Apropos display

[A. G. Maisey]

I thank you, Guwaya, for your opinions and for expanding my intentionally simplistic comment into a broader cultural context.

If the simplistic interpretation of cultural correctness that I have put forward is an "overinterpretation", then it is an overinterpretation that is found in practice in Jawa today, and seemingly, at all times in the recorded past.

I doubt that I have ever seen any display of keris in Jawa itself, where the number of keris in a displayed group of keris was an even number.

I intended my comment as a very basic explanation of a common cultural more.

I did not intend it in any way as any sort of explanation of, nor comment upon, cultural polarities, nor the well known cultural phenomenon of duality.

However, since you have opened this subject, and since it is one in which I have some little interest, then let us not stop with the facile gloss that you have presented, but rather, let us continue to explore this subject.

You have raised a number of matters, which I will attempt to identify below; please correct me if I incorrectly state your intent.

1)--- female aspects to be found in the keris

2)--- textiles as a female attribute

3)--- commonality of cultural traits throughout the Indonesian Archipelago

4)--- interpretation of the characteristics of a culture

5)--- misinterpretation (overinterpretation) of male symbolism attached to the uneven number of waves in a keris blade

6)--- this interpretation, which I quote in its entirety:- "What is with the attribution of the keris-blade in general with the snake or naga, a female princip representing the underworld (female) and kept under control by the hilt which usually represent the male princip (ganesha, ancestor, raksasa, dewa, etc.)."

7)--- symbolism of the hinggi of Sumba (man's shoulder cloth, ikat)

8)--- the philosophy of cosmic balance


I complement you upon your ability to have been able to raise such a broad range of matters within such a small area of text, however, since most of us will perhaps not be particularly familiar with some of the matters that you have brought to our attention, I do hope that you can find time to expand upon these matters.

Of the matters that I have identified above, I personally find #6 to be of considerable interest, and I would be most interested to read your argument in support of this assertion.

Could you please oblige?