Rerajahan soul of the keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for putting up those links Darren, interesting.

Was there something in particular that you wanted to draw out attention to in the Basuki Yuwono article? I read that one through, but I have not got time right now to look at the other articles before & after it.

I've looked at just the 6.15 cut of the pande inscribing the metal, I have not yet looked at the rest of this video --- again, time. I'll have a look later.

[David]

I watched the entire video. Very nice Pusaka, thank you for posting it. It may be one of the most detailed presentations i've seen in youtube videos on the process of making keris. It's a shame that i don't speak the language and could only understand certain key keris terms that were used throughout, but the visuals were informative.
I also noted the use of the metal scribe being used early in the process in that video. As i stated before, it is not at all surprising to me to see this. You asked me earlier if i was aware of the term "Rerajahan" before you brought up this topic. While the term was not completely familiar to me, the practice most certainly is. Similar processes are enacted in the creation of talismanic objects across all cultures. The letters, sigils and mantras might differ, but the application and desired result is basically the same. So while it is nice to see a video of a keris pande actually performing this aspect of empowering the material used in the early stages of keris creation it is not at all surprising to me. No one here has argued that this is not a part of the process.
It is also nice that you seem to have found the word "Rerajahan" in conjunction with keris being used in Jawa. My internet searches on that front came up empty. As you noted, i am not sure if it is understood in the same context in Islamic culture since in the interview his response was that one must know the "Rerajahan Keris text which explains the requirements to become a master or cleric.". Given the confusion of online translators it's hard to say exactly what their understanding of the term is, though i would be surprised to find Islamic empus using Vedic mantras and symbols in the making of keris. As you stated before, they may well have substituted passaged from the Quoran instead.
What i wonder now that you feel you have established that Rerajahan was and perhaps still is a part of the process for making a spiritual keris, where you would like to take this discussion? I seriously doubt we will be able to go into much detail on the specifics of the practice, nor, if we could that we even should. So what should we be learning here?

[Pusaka]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Thanks for putting up those links Darren, interesting.

Was there something in particular that you wanted to draw out attention to in the Basuki Yuwono article? I read that one through, but I have not got time right now to look at the other articles before & after it.

I've looked at just the 6.15 cut of the pande inscribing the metal, I have not yet looked at the rest of this video --- again, time. I'll have a look later.

Just that it mentions a "Rerajahan Keris text" which is studied by keris makers in Jawa. I am wondering what that might be.

[Pusaka]

David,

I second that, one of the most interesting videos I have seen also, talk about a feast for the eyes!

My reason for starting this thread was twofold:

1 because no such thread discussing Rerajahan in the construction of keris existed prior to it and thought it would be good to change that.

2 and my main reason was I was hoping that some member/s of this forum would have some knowledge in this area maybe even share some examples of Rerajahan used in keris making.

I dont feel I have succeeded in my objective, either:

1 There is not much knowledge on the subject here due to its specialist nature.

2 Maybe there is some knowledgeable but don't feel comfortable openly discussing it.

3 The topic doesn't resonate with them and therefore have no interest in it.

As for me it is these deeper esoteric aspects of the keris that I find most interesting. Actually it is the esoteric aspects of the keris I have spent most my time uncovering.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your response Darren.

In respect of this text "Rerajahan Keris".

What Basuki Yuwono says is this:-

" Terdapat dua manuskrip yang menjadi acuan.Pertama, naskah Dharma Kepandean yang dibuat pada era Kerajaan Kediri, Singasari, dan Majapahit.Kedua, naskah Rerajahan Keris yang menjelaskan persyaratan untuk menjadi empu atau penggandring."

the crux of the sentence is "---acuan. Pertama ---"

the meaning of the word "acuan" is "to pay close attention to the words of a teacher", so used in this sentence it is rather peculiar syntax. In free translation I understand what Basuki is saying as this:-

"There are two manuscripts that must be given close attention before anything else --------"

I emphasise "free translation", as to translate exactly as written it would sound extremely peculiar. I've matched my translation to translations of two native speakers, both give the same meaning but in different English words, in fact one of these native speakers did not even know the word "acuan" and had to look it up in a dictionary before the whole sentence became clear to her.

Basuki then mentions his two manuscripts.

I've never heard of either of these manuscripts.

Dharma Kepandean I could find with a web search as a little primer published in Bali, it claims to be a translation from a lontar held in a Balinese collection. I can find no academic reference to this lontar.

The Rejahan Keris manuscript I can only find in reference to Basuki himself. I have no idea where the original has come from.

I do not know the word "rerajahan" in a Javanese context.
I do know it in a Balinese context, but only in very recent times.
I know the root word "rajah", as a "tattoo, magical drawing, or palm lines", and its intensified form "rajahan" as a special sort of tattoo.

I have never heard the word "rerajahan" used in connection with keris during all the time I have spent in Jawa and Bali.

EDIT

I've just finished watching the video.

Nice production, nice to watch, but it does not give even the smallest inkling of what is involved in the making of a keris blade.

