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Puja is a Hindu and Buddhist ceremony of offerings and worship in homage to a god. During the ceremony, the officiant offers food, flowers and symbolic objects to the representative of the god. He tries to provoke the arrival of a god inside its depiction as an image or statue. The invocation by the pujari (the officiant) begins with ringing a small bell to call the divine. It is followed by offering fresh flowers, food and incense accompanied by music and repetitive recitation of mantras (sacred words). The lotus flower (Nelumbo nucifera, Nelumbonaceae) lends its symbolic purity and perfection to Buddhism and Taoism. It’s an aquatic plant which represents the birth of the Buddha. With its roots thrust into the mud and its flowers open to the sky, on a stalk emerging from the water and the mire, it is an allegory of the life of the Buddha. During his life on earth the Buddha rose above the beliefs of the animists and Hindus to achieve supreme knowledge. He is often depicted seated or even standing on a lotus flower which, in Buddhism, recalls the three stages of existence: the past, present and future. The lotus bud is thus one of the most common plant offerings in Buddhist temples. The pujari anoints the object of worship, a statue or a lingam (a stone carved in the shape of a phallus), with oil of camphor or sandal paste then covers it with garlands of flowers. Puja is celebrated by Brahmins in the temple and by the head of the family in the home. For Hindus it is a central act of daily life. In Buddhism, puja is an expression of gratitude to the Buddha or to a god, who personifies compassion, wisdom, etc. The lotus is one of the attributes of He Xiangu, one of the Eight Immortals of Taoism, who can also take a female form. It is very easy to bend a lotus stalk but very difficult to break it because of the many fibres which run through it and which keep it upright. This morphological characteristic also symbolises relations between couples, or the links which unite families. Lotus flowers (Nelumbo nucifera, Nelumbonaceae), jasmine buds (Jasminum sp., Oleaceae) and marigolds (Tagetes sp., Asteraceae) are popular floral offerings. Plaited palms and banana leaves often serve as containers for them. The majority of Balinese follow a local version of Hinduism called Agama Hindu Dharma in contrast to most Indonesians who are Muslim. Balinese Hinduism is a mixture of local beliefs, and Buddhism and Shivaism of Indian origin. Indian philosophy provides the theological framework while indigenous beliefs underlie the rites and offerings. The cult of natural objects is universal. Each element of nature is the expression of one or several spirits who have their shrines and are honoured. Followers thus keep contact with the gods and are reunited with their ancestors through offerings, music and dance during temple festivals. There has been a link between plants and spirituality throughout history and in all civilisations. Plants act as messengers, symbols, channels for good or evil, they make manifest our relation to the spiritual and to the divine. They are at the origin of beliefs, they feature in prayers and worship and both poly- and monotheist pagan ceremonies. Their medicinal or deadly powers reinforce the symbolic beliefs which underlie our use of them. These powers and the technical and aesthetic complexity of plants, coupled with their longevity, resistance and adaptation, are often difficult to explain scientifically simply by evolution. This may be why they offer unparalleled spiritual enlightenment. Their roles in the landscape and the perfect functional beauty of wild nature have often reinforced and transcended the sense of a founding divine presence behind the creative forces of nature. Ritual and daily offerings, called canang sari, in the temple or at home, are composed of two small baskets made of banana (Musa sp., Musaceae) or palm leaves (coconut palm, Cocos nucifera; borasse, Borassus flabellifer; Arecaceae): - the first, which contains lime, areca nut (Areca catechu, Arecaceae) and betel leaves (Piper betle, Piperaceae) is called the porosan and symbolises the gods of the Hindu trinity or Trimurti (Brahma, creation; Vishnu, preservation and Shiva, destruction); - the second, the vrassari, is full of flowers (marigolds, jasmine, various petals including blue hortensia (Hydrangea macrophylla, Hydrangeaceae)) and rice. We have set out to tell you about the place of plants in our world in relation to the divine, sacred and spiritual in whatever form or of whatever importance. We do this with respect even if certain beliefs and rites offend our social, scientific and ethnobotanical sensitivities. Our account is not exhaustive and undoubtedly contains assumptions and choices based on our own encounters and voyages. The line between science and parascience fluctuates through the history and geography of our civilisations and societies. This is clear with regard to the spiritual component of our lives. Fear of life, or of death, introduces distortions, obsessions and neuroses which often obscure a scientific explanation of ritual and its primarily utilitarian function. The offerings, a daily activity of the Balinese, demonstrate the people’s gratitude for the daily blessings bestowed by the gods on the living. More important offerings, the banten tegeh, are made for an odalan, an anniversary ceremony for a temple. They are paraded in the streets by women carrying towers of fruit, eggs and cakes on their heads. After being blessed by the gods, the offerings are taken back home and eaten by the family, the gods having taken only the invisible and spiritual essence. During the ritual prayer, the officiants give some grains of rice, bija, to the faithful who stick them onto their foreheads. Bija symbolises ofbetween Sang Hyang Widhi, the supreme god of Therethe hasblessing been a link plants and spirituality throughout history Balinese and in all Hinduism. civilisations. Plants act as messengers, symbols, channels for good or evil, they make manifest our relation to the spiritual and to the divine. They are at the origin of beliefs, they feature in prayers and worship and both poly- and monotheist pagan ceremonies. Their medicinal or deadly powers reinforce the symbolic beliefs which underlie our use of them. These powers and the technical and aesthetic complexity of plants, coupled with their longevity, resistance and adaptation, are often difficult to explain scientifically simply by evolution. This may be why they offer unparalleled spiritual enlightenment. Their roles in the landscape and the perfect functional beauty of wild nature have often reinforced and transcended the sense of a founding divine presence behind the creative forces of nature. Marigolds (Tagetes sp. , Asteraceae), jasmine (bud of Jasminum grandiflorum, Oleaceae), frangipani (Plumeria sp., Apocynaceae), etc. are used in large quantities during prayer. They are specially cultivated and sold in markets near temples in bulk or already prepared. After prayer, the Balinese divide a flower in two and slip one half into each ear. For couples, they signify protection of a wife by her husband, and the wife’s faithfulness. For unmarried people, they represent solidarity guaranteed by the gods. The offerings are usually accompanied by a stick of incense because, according to Balinese belief, smoke allows the offerings to rise to the sky and reach their destination. We have set out to tell you about the place of plants in our world in relation to the divine, sacred and spiritual in whatever form or of whatever importance. We do this with respect even if certain beliefs and rites offend our social, scientific and ethnobotanical sensitivities. Our account is not exhaustive and undoubtedly contains assumptions and choices based on our own encounters and voyages. The line between science and parascience fluctuates through the history and geography of our civilisations and societies. This is clear with regard to the spiritual component of our lives. Fear of life, or of death, introduces distortions, obsessions and neuroses which often obscure a scientific explanation of ritual and its primarily utilitarian function.