A sword design theory (Phil., Indonesia, & Malaysia)

[migueldiaz]

Alan, many thanks for the comments! It appears thus that the resemblance I was referring to (warangka vs. a boat) might just be coincidental after all.

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

In Old Javanese, which is probably a more relevant source to look at, "warangka" is again a word that has a sense of protection or containment. Zoetmulder lists the root as a keris scabbard and as a stable (stable being able to be understood as an animal stall or an animal pen), and also as a nest.

On the other hand, the concept of protection and containment can also be ascribed to a boat I think (i.e., the boat vs. the vagaries of the high seas it's in). But perhaps I'm stretching things already ...

On a related matter, it's also good to know that in Old Javanese, the scabbard's root word refers to a stable or a nest. Thus perhaps once again, we can see here the allusion to the keris or any other sword being a mythical representation of a beast or a bird that needs a 'pen' or a 'nest' ...

[migueldiaz]

More on the concept of the Austronesian tripartite cosmos as the primary design motif on many things, and for now let's focus on the traditional Austronesian house on stilts ...

As can be seen below, traditional archipelagic Southeast Asian houses would often feature the bird deity on the roofs. Indonesian houses (and even houses of Thailand and neighboring countries) are also found with the same.

In the sarimanok of the Moros (thanks to 'dimasalang' for the pic below), a fish [an Underworld icon] can also be found on the bird's beak and/or claw. This would be reminiscent of the traditional Thai roof design where the a sculpture of the bird is found on the apex, and the serpents' image on each side of the roof eaves are supposed to represent nagas being held by each claw of the said bird ...

In any case, it's still all about the bird-deity and the naga-deity, and the bird would always be above the serpent/s, based on their 'vertical' positioning in the tripartite cosmos ...

[migueldiaz]

here's a quick example of the traditional thai roof -- bird on the apex, and two serpents on each side, which are supposed to be being held by said bird ...

[migueldiaz]

This is still about the Austronesian house design, as a mirror of the tripartite cosmos he believed in ...

In one rendition of the tripartite cosmos (e.g., by the Higaonons and Manobos of Mindanao), a huge snake was supposed to have been placed by the gods on the central post or column that supports the earth, as the earth's protector. And the movement of this snake is supposed to be the cause of earthquakes.

For the Higaonons still, the earth is supposed to be carried by a giant bird called a galura. The letters 'l' and 'r', and 'r' and 'd' are sometimes interchangeable in our languages; hence the galura is probably the same as the garuda. The flapping of the galura's wings is supposed to be the cause of strong winds.

Back to the snake coiled on the supporting column of the middle-world or earth -- in Maranaw houses, the extension of floor beams (i.e., the panolong) would often have naga carvings, as illustrated below. One can easily imagine thus, the extension of the naga's body as being invisibly coiled around the houses' columns or stilts. And this imagery once again mirrors the guardian naga's coiling around the huge post that supports the middle-world or earth.

[migueldiaz]

Now the sincere belief of our animistic forefathers on said tripartite cosmos (and the appurtenant deities) found itself in all things he did. In the illustration below:

a - in ancient potteries, bird and sunburst designs are pretty common themes

b1 - as already mentioned, in Igorot houses, the loft or attic being a representation of the the Upperworld is the place were carved wooden deities and bones of ancestors are kept

b2 & b3 - as was also seen already, bird images are often placed on roofs, while naga designs are placed on the ground level of the house

c - ancient Filipino tattoos also feature a lot of sunbursts and zigzag/diamond design: zigzag and diamond patterns are of course abstractions of the image of the naga or serpent (and valiant warriors were supposed to have been born with a twin snake)

d & e - personal adornments also feature a lot of bird and serpent designs

f & g - ships and shields also use a lot of sunburst/bird and serpent motifs

h - in a Tingguian (northern Luzon) wedding, the male throws rice up into the air as offering to the gods [of the Upperworld], while the female forces rice into the gaps of the bamboo flooring as her offering to the other gods [of the Underworld] -- the symbolism is especially significant, as the sun-bird deity is often regarded as male, while the naga-serpent deity is regarded as female.

In Panay Bukidnon dances, one can also notice a lot of looking up into the heavens on the part of the male dancers, while the women do a lot of stomping on the house's floor or on the ground. The looking upward is according to them a recognition of the gods up there, while the stomping of the floor or ground is an acknowledgement of the gods below.

Certain Lumad dances also involves a lot of stomping on the ground, supposedly to wake up the gods below [of the Underworld], to give them good yield on their crops.

My all-time favorite tourist, Pigafetta (Magallanes' chronicler), also recorded this in Cebu in 1521:

"And when they [the babaylan or women-priestesses] are on that cloth, they make a reverence to the Sun ... and one of them [head babaylan] puts on her forehead a kerchief with two horns which she makes of it ... she calls on the Sun ... the other dances with her, both saying many things to the Sun ... She of the horns continues to speak secretly to the Sun, and the other answers her."

The conclusion of the matter is that the religion and cosmology of a group of people will influence almost everything they do and make.

Next up will be many pics from a Dutch museum I visited, wherein they grouped their archipelagic Southeast Asian artifacts, precisely along the lines being discussed here ...

[migueldiaz]

Ok, before I post those pics from that Dutch museum (it's the Tropenmuseum, in Amsterdam, and then later I'll also post pics from other European museums), let me just quickly summarize the cosmology and religion then in archipelagic Southeast Asia.

In essence, the key beliefs or religions were two -- [1] animism, including the belief in a tripartite cosmos that's ruled by certain key deities, and [2] ancestral worship.

As discussed above, spirits and deities were believed to inhabit and rule the Upperworld and the Underworld. And inanimate natural & man-made objects were also believed to be 'alive' -- rock formations, rivers, boats, swords, etc. All these were part of the animistic religion.

Now aside from the above spirits, departed ancestors were also believed to inhabit the tripartite cosmos. And so these ancestors were also venerated and called upon in times of need. This would be then the other half of the core beliefs -- ancestral worship.

In the illustration below thus, I've added an Igorot bulul as symbol for the ancestral worship component of the olden beliefs.

[migueldiaz]

Without further ado, here's the first set of pics. As you enter the Southeast Asian section of the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, what will greet you is this neat grouping of artifacts into four categories: Bird, Dragon/Serpent, Flower, and Squatting Figure.

The first three represents of course the Upperworld, Underworld, and Middleworld (Earth). And the squatting figure would represent ancestral worship.

It's very refreshing to see this categorization of objects in a museum. Because it hits the nail right in the head, ethnographically speaking.

I'll post next pics of each object, per category, for a deeper appreciation of the subject.