The things we cannot see

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

However, although I do agree that some understanding of the Hidden World will assist in an understanding of mystic/spiritual/religious values attached to the keris, I would like to see our attention brought back to the beliefs that we find to be associated with the keris itself.

For example, just how much of present day mystic belief that is attached to the keris can be considered to be belief that is re-enforced by other long standing cultural & societal belief, and just how much of this present day belief that is associated with the keris can be identified as something comparatively recent and that echoes other changes within Indonesian, and indeed, world societal change?

That is a very good question and i am not really sure how well we can really sort that out, though i am certainly open to the attempt. Certainly it does seem that their is quite a lot of mystical beliefs that has been attached to the keris in more recent times. While the roots of beliefs attached to Kejawèn go back for centuries, as an organized practice it seems to have a fairly recent history. While Alan has already expressed that Kejawèn is not central to our discussion about practices and beliefs associated with the keris, it does seem to me that many of the people in Jawa or other parts of Indonesia who espouse the mystical aspects of the keris have at least some belief or involvement in the Kejawèn movement. So it does seem to me that this philosophy has had at least some influence on more recent beliefs on the mysticism surrounding the keris in modern times. How much these beliefs have evolved or changed since ancient times is a question i do not have the information to answer, though i would be very interested to hear from those that do.