To wear versus to hide
 

OK, I will begin by admitting that we are going to discuss the belief in the power of kerises. However, I would like to keep the discussion as academic as possible, leaning toward the historic-anthropological perspectives about the Javanese culture.

I believe that in the beginning, kerises are meant to be worn as part of the owner's attire in order for its supposed power to work - charm, protection, prosperity, etc. Despite the lack of historical manuscripts about this from the Majapahit era and earlier, I am taking the liberty of making this deduction as some keris designs are definitely not combative - some have elaborate carvings that will definitely break in high-impact situations. I am supposing that these kerises are made for talismanic or amulet purposes.

Then these days I read books about the practice by many members of the Javanese society to keep their kerises in kendaga boxes, away from the visible areas of their houses. The more powerful they perceive the power of the keris is, the more they will tend to keep their keris hidden. "Dipingit supaya wingit", "hide it so it would become more powerful".

The two above beliefs appear to be contradictory, so I suppose one must be earlier and the other must be later. My guess is, "dipingit supaya wingit" must have come later. People wore kerises everyday in the past and it is logical to think that kerises were made with the intention of physically accompanying their owners in their everyday lives so that way kerises' spiritual properties would be active. It is harder for me to imagine that a Majapahit man would store his keris in some nicely carved box in the hidden part of his house, showing the keris only to the closest of friends and relatives, and yet at the same time expect the magical properties of the kerises to accompany him wherever he goes.

Opinions please ... honestly, I prefer to believe that my keris' power will be with me even though I keep it hidden in that old cabinet in my attic .. that way I don't have to get arrested for carrying it to my workplace
:D

Hello Neo,

There are enough historic sources that Malays/Indos were just too willing to pull out their keris and to stab with them at any perceived slighting. Thus, besides all those other functions of keris, don't write off their function as an EDC self defense weapon for most of the archipelago until fairly recently. Even in central Jawa, the cultural change that a keris should never be used as a weapon seems to be not that old (and possibly was not universally followed anyway ;) ).

For the pre-Islamic keris, there seems to be no doubt that keris were meant to be worn and seen as well as to protect their owners by scaring away evil (demonic hilts, etc.) one way or another... ;)

For those who could afford more than a few keris which could be worn at the same time, there will always have been the tendency to store them away from the public, especially in the keraton setting (not limited to central Jawa but again hardly more than common sense if your ruling position was based on your posession of a pusaka). However, I suspect that the notion of hiding a keris for it becoming more powerful (rather than hiding the blade to avoid broadcasting one's intentions in life) is a modern development (possibly limited to certain circles?).

Regards,
Kai

i would opine that keris in our possession have variety of functions. Depending on the functions or purposes of keris to the owner, some keris are to be worn and shown, some should be hidden..... Pusakas category should be kept from views of others..... Similar to kraton pusaka remain in kraton,s gedung pusaka, whilst kraton,s regalia are for shows...

Kai: Yes, it is mostly the Chinese accounts. I still wonder how to not break parts like sekar kacang or greneng in combats.

Penangsang 2.0: Any historical reference? I could not find much other than this indirect example ... Remember the legend when Mpu Supa was sent to retrieve a missing Majapahit keris from Madura court? Perhaps we could use this story to reason that perceived powerful pusakas would often become target of theft, so kings would be wise to simply hide them and thereby avoid the rival kingdoms to be aware of their presence?

Neo,

Till today, a personal keris (newly made by Empu) or Pusakas are not to be shown to other people, especially your enemy. Those who can read the keris can actually describe the owner, inside out esp the weakness, strength etc. And since this culture had been passed from generations after generations by oral tradition, its hard to pin point the exact origin or era when the tradition began to be practised