[tom hyle]

I generally don't feel you should modify a fetish or ritual object whose meaning, construction, and use you don't understand; such action can be detrimental to its spirit, mood, power, and lifetimes of experience and use. Also, this tusk-ball looks like it's in pretty good shape, anyway. I might tie down any loose ends, but replacing parts without the proper rituals, respect, and communications could be very harmful to whatever psychic field it has going. Replacing parts meant for a purpose with parts meant for show is a dangerous and slippery slope. Many people have no respect for this kind of talk, about invisible things, but I frankly don't know that such people should even be allowed near old magical/religious items....respect means taking someone for who he is; not for where you'd like to fit him into your pre-existing world. I'm a freind to the swords.....I gurss I feel this ritual ball is fairly clearly more talismanic than a simple item of "dress" and is a valuable and meaningful object its own self. Then there's the fact that it's one thing to kill someone and take his teeth, and it's another to buy teeth, and are objects made out of the two types of teeth truly the same object? My concern in this case is for poluting the magical essence of the ball. BTW, note resemblance to a takraw ball.