I read it as a promotion for Museum Neka --- which is certainly worth a visit, I like it very much, visit it every time I'm in Bali, and I'll be there again in a few weeks.

[A. G. Maisey]

Darren, this has been a pretty decent sort of a thread, its really nice that you started it, and we've had the opportunity to talk about a few things that seldom get a mention, but I'd like to go back to your post # 7 where in the quote from the book we read this:-

"--- In the very Center of the keris, buried in the layers of
metal, was a strip of paper* on which a charm was written in Sanskrit
letters.---"

You have commented:-

"*The author is mistaken here the Rerajahan is not drawn on paper for obvious reasons instead it is scribed on the metal with a stylus"

In fact, the speaker would have found a piece of paper, and there would have been writing on the paper, which might very well have been a charm.

You see, as keris blades become old, those that were not very well made in the first place begin to delaminate. Sometimes the owner will write something on a piece of paper and tuck it down into the delaminated section of the keris.

What is written might be a genuine charm, or it might be something that pretends to be a charm, keris dealers with somewhat less than the desirable level of integrity will sometimes prepare rotten old unsaleable keris for sale by inserting little half hidden pieces of paper with something written in hanacaraka script into a delamination in the blade. This is no secret, it is well known market place trickery in the Javanese keris trade.

There is no tradition of which I know, nor that my teachers knew, nor that is contained in the primary Surakarta Empus Text-book, that calls for the inscription of magical drawings into any part of the metal used to produce a keris blade. My training has all been Javanese, it may be different in Bali, I do not know because I have never had instruction from a Balinese pande.

The thing that we see in the video where the pande is scratching something onto the metal very probably is "aum". A Hindu will usually invoke the assistance of Ganesha at the beginning of any new undertaking. Nothing strange, hidden, or unusual in this.

Why has the subject of "rerajahan" never come up in our keris discussions?

Well, I guess it is because of a couple of reasons, one of which is the word itself, which appears to be a pretty recent addition to the Balinese lexicon. The old word is "rajah" or "rajahan", and it is such a common thing in everyday Balinese life that it really would not rate a mention in discussion specifically about keris. In discussion of Balinese esoteric practices it might get a few mentions. But even then, I'm not so sure that the "rerajahan" form would be found in old sources.

Perhaps the other reason might be that the whole concept of "keris magic" is so little understood that those who do have some comprehension of this also have sufficient understanding to withhold discussion of these matters in public --- if at all.

[Pusaka]

Alan, Thanks for the info about the de-laminated keris with paper inside. I myself have seen many keris for sale including shady talismanic keris but have never seen what you describe.

You mention lontar text, I do know that the images used to construct jimat are taking directly out of lontar text.

For now I guess the way forward is to locate those two text spoken of and perhaps get talking with Balinese pande and ask them directly.

EDIT:

"Some of the ancient lontar texts included complex drawings along with corresponding Balinese calligraphy that are used by balians to create amulets called jimats. Jimats are created for a variety of uses, healing is one usage. In constructing a jimat, the balian redraws the illustration, first asking permission to engage in this activity, then proceeding with focused intention upon the sick recipient.

A Balinese sacred healing image
The illustration is usually drawn upon paper, although some are executed on white material or metal, depending upon the usage. Next, additional aksare are etched with a sacred tool onto a small piece of gold, silver, copper and bark of an indigenous Balinese tree. The balian folds the drawing in half, shaves incense into the crease then continues folding adding incense shavings with each fold until a small square approximately 1-1/2" is reached. The metals and wood are placed on top of the drawing with shaved incense in between each layer. The entire piece is slipped into a sheave of white cloth, then secured on all sides with threads."

http://www.drgrotte.com/BalineseMedicine.shtml

[A. G. Maisey]

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.

[David]

Originally Posted by Pusaka

Alan, Thanks for the info about the de-laminated keris with paper inside. I myself have seen many keris for sale including shady talismanic keris but have never seen what you describe.

Can you define "many"? Surely you must be aware that Alan has seen and physically handled more keris over the past 50 years than the majority of our membership combined. That you or i may not have encountered this is neither surprising nor of any consequence.

Originally Posted by Pusaka

You mention lontar text, I do know that the images used to construct jimat are taking directly out of lontar text.
For now I guess the way forward is to locate those two text spoken of and perhaps get talking with Balinese pande and ask them directly.

I admire your optimism on this front, though i suspect you will find the task of locating these two texts about as easy as locating the Holy Grail. But i wish you luck and would love to hear about your findings if you ever are able to get your hands on them.
I also wish you luck when you finally locate a Balinese Pande and meet with him face to face to ask that he impart to you all his greatest secrets for the preparation of a "living" keris. Ah, to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.
I am sure that you realize that we are indeed fortunate to have, right here in this conversation, a man who studied directly with two acknowledged Mpus and who has created some fine keris himself. I find it interesting that when he tells us, "There is no tradition of which I know, nor that my teachers knew, nor that is contained in the primary Surakarta Empus Text-book, that calls for the inscription of magical drawings into any part of the metal used to produce a keris blade" that you don't seem to even skip a beat. I am not suggesting that you look no further, but you seem to prefer the mythos of Dynamo Jack as popularized by Lorne and Lawrence Blair or the legends of keris passed on through Westernized Silat to the accounts of someone who has actual firsthand knowledge working with well known Mpus. True, as Alan states, he has not worked with a Hindu pande and it certainly would not be surprising to find some things done a bit differently there given they still adhere to Hinduism in Bali. However, we should also consider that keris in Bali are a direct line of descent from the Mojopahit empire of Jawa.
Of course, this does not mean that Alan is infallible on these matters and certain i have disagreed and debated him on numerous points over the years. But it is remarkable to me how easily you seem to brush off his experience because it does not jibe with or give you the answers that to seem to have already assumed to be true.

