Yes Jaga, it is a fairly common belief amongst many grassroots people that certain mystically empowered people can call entities into not only keris, but virtually anything.
The belief is generated by the ability of the "mystically empowered" person to convince the person who is paying for the service that in fact that walking stick --- or whatever --- now has a khodam in it that will help him to climb stairs as he did 50 years ago. He didn't really need surgery at all.
I have seen exactly this, up close and personal. Its a bit like faith healing, it works for a while but when the belief begins to fade, as it invariably seems to do, things go back to being as bad as they ever were.
I do know personally several people in Solo who engage in this sort of thing, ie, as sellers of the false. I know their backgrounds, I know their families. I think that perhaps this "calling of spirits" thing might once have been real, but I agree with both my Palur pembantu, and the gentleman who sought but failed to find, that genuine practitioners of this craft no longer exist, even if they might once have existed.
It is true that the closer we get to the centers of true power in Jawa the harder & more focussed the esoteric practices and realities do become. I have seen people who were a part of this kraton culture literally laugh out loud when talking about the beliefs of people whom they believed had no understanding of the realities --- never in the presence of these people, of course. I have seen my own tutor & mentor foaming at the mouth with outright rage when he and several other people were discussing what we had just witnessed & heard at a keris meeting that we had been invited to in Ngayogyakarta.
There is quite a gap between the belief systems of the upper classes and the belief systems of the common people. The kraton is the protector of Islam, this is certain, but the Islam that is followed by most of the people who are at the heart of Karaton culture is in fact Kejawen, not the rough, folk belief Kejawen of the farmers and becak drivers, but the refined philosophical Kejawen of the elites.
It is also true that tantrism is still practiced to a limited degree in Jawa, and of course, it is a total impossibility for any except the elites to be involved in this.
The idea of "isi" is not just limited to the common people, but the nature of isi has been corrupted by those who have no --- or very little --- understanding of keris culture. The idea of "servants" and "genies" & etc has no place in a world populated by indigenous nature spirits.
Tuah is generally believed by keris literate people to have some true essence, if it is a keris that was made by an empu and with proper ritual, then certainly that keris has talismanic power that might be able to be of value to the right person. It becomes a matter of matching the keris to the person. The fact that empu + ritual were involved in the making gives assurance that no evil entity can enter that keris.
But sub-standard keris that have been made by somebody other than an empu, and that have been made without ritual, have no power at all other than the power generated by the custodian. That is, if the custodian strongly believes that any particular keris has some sort of esoteric content, then that belief will have an effect upon the custodian's mental processes and body language and might generate the effect that he believes that the keris is providing.
If the custodian believes that the keris is re-enforcing his authority he will speak and act in a way that radiates authority, and the authority itself will follow.
This sort of discussion could go on endlessly, but it all gets back to one thing, we cannot understand the keris unless we understand the culture & society it comes from. Just that.
You, Jaga, you have a flying start . I myself have been fortunate and have a lot of years invested in poking into obscure little corners. But for somebody with no background in this field, trying to get to a position of some understanding must be incredibly difficult, and the shysters only make it more difficult for them.
Especially so when "pusaka keris" are offered for sale. Any keris that at one time might have been pusaka ceases to be so the instant it is sold. Pusaka keris must be given.
How about when 16th century keris that were made in Aeng Tong-tong some time during the last 30 or 40 years and that serve as a home to three separate khodam are offered for sale complete with certificates and guarantees?
Is this sort of thing helping anybody to get an understanding of the true power of the keris?
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