Darren, I know two Balinese pande. One I have known since , I think, 1984, at which time he was working with his father whom I also knew. This man is probably the most highly respected pande keris in Bali. The other pande I know is much younger and is a "new boy on the block". He is quite talented, but has not yet built his reputation.
However, I would never ask such questions as I believe you are suggesting of either of these men. This would be considered to be improper, arrogant, ill mannered behaviour. It would indicate that I thought I had the right to know of their personal practices, and as such my question would be treated with contempt and I would be given an incorrect response, possibly a response that reflected the answer they thought I was expecting.
In the societies in which these people live we need to become not just a part of the society, but a part of the segment of that society before questions about personal practices, especially those connected with money and personal belief, will be tolerated.
The only way to truly know anything about these matters is to be accepted as, let us say, "a member of the club". If you are not a member of the club, you are an outsider, outsiders have no right to ask, and even less to know.
The pandes of Bali separate themselves from the rest of Balinese society. They are members of the Pande Clan. They have their own priests. Even other Balinese are outsiders.
In Jawa the situation is not as tight as in Bali, but outsiders are still not accepted until they have demonstrated that they might be suitable to be accepted.
I believe that it is pretty well known that I was taught how to make keris by Empu Suparman Supowijoyo; that teaching stretched over a 14 year period.
Let me tell you what came before my acceptance as his student. I was accepted at age 41, in the Solo of the 1980's, and before, most ahli keris would not accept men who had not demonstrated that they were mature and committed as students. You needed to be a stable member of society, married, preferably with children, and of good reputation; if you wished to learn how to make keris you needed to demonstrate that you had the funds to pay for the process.
At age 41 I had already studied Javanese society, history, art, culture and specifically the keris, for 27 years, I had already had 15 years of face to face contact with Indonesia and had periodically lived in Solo for periods of a few months, for 8 years, I had already learnt basic forge work from an Australian traditional blacksmith, Gordon Blackwell, I had already made one keris with pamor, as well as several other daggers with pamor, and a number of knives made of mechanical damascus and high carbon steel.
That was my background when Empu Suparman accepted me. But he then had numerous meetings with me over about a 2 year period, during which time he probed every corner of my personality and life. He spoke with people in Solo who had known me for long periods of time. In short, he conducted a two year long interview in order to assess if I was suitable to be taught how to make keris.
The "hands on" teaching began 2 years after I was initially accepted.
All education costs, in one way or another, it is not simply a matter of asking questions.
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