Quote:
Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
In this Forum we have mostly stayed away from discussion of the esoteric elements associated with the keris. Understandable to some degree. There is a tremendous amount of nonsense that does get spread around, about keris, and there are numerous shysters out there, both with an online presence, and working face to face in the community. I know personally some of these people who are in Jawa, and really, I'd like to see most of them gone. They purport to sell things that in fact cannot be sold under any circumstances, and if payment does happen to be involved it should be done in the appropriate way, which is face to face.
At the moment these people only damage the image of the keris and detract from the real esoteric element that some keris might possess.
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Thank you Alan for posting some good, solid responses to Jag's questions.
I just want to be clear, not only to you, but to all our members. As a moderator for this group i do not in any way want to discourage the discussion of the esoteric elements of the keris. It is in fact one of the reasons we separated keris discussion from the main Ethno Forum, so that we could explore aspects of keris culture that collectors of other ethnographic weapons were not quite able to put into context or wrap their heads around. I believe it is important that we do not push these subjects aside exactly because of what you state in your posts. It is important to at least try to sort the "shyster" spiel from more traditional esoteric elements of keris culture to attempt to head off the damage that can and has been done to the image of the keris.
This is not to say that there are not inherent difficulties to these types of discussion. I ask that people be respectful of the beliefs other may hold dear when we engage in these discussions and remember that the "understanding" of the keris may indeed be different for different people depending upon the sources used to form their beliefs. But we should also remember that all sources of information are not necessarily equal. As long as discussion remains friendly and civil i encourage more discussion on these esoteric subjects.