Oh yes, something else that I almost forgot to mention, but first, to all those who may read this and who will undoubtedly be bored senseless by discussion of language in a Forum supposedly devoted to discussion of weaponry, I most humbly apologise for my part in the generation of this boredom.
In Modern Javanese, that is Javanese as it has developed since the 17th century, the word "yoni" does not, and never did mean the female counterpart of the lingga. Additionally,the word "yoni" is not a part of the Indonesian lexicon.
In Modern Javanese the meaning of "yoni" is "to have magical power, or supernatural power, or devine power"; it can have secondary meanings of "excellent", "distinguished", "sacred", or "to have high knowledge". Usage of the word is literary, it is not a part of ngoko or Krama Inggil.
In Old Javanese one of the meanings of "yoni" was "uterus or womb", but it had alternate meanings of "place of birth", and "origin", it also could be used to mean "perfect".
The word "yoni" has its origin in Sanscrit where it has well over a dozen meanings, including "vulva, womb, birthplace".
The entry for "yoni" in Ensiklopedi is clear enough, and it most certainly does not carry the implications attributed to it by The Most Honoured Kiai. It is very difficult for me to understand how a native speaker of Indonesian could give the interpretation to Pak Bambang`s text that has been given to it by Kiai Carita, whom we all know lives in a Javanese village, 30 km from Sragen.
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