[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your response Henk.

In colloquial English, the phrase "---do you think---" is a way of seeking the opinion of the person to whom that phrase is addressed.

It could as easily have been expressed as :- "---in your opinion---".

In response to my question, you have provided, as I understand it, your comment that you personally have no opinion in these matters, but that you are prepared to accept without challenge the beliefs of others. I can understand this, and quite frankly, in some situations I often adopt exactly the same approach myself:- somebody believes something, let them; it costs me nothing and maintains harmony to let them have their opinions, and I'll have mine.

Maybe, in Holland it is a commercially sound practice never to shorten the pesi on any keris, simply because so many people use the length of the pesi as an infallible guide to the value, integrity and spiritual completeness of the keris. Nobody has ever accused the Dutch of being other than very canny businessmen, so clearly, in Holland, it would be best to assume that all keris become valueless in the presence a pesi that has been altered in some way.

Regretably, I did not learn keris in Holland. I say "regretably", because had I had the opportunity to learn in Holland, I have the feeling that I would be a much more spiritual, and a much less pragmatic person. A pity. No, I served my apprenticeship in Australia, a country with religious beliefs that are no less strong than those of any other country. It is an observable fact that some religions seem to produce fanatics amongst certain demographic groups. This is the case in my country:- most people are religiously fanatical, however, our national religion in Australia is sport, a faith not particularly well known for its ability to foster spiritualism.

Then my misfortune was compounded:- I became a journeyman in Jawa, and each of the masters who contributed to my knowledge and experience were very, very pragmatic people. In fact, I have often thought that my Javanese teachers were Javanese versions of myself, as our value systems always seemed to be totally in synch.I did not learn a lot of spiritualism there, either. What these most honorable men taught me was that only a blade made by an empu could be considered to possess an essence, and that blades made by empus were relatively easy to recognise, as there were comparatively few of them, and they were invariably of superior workmanship, or possessed certain defined characteristics which made them easily recogniseable.

Now, something else is well known in the keris trade in Jawa:- dukuns and small salesmen are constantly searching for keris that can be sold as having "isi", or "tuah". The number of stories that follow from this could fill not one book, but several.Strangely enough, the type of keris that are purchased by these people for resale as "spiritual" keris, and that I have seen, invariably fail the tests that my teachers taught me to apply.

It is a remarkable phenomenon, but the higher up the tree of keris knowledge one climbs, the less one finds people who profess belief in the power and the spiritual aspects of the keris, that are taken as articles of faith by farmers and housewives who have never learnt to read.

It is without doubt that the Dutch, and the Portugese before them, had considerable influence in Jawa, and the whole of Maritime SE Asia, but one could perhaps question if the presence of these external influences could, in fact, influence the belief systems present in the Javanese community.

I know I questioned the validity of my friend's statement that the Dutch were responsible for the beliefs in the supernatural power of the keris. I thought---hey, this is a bit far fetched:- logical Europeans being responsible for the way in which the ordinary Javanese person thinks about keris?----naw, mate, I don't think so. This time you're wrong old buddy---of course I didn't say this---I just nodded my head, tried to look wise, and agreed with him:- yep, those evil Dutch are to blame for everything ---(especially if you're a good Muslim who prays five times a day and observes all religious requirements).

This conversation with my friend took place perhaps 20 or so years ago. In the intervening period I have learnt things that I did not know at that time, or if I did "know", I did not understand the implications which these things generated.

What I did not understand was the level of superstitious belief held by the Dutch and other Europeans during the 16th to 19th centuries.
I did not understand the social class and background of the people who made up the bulk of the early Dutch colonists in Jawa.
I did not understand the social practices and value systems of these dutch colonists.
I did not understand the position of the keris in Javanese society prior to the coming of Islam.
There were many things that I did not know nor understand 20-25 years ago, of which I now have some limited understanding.

In light of my present limited understanding, I am now very inclined to agree with my Javanese friend that the Dutch did contribute significantly to the Javanese system of belief surrounding the keris. Where I disagree with him still is that I do not think we can hang the entire blame on the Dutch. I believe that the influence of Sufic Islam on indigenous Javanese spiritual belief contributed at least as much, if not more to the Javanese system of keris belief.

We must also bear this in mind:- the beliefs which surround the keris in Jawa, are not the same as the beliefs which surround the keris in Bali.
In Jawa the keris has occupied the place in society of being an icon and an item of dress for something like 250 years.
In Bali, up until only 100 years ago, or perhaps less, the keris in one incarnation was a direct line of contact with one's ancestors and with the spiritual power of all within one's kin group.In a different incarnation it was a weapon.

That "buy the keris, not the story" if tracked back to point of origin will be found to have originated with me, and I got it from the same man who told me that the Dutch were responsible for the keris beliefs.

Henk, just like you, I try to avoid debates centering around religion (and politics).I have a good Australian friend, who went completely overboard and has infact become an ersatz Javanese, living in a village, going barefoot, and being more rural Javanese than the rice farmers themselves. A couple of years back he showed me the keris that he had acquired at a very high price from a local mystic. He had slept with it under his pillow, had all sorts wonderful dreams, and was totally convinced that this keris had once belonged to a famous historic figure, who now provided him with help and protection.This was by all accounts an incredibly powerful and historic keris, and he believed in its power 100%. If he touched the blade he could even feel an electric shock going through his body.One hell of a keris! I might have believed in the power of this keris too, except for the fact that this keris had been made in Sumenep Madura within the last ten years, and was of the very lowest quality available from that source. But I said nothing, and my friend still has his firmly held beliefs. He's happy, and it has cost me nothing.

David, as I have already said:- first line of attack should be to drill the hilt, and if the correct hilt is used, there should be no issue of the pesi being too long.

However--- the reality of the situation is that blades from one point of origin moved to other geographic locations, both as personal possessions and as items of trade. I have very often come across blades from Sulawesi, Sumatra, Peninsula Malaya, Bali, and other places, in old Javanese dress. I have encountered blades from Jawa in Balinese and Bugis dress. And of course, old blades of Madura origin can be found everywhere. When these old keris in old dress are taken apart, it is often perfectly obvious that the previous owner(s) had had no qualms about altering the pesi so the blade would fit the required dress.Invariably these keris have been very ordinary keris.

However, nobody but a fool will take a grinder or a hacksaw to a Kinom, or a Brojoguno.Each stroke of that hacksaw cuts off dollars.

Even with an old, but somewhat middle quality keris, we always look to see if the pesi is intact, we cannot know if it has ever been shortened during the last couple of hundred years, but we can make sure that it is complete and original. We do this for one simple reason:- if the pesi is missing, or has been repaired, the keris is worth less, not much less, but marginally less.

When its all said and done, its a matter of personal preference. One does what makes one comfortable.