But that's not all Wayan can do. Also, she told us, she is sometimes called upon to be a teacher of sex for a couple who are either struggling with impotence or frigidity, or who are having trouble making a baby. She has to draw magic pictures on their bedsheets and explain to them which sexual positions are appropriate for which time of the month. She said that if a man wants to make a baby he should make intercourse with his wife "really, really hard" and should shoot "water out from his banana into her vagina really, really fast." Sometimes Wayan has to actually be there in the room with the copulating couple, explaining just how hard and fast this must be done.
I ask, "And is the man able to shoot water out of his banana really hard and really fast with Dr. Wayan standing over him watching?"
Felipe imitates Wayan watching the couple: "Faster! Harder! You want this baby or not?"
Wayan says, yes, she knows it's crazy, but this is the job of the healer. Though she admits it requires a whole lot of purification ceremonies before and after this event in order to keep her sacred spirit intact, and she doesn't like to do it very often because it makes her feel "funny." But if a baby needs to be conceived, she will take care of it.
"And do these couples all have babies now?" I asked.
"Have babies!" she confirmed with pride. Of course they do.
But then Wayan confides something extremely interesting. She said that if a couple is not having any luck conceiving a child, she will examine both the man and the woman to determ-ine who is, as they say, to blame. If it's the woman, no problem—Wayan can fix this with an-cient healing techniques. But if it's the man—well, this presents a delicate situation here in the patriarchy of Bali. Wayan's medical options here are limited because it is beyond the pale of safety to inform a Balinese man that he is sterile; it cannot possibly be true. Men are men, after all. If no pregnancy is occurring, it has to be the woman's fault. And if the woman doesn't provide her husband with a baby soon, she could be in big trouble—beaten, shamed or divorced.
"So what do you do in that situation?" I asked, impressed that a woman who still calls semen "banana water" could diagnose male infertility.
Wayan told us all. What she does in the case of male infertility is to inform the man that his wife is infertile and needs to be seen privately every afternoon for "healing sessions." When the wife comes to the shop alone, Wayan calls some young stud from the village to come over and have sex with her, hopefully creating a baby.
Felipe was appalled: "Wayan! No!"
But she just calmly nodded. Yes. "It's the only way. If the wife is healthy, she will have baby. Then everybody happy."
Felipe immediately wanted to know, since he lives in this town, "Who? Who do you hire to do this job?"
Wayan said, "The drivers."