Arguably the most important part of a keris is the blade. A family that have falling on hard times may chose to sell the outer “clothing” of a valuable family keris but will often not sell the blade. The blade is described and categorized according to its physical/artistic construction along with its age but there is another category which is to many more important, a keris blade is said to be either alive or dead.
A keris which is alive has an energy field around the blade which may be experienced by different people in various ways. Some can actually see a soft coloured light around the blade others feel a sensation of lightness, warmth or tingling when they touch the blade. A dead blade is exactly as the term “dead” suggests. It is devoid of any energy field and although it may be a beautifully constructed keris at the end of the day it is only a piece of steel.
A blade which is alive (ampuh) can be categorized variously depending on the nature of the energy which permeates the blade. Firstly the blade can be termed good or bad, a better word would perhaps be evil.
The blade may have a type of consciousness or not.
A common bar magnet which is surrounded by a magnetic field is nothing more then a piece of steel with an energy field around it however we would not say it was alive yet it clearly has properties which a common piece of steel has not. Similarly it is possible to magnetize a keris blade if you have the knowledge to do so. The result is a piece of steel with an energy flowing through the blade. It may be used as a conduit to heal or harm but it has no consciousness so to speak.
A blade which possesses consciousness can be categorized into two types, either the owner has made the blade an extension of his body and thus the blade is mentally linked to the owner or the blade has been put in the service of a jinn, good or bad by binding it to the blade through the use of magical rites.
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