Old Tajung Keris(es?)

[A. G. Maisey]

Mickey, I do think you might be a wee bit off track with your ideas on the word "nawa".

Nawa is found in Old Javanese, it came into Old Javanese through Kawi, and Kawi took it from Sanscrit. Kawi was integrated into Old Javanese, but as Modern Javanese developed Kawi became the literary language.

At the present time the word "nawa" appears in Modern Balinese where it is included in literary language, and can be regarded as High Balinese or Court Balinese (Balinese is a hierarchical language, as is Javanese). The customary word for "nine" is "sanga". The word "sanga" is used in all levels of Balinese. Modern Balinese also owes much to Old Javanese.

"Nawa" is also a transitive verb in Balinese, which becomes "dawa" as an intransitive verb> "to be long". In Javanese Ngoko (low level) "dawa" also means "long", as in "Oro-oro Dowo" (actually spelt: "ara-ara dawa"), "Long Field", a particular locality in Malang.

In Javanese "nawa" also means "nine" in the literary language.

The above is known, established, recorded and published fact, however, there seems to be a possibility that there is an obscure usage for "nawa" in Bali that means to grip/grasp/hold. We need to find (probably) an old-time dalang as a part of the investigation into this matter. This is being worked on at the moment. One major problem in dealing with Javanese & Balinese is that they are regarded by linguists as "non-standard languages". Javanese particularly so. Using either one adequately is an art form and in my opinion an art that can really only be achieved by somebody born & raised in the Javanese Heartland.

Mickey, I'm not going to attempt to respond to your buta questions, I'd simply have to write far too much to provide an adequate understanding.

I did touch on all of this Buta Nawa Sari thing a few days ago, it was in a thread about a poorly carved hilt. In the context of Buta Nawa Sari, the pandan flower can perhaps be read as representative of Siwa.

In respect of published sources of information. I know of nothing that deals specifically with Balinese Demonology, but there are many books that make mention of these things. However, there is absolutely no possibility at all of understanding aspects of the Balinese Hidden World unless the Balinese Visible world is also understood. We cannot take just one element of a society or culture and try to understand it, even if we understand the entire society & culture the understanding of a single aspect can be out of reach.

Possibly the two books to start with would be Wiener & Murni:-

Visible and Invisible Realms-Margaret J.Wiener
ISBN 0-226-88582-8/1,The University of Chicago Press

Secrets of Bali - J.Copeland & Ni Wayan Murni, ISBN : 978-974-524-118-3

Fred Eiseman is worth time too:- Sekala and Niskala -Fred B. Eisman,jr.,ISBN 0-945971-03-6,Periplus Editions,First Edition 1990.

There are others, but these ones I mention would be a good start, & an easy start, all are very easy to read and can be dealt with pretty quickly.

[Mickey the Finn]

Mr. Maisey, thank you for going to the trouble of providing such specific information as publishers and dates of publication along with titles, authors, and the all-important ISBNs. I suspect that within the bibliographies of the three books you mentioned I may find at least some of the other titles you alluded to.
I had anticipated that there would be no easy, concise answers, and if there had been, that they would have raised more questions than they answered.
The subject was also somewhat peripheral to the main purpose of this forum.
Despite not answering anything I'd asked about, your reply was remarkably informative and enlightening. Thank you again.

[A. G. Maisey]

I didn't think I did allude to any other books ,Mickey. I really do not know of any books that will lay it all out, for me it has been many, many years of picking up little bits here and there, and a lot of personal face to face contact.

The three books I mention do not draw upon other published works, they are all first hand experience. Fred Eisemann lived in Bali for a number of years, not as a "White Raja", but in a village and playing his part in the life of that village. Ni Wayan Murni is a very knowledgeable lady who lives in Ubud and has an intimate inside understanding of Balinese life & lore. Prof Wiener is an anthropologist who wrote "Realms" as a product of her research.

If you spend some time with these three books you will have provided yourself with a very firm foundation for further investigation & learning.

EDIT
Mickey, one of the reasons that I avoided answering your specific questions is because the questions were difficult to answer in the absence of a reasonably complete understanding on the part of the questioner, of the structure of the Balinese world view. Maybe you have this understanding, maybe not.

However, I've had time to think this through and I'll try to give you some sort of answer, it might not be exactly what you want, but it is possibly better than nothing.

The Balinese belief system is mostly known as "Bali-Hindu", it is a synthesis of Balinese indigenous beliefs and the Hindu faith. The governing principle in this Balinese belief system is the maintenance of balance:- negative influences must always be held in balance with positive influences. You cannot totally eradicate a negative influence as it is associated with positive influence, but you can protect against the negative influence by encouraging positive influence.

There is one central God, but that God has many aspects, for an ordinary person who is untutored in religious and esoteric knowledge it was deemed necessary a long time ago to personify the aspects of the One God, once a person has reached a sufficient level of knowledge that personification is no longer necessary. The one God is everywhere at any one time, and the various aspects of the One God can also be present anywhere or everywhere at the one time, these aspects can take the form of positive influences and also negative influences.

So, in the world as it is seen by a Balinese person, there are places, or maybe "pockets" is a better word, of both positive and negative influences scattered all over the place. The negative influences are personified by naming them as "Buta" (actually Bhuta is probably a better spelling) or "Kala".

The nature of the Bhuta-Kala negative influence is one of antagonism, annoyance, disturbance, bother, effort:- you misplaced your car keys, you had a motor accident, your boss has spoken harshly to you, you lost $10.

Bhutas & Kalas cause trouble & annoyance, not life threats.

I cannot remember ever hearing of a female Bhuta or Kala, they all seem to male, they are pretty stupid and grossly greedy, they cannot go around corners, offerings to them need not be prepared with care.

The Bhuta-Kala totogan (statue) is simply a personification of the negative influence that permits the ordinary person to focus his mind upon that negative influence and make the correct offerings and use the correct mantras to protect against it.

The really dangerous negative force is the Leyak. A Leyak is the spirit of a human being, it separates from the physical body of the human and assumes another form. Leyaks are really bad news, they mostly seem to cause problems for family members or people known to them, but the really bad ones can cause problems for anybody. A Leyak can be either male or female. The Leyak can cause death and intense suffering. It is possible to kill a Leyak if one has been taught the skills, and if that Leyak is killed, then its physical body will also die.

The discussion of negative forces is something that is best left alone. What I have outlined above is just a very simplified over-view, and I think that perhaps that is more than enough.