Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Suggestions for care and respect of Javanese and Balinese Keris.

Bill M · 12th July 2006, 03:00 AM

David,

I think that you are right about the timing of smoking a keris. I was told Thursday night, because that would most likely be as close to the right night in Java. But I may have that wrong.

I would wonder if the spirit of the keris is Islamic oriented. Best I can tell the Indonesian version of Islam is a thin veneer over an animistic culture with its roots in the Neolithic.

So, perhaps, the keris (the Muslims have been here at least 400 years or so), could be Islamic oriented, over an animistic belief or it could be OR -- as I suspect -- a more pure spirit.

I also know that most of my keris have not been regularly smoked. I have heard that not feeding the spirit could caues his departure. So I would guess that most of my keris are empty houses. Beautiful empty houses, but the spirit is gone.

But the house is there. All it needs is a little turnkey. Some cleaning and polishing. The advertise for a new tenant. Then take care of him and he takes care of you!

Perhaps this is a crude attempt to explain a more beautiful and certainly more complex process, but a simple concept underlies this complexity.

In my 40 years of managing property, it has worked for me.

So how to attract a spirit back? Perhaps instead of Thursday night, we could work a little bit Western and find the right astrological time for our Moonchild ritual and bring a spirit into his new home. . . .

12th July 2006, 03:00 AM	#4
Bill M Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA Georgia Posts: 1,599	David, I think that you are right about the timing of smoking a keris. I was told Thursday night, because that would most likely be as close to the right night in Java. But I may have that wrong. I would wonder if the spirit of the keris is Islamic oriented. Best I can tell the Indonesian version of Islam is a thin veneer over an animistic culture with its roots in the Neolithic. So, perhaps, the keris (the Muslims have been here at least 400 years or so), could be Islamic oriented, over an animistic belief or it could be OR -- as I suspect -- a more pure spirit. I also know that most of my keris have not been regularly smoked. I have heard that not feeding the spirit could caues his departure. So I would guess that most of my keris are empty houses. Beautiful empty houses, but the spirit is gone. But the house is there. All it needs is a little turnkey. Some cleaning and polishing. The advertise for a new tenant. Then take care of him and he takes care of you! Perhaps this is a crude attempt to explain a more beautiful and certainly more complex process, but a simple concept underlies this complexity. In my 40 years of managing property, it has worked for me. So how to attract a spirit back? Perhaps instead of Thursday night, we could work a little bit Western and find the right astrological time for our Moonchild ritual and bring a spirit into his new home. . . .