Keris Sajen - original vs. fakes

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

In fact, just about anything can be a talisman, if the holder of that talisman has full belief in it. So you get the situation where a dukun (shaman) will go to the market a buy the crappiest little piece of junk he can get cheap, if he's genuine he will call the powers into it, if he's not, he'll convince his client that he has called the powers into it, but either way that little keris-like object will finish up as somebody's treasured talisman.
Talismans are all about belief.

Alan, i believe what you are saying here is pretty much in line with what i have just said in my last post. I do understand where you are coming from with the word "tourist", however i am using the term more to describe items that find their way into export and are not necessarily conceived for indigenous use. I realize that you don't spend quite as much time on eBay as some of us do, but while the actual tourist trade may indeed be down in Jawa you will find that these type of items are virtually flooding the keris pages on eBay.