He couldn't have been more wrong :-D

[unicorn]

As part of our group travel for our culture-experiencing group, we attended a purification ceremony and aura reading by a Brahmin Hindu priest here in Bali. He walked around and pondered my husband, pronouncing that he was a "charmer of the ladies" 😁, then walked around me (who was wearing, in addition to my sarong, some Amazon Basics shorts and an unbranded plain green T-shirt) that I was a "successful businessman." It took quite an effort on my part to keep a straight face, instead of rolling on the floor laughing. He said my aura was "orange," implying a creative personality. In reality, I'm an entirely left-brained person, who's very good at analysis and problem solving, but devoid of creativity. He pronounced another guest, who has described herself as a non-wealthy woman, as a woman of great means. After he was gone, she laughed along with us at how wrong the priest was. She's also atheist (from NSW, Australia). Our guide, a Muslim, said that the man may have been so wrong because he'd just come a cremation ceremony and may have been tired. On our way back from the ceremony, he could see most of the group chuckling. 

[vinapu]

8 hours ago, unicorn said:

 He pronounced another guest, who has described herself as a non-wealthy woman, as a woman of great means

since English is his second language I'm sure he meant "woman of great tits"

[Riobard]

Note to self: Avoid cremation in Bali without a preceding confirmatory MRI and angiography. 

[Riobard]

3 hours ago, vinapu said:

since English is his second language I'm sure he meant "woman of great tits"

That may have been overly repetitive, given a hot attendee’s pecs filling out a plain green T. 

[unicorn]

9 hours ago, vinapu said:

since English is his second language I'm sure he meant "woman of great tits"

He'd have to be blind to have said that. This woman was in her late 70s.

[unicorn]

18 hours ago, unicorn said:

... On our way back from the ceremony, he could see most of the group chuckling. 

Correction: I meant to say I could see most of the group chuckling. We would not, of course, have chuckled within earshot of him. We waited until we were walking back to the hotel. But everyone found the aura reading to be quite amusing in its inaccuracy. Of the group of 9, 5 or 6 declared themselves to be atheist, and the most of the rest were probably, as well. There was an English gay man in his 30s who I suspect was atheist, but it never came up. One was from Cambodia, and may have been Buddhist. He was the quietest of the group. My sense from my travels is that the Cambodian government isn't as hostile to religion as the Vietnamese government is. Vietnam is the only country I've been to in which the government asks all visa applicants what their religion is, and can get quite nasty were one to bring in religious materials into the country. In Indonesia, being religious is mandated by law. All people must declare themselves to belong to one of 5 religions: Islam, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism, or Buddhism. 

[PeterRS2]

2 hours ago, unicorn said:

In Indonesia, being religious is mandated by law. All people must declare themselves to belong to one of 5 religions: Islam, Hinduism, Catholicism, Protestantism, or Buddhism. 

So you sugest Taoists, Sikhs, Mormons, Orthodox Christians, Jews etc. are banned from entry? According to internet sources, that is completely false.

[unicorn]

7 minutes ago, PeterRS2 said:

So you sugest Taoists, Sikhs, Mormons, Orthodox Christians, Jews etc. are banned from entry? According to internet sources, that is completely false.

Not banned from entry, but banned from citizenship, according to our Indonesian guide (who's from central Java). According to him, at the age of 17, all Indonesian citizens must declare one of the 5 religions I mentioned. He may be wrong at this time, but he had to do it when he turned 17 (apparently the age of majority in Indonesia). I asked him what if one were Zoroastrian, B'Hai, etc., and he said you still had to pick among the 5 mentioned. I haven't seen the actual law(s) involved. If he's wrong, I'm willing to admit it, if someone wants to look it up. For my purposes, I was willing to take him at his word.

[PeterRS2]

11 minutes ago, unicorn said:

Not banned from entry, but banned from citizenship, according to our Indonesian guide (who's from central Java). 

I assumed you were referring to tourists.

[floridarob]

4 hours ago, PeterRS2 said:

I assumed you were referring to tourists.

I never would've made it off the airplane....

[unicorn]

4 hours ago, PeterRS2 said:

I assumed you were referring to tourists.

I agree that I could have written more specifically that "...all citizens and permanent residents..." must declare one of five religions rather than "...all people." That being said, in that same post I mentioned that Vietnam is the only country in which I've been asked what religion (if any) I practiced (I put "none," of course, which they liked). One might infer from that statement that Indonesia has no such query for tourists, since I discussed being there. My guide, who lives there and had to make the choice, assured me that one has to pick one of those 5 he mentioned. I suppose Orthodox Christians, Jains, and Jews have to make believe. I do remember seeing in one of the restaurant menus a section for "Vegans and Jains," so there must be some. Or maybe it's just for tourists. 

[unicorn]

Only form of Judy-ism I'll practice: