The things we cannot see

[A. G. Maisey]

Jean, my own early years were spent in a distinctly rural Irish household, in Australia, yes, but the tone of the household was that of my mother's parents. I believe I can identify some similarity between practices & beliefs that existed in that household, with practices & beliefs that I have lived with in Central Jawa.

I really do not find it particularly difficult to shift my world view from the one I was surrounded with in my early years, to the world view I have needed to live with during the last 50 years or so.

My principal teacher in the Keris was Empu Suparman Supowijoyo, AKA Pak Parman or sometimes PP, and to his close friends "Pak Mendung". He lived in Komplang, a suburb of Solo and his house was diagonally opposite a mesjid (mosque). When the call to prayer became too loud he would tolerate it for a while, but then he would complain that it was "disturbing his kebatinan" and he would walk over to the mesjid and ask them to tone it down a bit, which they would do.

Now, an alternate name for "Kejawen" is "Kebatinan". However, there is a difference between Kejawen, which is mainly concerned with the outer expression of a philosophy, and Kebatinan which is centered on the attainment of inner peace & strength. There are various schools of both philosophies, and for many people the two can overlap.

To attempt to come to an understanding of Kejawen, from outside Javanese society & culture, would be, I feel, almost an impossibility unless one were to approach the learning process in a structured way. That structure would necessitate the gaining of an understanding of Javanese indigenous beliefs, Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, Sufic Islam, and perhaps some understanding of Theosophy might also assist.

This is a big ask for somebody who just wants a superficial, packaged idea of the way in which grassroots Javanese people understand the world around them, so we need to take a few shortcuts. Perhaps one of the better shortcuts is a careful reading of Clifford Geertz's "Agama Jawa". This work was produced in the 1950's, and it is dated, the concepts probably do need to be addressed in light of the present day, however, although this might be something of concern to an anthropologist, for the purposes of somebody who wishes to come closer to an understanding of the keris, I feel that the time gap is immaterial.

All the above is my response to Jean's comments on Kejawen, and although there can be some relationship between Kejawen and the belief systems surrounding the keris and mystical beliefs, Kejawen is not central to the discussion that we could develop here.

I have heard stories of both good things & bad things that keris interested people have attributed to one or more keris, but I myself have never experienced anything, either good or bad, that I could rationally sheet home to any keris. I am not prepared to dismiss the possibility that for some people, rationally inexplicable things can occur, and sometimes, again for some people these rationally inexplicable things might be associated with a keris.

Along this line there is the story of a keris that was supposedly responsible for the death of a number of people, another keris I heard about had been responsible for the bankruptcy of several people, still another keris was regarded by its custodian as being responsible for the foundation of his successful small business.

So I think that we must acknowledge that for some people, some keris might have some sort of notable effect.

However, on the other side of the ledger we have the charlatans who buy a keris in Pasar Triwindu early on Monday morning, and by Tuesday evening that keris has become a magical pusaka that materialized from the earth during meditation on Gunung Lawu. It has probably acquired a certificate or two along the way that guarantees it is the residence of a powerful and ethical khodam who will invariably assist the custodian in achieving his earthly desires. A powerful presence, something like Aladdin's genie of the lamp, except that you usually don't get to see the khodam.

Some of these charlatans have now become international, and they are actively besmirching the truth and reality of the keris. To be frank, this is something that offends me, I would very much like to encourage a better understanding of the real esoteric aspects of the keris, so that people might have some chance of identifying the possible from the impossible, or put another way, identifying attributed powers that might be accepted by a learned ahli keris, and powers that might be dismissed with a smile.

Perhaps a little bit of understanding of the way in which the elements of the Hidden World do function might help people with a minimal understanding of these forces to differentiate between the possible & the impossible, the real & the unreal.

Perhaps this understanding might be assisted by the opening up of opinions, beliefs and experiences of keris interested people.

[Jean]

Thank you Alan and I hope that other members (especially Indonesians & Malaysians) will positively participate in this discussion.

[Green]

some years back when I was working in an American MNC I got to travel often to Thailand and Indonesia. One time I asked one of my Thai friends and work colleague "As a buddhist, don't you feel offended that Buddha statues are sold in art galleries ,weekend markets or worse and non Buddhists buy then and use these merely as room decoration ?" His answer was that it is OK with him as all these statues were either already de-consecrated or were never consecrated by priests. So they are just plain statues like any other statues.

And so with keris. A big majority of keris were made purely using just technical know how by keris smiths without the added rituals , prayers and special rites that were more commonly done in 'the old days' particularly for keris commissioned by important people. I would guess virtually all keris that are made in this century in Malaysia at least are made without any rituals hence there is nothing imbued in these keris. And so, these keris are as plain as kitchen knives in term of whether they contain secret khodam or possessing any special magics.

Despite all that, you can not sit with keris collectors for five minutes before being regaled with unexplained things that happened to them or people that they know which were caused by this or that particular keris. And many still believe that certain 'ketandaan' (symbols/marks) on keris give particular benefits or other wise . In short, majority of keris lovers and collectors have deep awe and respectful of (old/antique) keris because despite being pious muslims and Islam strictly prohibiting belief of power other than Allah the old superstition still persist and the way most people get aroud this is by saying "all these power (of the keris) is by the leave of Allah"

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Green, you have identified a major area of misunderstanding --- actually two major areas of misunderstanding.

Firstly there is the fact that not all keris were created equal.

Then there is the fact that not all creators of keris were equal.

The keris that was created with the intention that it would have some quality that might be able to accessed by its custodian was created by fire and physical force, but with the addition of ritual, and that ritual was not known to every person who could use the forge and its tools.

The man who knew the correct mantras and offerings and days and hours and methods of production that were necessary for the creation of a keris with power was the Empu (Mpu).

This then raises the question of how it might be possible to identify the work of an Mpu.

Hopefully this question will be addressed later.

The word Empu/Mpu should be looked at to understand exactly what this word means. The word exists in Old Javanese, the language that was in general use in Jawa prior to approximately 1600. At that time this word was simply an honorific used to show respect.

However, as the Javanese language developed over time into Modern Javanese, it came to be used as a title for an outstanding craftsman, a literary person, a poet, an artist, or a maker of keris. Since these people were, in Jawa, usually attached to a court, it then became a title that was accompanied by one of the other formal titles bestowed by the court.

In Bahasa Indonesia the word can be understood in several different ways:- master craftsman, armourer, master.

So, if we are looking for a keris that a person who is knowledgeable in keris belief will accept as having the possibility of possessing some sort of power or force or essence that is out of the ordinary, than that keris needs, first & foremost to be able to be identified as the work of a master.

Just because a keris is old, that does not mean that the possibility of an extraordinary nature does exist.

[jagabuwana]

I'm from a Sundanese, Muslim family whose culture has experience and knowledge around matters of the unseen or esoteric. It is largely informed by:

• Pre-Islamic Sundanese folk beliefs like ancestor or nature worship
• Esoteric, syncretic Islam or "tasawwuf". I often avoid the words Sufic or Sufism as I find that this often connotes it being a separate sect outside orthodox Sunni Islam - which it is not.

From my observations and studies, an enduring keris culture with links to past traditions and beliefs doesn't seem to exist in Sundanese culture today. If it ever did, I am not confident that it can be found intact today. Nevertheless we can still find beliefs regarding the keris' unseen qualities which we have explored in this forum previously. For example:

• The keris can act as a bridge between the seen and the unseen worlds
• It can be used to call upon the custodian's ancestors
• It can be a vessel for both good and bad entities

Interestingly, how the unseen is described will depend on who is asking. In public life, everyday speech or something published for lay audiences, it leans more Islamic. That is to say that the unseen world that humans often encounter or meddle with is made up of jinn. Jinn are a type of non-human entity that are distinct from humans and angels and we co-habit earth with them. They can be good or bad, but in this context is usually brought up with negative connotations. They are said to make their homes in nature - rocks, trees, mountains etc, but can be "called" into empty vessels like keris to harness whatever power they might have. Inasmuch as this is acknowledged to be possible, it is a deeply shunned practice if it is sought after or practiced deliberately.

However I have found that depending on the nature and depth of the conversation, and who is present in the conversation, discussion about the unseen turns into one that involves ancestors and spirits - both referred to as hyang/eyang. This can mean ancestors in your lineage or kinship group, but it also extends to any personage that has passed into the unseen world several generations ago and are treated with the same respect as the former. As for spirits, these are those that the Muslim stream of thought would call jinn, but are spoken about in a way that is much more neutral and less negative or taboo. The nature of these spirits varies - sometimes they are from nature; sometimes they are animals; ghosts, monsters or demons. Basically any non-human entity that is not adequately explained by Islam. It is within this intimate, private conversation and context that the "true" understanding of the unseen is approached.

[jagabuwana]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Yes Green, you have identified a major area of misunderstanding --- actually two major areas of misunderstanding.

Firstly there is the fact that not all keris were created equal.

Then there is the fact that not all creators of keris were equal.

The keris that was created with the intention that it would have some quality that might be able to accessed by its custodian was created by fire and physical force, but with the addition of ritual, and that ritual was not known to every person who could use the forge and its tools.

To add to my previous post, I will elaborate my understanding of this based on what I have gathered and come to learn from my culture.

As previously mentioned, there is no intact Sundanese keris or keraton culture today, so there is no Empu role to draw on here.

However there is the belief that a person can be born with spiritual sensitivity to the unseen world. This is usually confirmed by a sensitive elder, who might be able to act as a medium for ancestors who come into them to share wisdom and warnings to those present, as well as for those ancestors to confer their blessings or confirmation of sensitivity to this person. It is not uncommon for these to be further supported by the elder/ancestor referring to some happening in the person's life that perhaps they had not told to others, such as a significant dream or inexplicable event.

This event is what marks the legitimacy of this person's sensitivity to their family or community. It is a very private and spontaneous affair.

This person can then choose to hone their sensitivities under an older, sensitive mentor through meditation, fasting, forced isolation in austere conditions and so on. But it is also believed that a non-sensitive person could obtain these aptitudes through rigorous practice and study under a teacher, albeit it with great difficulty and with great cost to their psyche.

In the context of this culture, I think this person could fit the bill as someone who could create a keris that is able to call on ancestors or to act as a conduit for the unseen. But I do not know precisely "how".

[blackforest1959]

As a new member i didn't want to get active so quickly, but this is a topic i can't resist. I am coming from the black forest area of Germany where the mystical is still a kind of reality and now living in Indonesia where the mystical experience happens all around, ghost busses, people who fell asleep and awake dozens or hundreds Km away only to name a few. And things that happened to me/my family and only stopped after i bought a protective Keris ( chinese witch and muslim Ustad failed). Or the pusaka Keris of my wifes family, buried because to scared of them, yes one of it flies too. All this is real, in Indonesia. I doubt one could replicate these things lets say in Germany or England. Probably my Keris would there only be some iron and wood in a funny shape with some interesting patterns on it, without doing its magic. I think everyone who has lived here in Indonesia for a longer has similar experiences in one way or another. And there is more than only one reality.

[A. G. Maisey]

Jaga, I used the word "Sufic" because this is an English word.

The root, "Sufi" was first used in 1653 and was used to refer to a member of a Muslim mystic ascetic sect.

From Sufi we have Sufic, ie pertaining to the Sufis or their mystic system.

In the first half of the 19th century the word "Sufism" was first used as an English language word, and the meaning attached to this word is "Islamic Mysticism".

"Islamic Mysticism" in Arabic is "Tasawwuf".

I am writing in English, I could have used "Islamic Mysticism", or "Sufism", I chose "Sufism", principally because that word is commonly used in publications written in English that deal with Islamic Mysticism.

It would have been incorrect of me to use "Tasawwuf", even if I had a very clear idea of the implications of the use of this word, which I do not have. Moreover, "Tasawwuf" is not found in Old Javanese, Modern Javanese or Bahasa Indonesia. "Sufi" does occur in Bahasa Indonesia where its meaning is "mystical", & especially in reference to Islamic mysticism.

The importance of the Sufic path in Javanese culture is that with the early spread of Islam, there was quite a lot in Islamic Mysticism that was in harmony with the existing ideas of the Javanese people. Islamic Mysticism merged with Javanese Mysticism that had developed from indigenous beliefs overlaid with Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, and Kejawen was the result.

Pretty much the same story that you have told for Sunda.

Much of the present mystical belief that surrounds the Javanese keris is the product of the Islamic campaign for domination of Jawa. The ideas and the words used to refer to these ideas are often not from the pre-Islamic Javanese lexicon, and this is the point at which it can become quite difficult to separate the real from the unreal.

It can be helpful to trace the history of the use of a word in a society and then to consider the trends in that society at the time when the word began to be used. This exercise can be quite illuminating when applied to words that have come into use Indonesian society within, say, the last 50 years.

When we consider the recent ideas that apply to the mystic aspects of the keris and we look at the words used to refer to these aspects we might feel just a little bit confused as to whether we are dealing with truly Javanese belief systems, or whether we are looking at concepts and beliefs that have been transplanted from a totally different cultural setting.

Jaga, your comments relating to the abilities of some people to touch and be touched by an alternate reality are I believe generally more or less close to the mark, however, one thing I know as an absolute certainty is that not everybody who has this ability regards it as something positive, there are those who regard the possession of these "gifts" as a curse.