The Flying Keris

[David]

Originally Posted by zeus74

this is nothing. maybe it's just a trick or somewhat.. there's story in java, when majapahit storming keraton giri gresik the kris of sunan giri which have dapur kalamunyeng flying attacking the invaders.

Zeus, belief is a powerful thing and it certain drives a great deal of the mystical side of keris culture. That said, i can almost (for how can one be absolutely sure about anything) guarantee that what is shown on this video is indeed a trick. I know numerous stage magicians who could do this trick even better. There are indeed many legends surrounding keris, some of which deal with flying. It makes little sense to discuss these legends here, however, as they will never be proven as fact or be seen as anything beyond legend or speculation. Legend surrounds blades in many other cultures as well. There is the wonderful legend of King Arthur pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone for one. Here is a list of "magic" weapons from all around the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_magical_weapons
These are great stories to tell our children, but what do they actually teach us about keris, it's intention, purpose or place in society and culture?
I have deleted all of you other posts in the moderation queue Zeus. Your first one was a link to a commercial Facebook site where people seem to be trying to sell mostly poorly identified low quality keris. Please understand that we are NOT a commercial site and if you have read the rules of this forum you would know that posting links to commercial pages here is strictly forbidden.
I deleted you other posts with links to youtube videos that you marked a "entertainment" because some had absolutely nothing to do with keris while others were more unprovable mystical entries, such as the man supposedly using keris and magic to mysteriously locate a hidden keris blade buried under a rock. The most obvious possibility being that he buried it there himself to be "magically" discovered later, no?
Please understand that it is not that we outright dismiss the mystical side of keris culture and philosophy here, but videos like the ones you were attempting to share for "entertainment" value are not the kind of things that are of any value for serious study of the keris. And any commercial links are completely unacceptable on this page. Thanks for understanding.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by David

Z... There is the wonderful legend of King Arthur pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone for one. ...

...which makes more sense if you consider it a leftover from an earlier legend from the bronze age when they DID 'pull swords out of the stone' molds.

[Pusaka]

I dont believe keris can fly but I do believe they can rattle.

[David]

Originally Posted by Pusaka

I dont believe keris can fly but I do believe they can rattle.

Well that settles that then...

[Pusaka]

Originally Posted by David

Well that settles that then...

Did I mention that I have twice witnessed keris rattling

[A. G. Maisey]

I've seen that myself, several times.

Usually associated with a keris in a poorly fitting wrongko that has been subjected to vibrations caused by an earth tremor or a strong wind, or a heavy truck driving past the house.

I witnessed all the examples I have given.

Or maybe the wrongko did not particularly like the intrusion of a strange keris. Wrongkos can be touchy little devils, being female as they are, and it is known that some wrongkos will only accept the keris for which they were intended, and reject all forced marriages.

[Pusaka]

The first time I seen a keris rattling was at a gurus place, actually it was unfortunate because the keris started rattling precisely as I walked into the room and approached him. I looked at the keris on the wall and I could see the guru also noticed it but his body language was strictly "I dont want to talk about it and dont ask me about it" so we both stood there ignoring the keris rattling on the wall. This guru thought I was somewhat demonic and lets just say we didnt have a long relationship


The second occasion,not really an occasion because it lasted over two years.
I lived with a keris that would rattle very often and it became very normal, even annoying at times. I had heard some teachings about the esoteric aspect of the keris and I managed to understand the ritual even though I was only told parts of it. So I tried it I had a friend make me a keris and to make it extra special I gave him a small meteorite that I wanted incorporated into the blade.

When I received the blade I began preforming the ritual every night with the keris with the idea of bringing the blade alive. After about a month of doing this every night before going to bed I placed the blade next to my bed on a bedside cabinet resting on a hardback book. I went to sleep and was woken in the middle of the night by the keris rattling next to my bed. It freaked me out at first but then I thought its what you wanted isn't it. Anyway I lived for a whole two years with this keris frequently rattling and got very used to it, actually for a while I thought of it like a pet. I would get very annoyed on occasion when it would wake me up late at night or early in the morning. I actually put it out in the hallway once I had enough of its behaviour.
After about two years of not "feeding it" it slowly stopped rattling but during that time it was entertaining at first and I made several experiments with it.