Hello Gentlemen
, one other peice of information that might help in imagining the keris would come from observing people in Java and Bali preparing offerings for the Unseen. Most offerings have prescribed ingredients and some are difficult to come by. In such cases only a tiny smidgin of the rare ingredient is considered enough as the 'sarat' has been fulfilled. Thus in the world of the keris I would imagine that a smidgin of meteorite of forgable metal could be mixed in with other pamor material, thus fulfilling the 'sarat' and enabling the weddinig of the heaven and the earth to be done by the Mpu. Through a process akin to the thoughts in the world of Western homeopathy the whole of the pamor can then be considered to be from the heavens and the wholeness of the keris as a prayer is manifested.
Some more information for Mr.Hyle
about the intention of keris to be used as weapons, and the idea that the Javanese were taught about keris by monkeys. Mr. Hyle thinks that some keris might have never been intended as weapons. I would propose the opposite, that some keris were made to be able to serve as a material weapons of the last resort, just in case at some desperate moment the bearer had no other choice.
As for the idea that Javanese were taught about keris by the monkeys that was intended as a joke
I was just pointing out a panel from the Prambananan temple not far from where lucky B. Aditya lives. You should go to Yogyakarta and visit him and Mpu Djeno's family, by the way. The monkey thread was a joke made with the intention of pointing out that information from racist Chinese sources or renegade Portugese sailors or even devotional art could not be taken at face value but had to be understood in context to be interpreted usefully.
Indonesian silat also learns moves and systems from animals and the monkey is one of them and my joke about keris being taught by monkeys was not intended to hurt any monkeys in this forum
It is very true that to understand keris one must handle as many keris as possible with the assistance of a knowledgable mentor. An Indonesian keris mailing list is talking about making an international and definitive keris gathering in Bali. This would certainly give an unique opportunity to all keris lovers. Would anyone have an idea how many internationals would be likely to atend such a meeting? Would it be a feasible thing to do? I would be grateful for your ideas Gentlemen.
Salam Keris.