VOC BLADES: A comprehensive look

A. G. Maisey · 25th February 2014, 11:51 PM

Jim, insofar as Jawa & Bali are concerned, any weapon, indeed any object, including cooking pots, stirrups, buckles, walking sticks and a vast array of other objects, including farmland, can be regarded as "pusaka" and be considered to hold some of the properties of a keris that come from being pusaka. Such associated properties would include elements of ancestor worship and as status markers.

However, only the keris as pusaka possesses the special properties of cosmic symbolism and unification. Only the keris is a required part of formal dress.

I do not doubt for one moment that indigenous smiths in the old Indies made VOC marked blades, both for use by VOC personnel, and in some cases to provide additional talismanic content in the form of the VOC symbol. Indigenous Maritime South East Asian belief systems tend to be inclusive, rather than exclusive, so if a new source of power came upon the scene it was thought to be a good idea to include the symbolism of the new power along with the existing symbolism. This line of thought was particularly so in Jawa. For that matter, it still applies in Jawa with a segment of the population.

25th February 2014, 11:51 PM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	Jim, insofar as Jawa & Bali are concerned, any weapon, indeed any object, including cooking pots, stirrups, buckles, walking sticks and a vast array of other objects, including farmland, can be regarded as "pusaka" and be considered to hold some of the properties of a keris that come from being pusaka. Such associated properties would include elements of ancestor worship and as status markers. However, only the keris as pusaka possesses the special properties of cosmic symbolism and unification. Only the keris is a required part of formal dress. I do not doubt for one moment that indigenous smiths in the old Indies made VOC marked blades, both for use by VOC personnel, and in some cases to provide additional talismanic content in the form of the VOC symbol. Indigenous Maritime South East Asian belief systems tend to be inclusive, rather than exclusive, so if a new source of power came upon the scene it was thought to be a good idea to include the symbolism of the new power along with the existing symbolism. This line of thought was particularly so in Jawa. For that matter, it still applies in Jawa with a segment of the population.