Kerokan: The Coin That Pulls the Wind Out — Epoche A2
The rain caught me on the motorbike last night, one hour from Solo, wet through. This morning: cold shoulders, heavy head, tired arms, but no fever. Grandmother looked at me once and said the two words everybody in Java knows: masuk angin. The wind got in. So, kerokan. I lay face down on the mat. She took an old coin and a small bottle of eucalyptus oil, and pulled the coin down the skin of the back in long, firm lines, one beside the other. It does not cut. It feels hot, then good. Ten minutes, no more. Then she held up her phone and showed me the photo: red stripes from the shoulders to the waist, like a tiger. She was very happy with the colour. Dark red, she says, means a lot of wind came out. Light pink means you were not really ill and you should stop complaining. 😅 After that: rice soup, a blanket, two hours of sleep. This evening the head is light again. Tonight the jacket goes on before the rain, not after it. 🍃