The Flying Keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Let's pass on the question of buying and selling magic, just for the moment.

Let us consider this:-

in the Javanese world view, how much of the physical things of the world are reality, and how much of an idea is reality?

if the physical and the idea or belief can come together in the micro cosmos of man, is not the reality of the idea as one with the reality of existence of the physical object?

thus, if an idea is real for a person, or for a group of people, is not the value of that idea equivalent to the value of actuality?

If we look at Javanese society, and the way in which it is organised , we can find multitudes of examples that could be used to illustrate the proposition I am putting forward here. The keris and the position it occupies within Javanese society complies with the parameters set by the society for the relationship between all physical things and all non physical things. It is not a special case. It falls within the general framework of the way in which Javanese people tend to see the world.

The anthropologist, Niels Mulder, who carried out considerable research in Jawa, has written fairly extensively on this uniquely Javanese way of relating to the world.

Of course, there is a downside to this way of acting and reacting, and it comes when people with these attitudes are forced to act and react with the world outside their own. The Asian monetary crisis hit in 1997. Ten years later, Indonesia is still suffering the effects of this.

Why?