ABSTRACT
One of the more intriguing forms of symbolism in Bali is based upon a somewhat uncommon use of nature. In certain agricultural ceremonies, various species of widelyfound plant, otherwise ostensibly unimportant, are accorded a temporary ritual prominence. This is largely, it seems, because their normal designations refer in some way to the conditions of ideal cultivation, in particular to the phases of growth and the harvest yields, of irrigated rice. In each instance, there is a terminological association which relies on the systematic employment of homonymy or assonance, in a broad sense. While this does not preclude the possibility of other types of link so far untraced, it suggests the relevance of language and sensory resemblances, in the formation of symbolic connexions, in a manner which may previously have been overlooked.2
