Between 1975 and about the year 2000, I was told by three separate, very knowledgeable and respected keris people living in Central Jawa that as a man is to a woman, so is the warangka to the wilahan, and that as a hat is to a man, so is the jejeran to the wilahan. The hat --- sorry, jejeran --- simply completes the dress.
That's a nice little story to help get things going.
Last quarter of the 20th century. Central Jawa --- one person in Jogja in 1975, the other two in Solo, a little later.
Do we really accept this as the way in which things were seen in Jawa during the Majapahit era? I rather think not. My feeling is that somewhere along the way, something sort of got misplaced.
If we want stories, we now have two, one from Willem, one from me.
Maybe there are some more interesting little stories out there?
Or just maybe somebody has been able to get back into the old literature and the records from pre-Demak a little further than I have. Or maybe somebody has been able to unearth some Balinese beliefs. Or maybe somebody has surveyed the overarching commonalities of cultural foundations in Maritime SE Asia, and by logical analysis provide us with a supportable hypothesis.
Whatever maybe out there let's bring it out and let it see daylight. Let's see what we can add to true knowledge in this respect.
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