Originally Posted by Pusaka

"Some of the ancient lontar texts included complex drawings along with corresponding Balinese calligraphy that are used by balians to create amulets called jimats. Jimats are created for a variety of uses, healing is one usage. In constructing a jimat, the balian redraws the illustration, first asking permission to engage in this activity, then proceeding with focused intention upon the sick recipient.

A Balinese sacred healing image
The illustration is usually drawn upon paper, although some are executed on white material or metal, depending upon the usage. Next, additional aksare are etched with a sacred tool onto a small piece of gold, silver, copper and bark of an indigenous Balinese tree. The balian folds the drawing in half, shaves incense into the crease then continues folding adding incense shavings with each fold until a small square approximately 1-1/2" is reached. The metals and wood are placed on top of the drawing with shaved incense in between each layer. The entire piece is slipped into a sheave of white cloth, then secured on all sides with threads."
http://www.drgrotte.com/BalineseMedicine.shtml

I'm trying to understand what this information shows us in regard to keris. You seem to keep coming back to this idea that the keris is nothing more than another form of jimat, a talisman, a charm. Certainly there are keris we can regard as being "talismanic", but i believe we sell the keris short if we insist that all it is or can be is just a talisman. I don't think anyone will disagree with you that this method of Rerajahan may well be used in Bali to create simple talismans or charms. Of course, balian are highly respected healers in Bali and people there frequent them more often than medical doctors, especially when their problems seem to be more a matter of niskala rather than sekala. But a balian is not an mpu or pande and showing that they may use Rerajahan in the creation of jimat is hardly evidence that keris pande also use the same process. It seems quite a jump from there to then state that Rerajahan is the "soul of the keris".
In your post (#25) you stated your reasons for starting this thread:
1 because no such thread discussing Rerajahan in the construction of keris existed prior to it and thought it would be good to change that.

2 and my main reason was I was hoping that some member/s of this forum would have some knowledge in this area maybe even share some examples of Rerajahan used in keris making.
As both Alan and i have pointed out, there may indeed be reasons why there was no such thread on "Rerajahan" here as it might relate to keris. But for you, this void, this hole, this flaw in our keris knowledge "says it all'. No Pusaka, not just here, but actually not anywhere that i know of (and i participate in 4 major online keris forums and moderate on 2 of them and can find no mention of Rerajahan there either). As i believe i have already stated, and you must realize this having some knowledge of the use of sigils in Western Magick, this process of magically charging objects with letters, sigils and words (chants) is quite common is esoteric circles across many cultures and certainly we can find that it is indeed a practice in Bali. That does not, however, support the notion that Rerajahan is specifically used in the creation of keris. Yes, we do see a pande in the marvelous video to posted inscribe something quickly on the billet before he begins, but it doesn't seem to be anything like what i image is the more complicated procedure of Rerajahan. I do find Alan's explanation that he may be inscribing an aum as an offering to Ganesha to open the way for the start of the work very plausible however. Of course, this is all changed now so when we google the term "Rerajahan + Keris" people will undoubtably be directed right here. I thank you for that.
I'm afraid your second and main reason for opening this thread seems a bit fantastic to me. Let's say for a just a minute that your suspicions about Rerajahan and keris are correct. As i stated early, if there was hard evidence to support this i would not find the concept too farfetched. Let's also say that there was someone in our membership who had a direct line of understanding about it and its application to keris (though i would think that if anyone here was privy to such knowledge it would be Alan). Why on earth to you suppose for even a minute that person would be willing to share such information in an open forum like this? I mean seriously, would not the exacting methods of instilling isi into a keris blade be the most highly guarded secret amongst Mpus? I would think that if such a secret did exist the details of it would not be revealed even to the Mpu's apprentice until the very final stages of their training. You are not going to find this sort of information in online forums, videos, articles or even books. Or i should say that you may find things that might appear to be such knowledge, but are not, because every step along the path of spiritual knowledge is fraught with hucksters, con men and fools. Deep truths are never revealed this way because people would learn them before they were ready to actually know them and that can be a very dangerous situation indeed. It is always easy to find the "truths" we want to hear because there are always people ready and able to provide such misdirections, especially if they can find a way to make a living doing it. But if you ever do meet a pande keris who is willing to teach you his greatest secret of how to bring life into a piece of forged iron i would not be the least bit offended if, after careful consideration, you decided not to reveal such a great secret in an open forum such as this.