Sorry Kiai, but i am afraid i must side with Tom here on most points.
Firstly, while arsenic is certainly a poisonous substance, with a little common sense (i.e. Don't lick the spoon!
) it isn't all that dangerous to use. I have used it to stain blades safely many times. Small nicks with a treated blade would hardly cause any trouble. Now, plunge it into a vital organ and you've got real trouble.
Once again we have the keris as weapon vs. spiritual talisman debate. One thing that i believe confuses many people on this issue is that they don't understand that the keris is a living and evolving spieces. What is commonly believed and accepted now may not be the same as what once was. I deeply respect your spiritual attitude towards the keris. I, as well, view the keris as a spiritual tool, a prayer in iron which can be used to transform ones life. I certainly would never dream of using one of my keris to do harm, physical or otherwise. HOWEVER, to make claims that the Javanese keris was never intended to be used as a weapon and base this theory on legend and myth is just misleading. Mind you, legend and myth serve a very important role in understanding society, culture and self. But these stories are parable meant to teach us lessons, not really meant to be taken as fact to prove academic points. Keris have been made through the ages to serve MANY different purposes. Some, such as the particularly thin blades you discussed in a different thread, were never meant to be used as a weapon. But keris were also carried in early times as a personal side arm. They were not a choice weapon of war (spears would be preferrable), but of personal defense. The Chinese made written record of early encounters that young men who were quick to anger and to revenge insult would draw their keris blades and fight. These are not the only accounts, nor are they the stories of mythical figures of early Javanese history. Nor are they characters from the Wayang whose stories are also meant to teach lessons, not real history. These are accounts of the common people.
As i stated, keris were made on many levels and for many purposes. On the royal level it is unlikely that any of these keris would ever be used for something as mundane as fighting. I think these keris, though, have more in common with the legend of Excalibur than you might think. Excalibur was about the transference of power and the divine right to the throne. Only Arthur could pull it from the stone and take his rightful place on the throne. Royal keris were often used in similar manners to distribute power.
As for modern keris, you are right that very few empus are still at work using the old ways to produce keris. Even Empu Djeno hasn't made a keris in some time, leaving the work to his apprentices. There are, however, a great deal of highly artistic keris being produced in Jawa and Madura. These keris may not hold the spiritual levels of energy that empu made pieces do, but on some levels they are technically superior pieces of metalwork. To call these keris "tourist" items would be misleading. The vast majority of them never leave the islands, being collected mostly by Javanese collectors. I would not call these tourist keris. I leave that designation to punched out blades with painted on pamor. These i would call "art keris". There is a growing group of collectors for these and for better or for worse, they are keeping the keris culture alive.
