is strikingly reminiscent of Cohen’s view of political systems that: ‘the stability and continuity of the régime are made possible through a complex system of symbolism that gives it legitimacy by representing it ultimately as a “natural” part of the celestial order’ (A.Cohen 1969:221).
