[Bill M]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

That is not quite so Pusaka.

It may appear to be so to somebody on the outside looking in, and yes, in many cases it is so, but there is at least one Balinese Pande who can still create a keris using the correct mantras and ceremonies.

During the 1980's there were two empus in Jawa who would accept commissions for a traditionally made keris.

If a keris is being made as an art work, or as an item of commerce, it would be totally inappropriate and commercially unviable to create it using the traditional offerings, mantras and prohibitions, so it cannot be expected that a keris that has been made as an item of commerce will have too much of the esoteric about it.

However, much of this business of a keris having some particular essence or power is rooted in the beliefs of its custodian, and there are those who believe that even an "empty" keris can have particular powers called into it.

There is something else that must be mentioned too, and that is that even for a keris that is believed to have some particular esoteric content, that content will only be accessible by a particular person, and it is usually not of the nature imagined by non-initiates. An example of this would be the true pusaka keris that acts as a binding agent that brings together all custodians of previous generations with all members of a kin group in the present generation.

There has probably been more uninformed rubbish written about the "magic" powers of The Keris than perhaps all other cultural artifacts.

We must never forget that The Keris has the nature of a meru and as such it is an empty place waiting the entry of a spiritual entity, thus care must be exercised to ensure that whatever entity might care to take up permanent or passing residence in the keris is not of a negative nature.

WOW! Beautifully said! I am in alignment.