Remembering that sacred night in Sumedang as we honored the birth and life of the prophet Muhammad (maulud) with tarawangsa music in a village in Sumedang, West Java. A young duo played jentreng zither and tarawangsa/rebab fiddle behind a mountain of offerings - the whole evening was really a mountain of offerings, from the women patiently swinging scarves in hand (an invitation to the spirits) to the men offering up their bodies as vessels for the spirits of ancestors and animals. The music is just one thread in this thick tapestry of ritual that is woven each year to honor and commune with those who came before.