Sulawesi bugis for comment

[Green]

I find this keris blade a bit unusual but I can't put a finger to it why I find it so. This is the only pic I have at the moment. The blade has 15(?) luks. Rather unusual for a normal bugis blade which is usually 9 or less. The blade color seems whitish? and the surface looks like it is grainy or porous?

Any comments are welcome. Thanks

[A. G. Maisey]

Isinya !!!

Awas!!!!!

[jagabuwana]

There is an "aggressiveness" to this blade that I can't quite place. Actually it makes me feel kind of uneasy.

As for the grainy-ness of the surface, I recall reading somewhere on this forum that Bugis steel is often this way. The one Bugis blade of mine is also rather porous / sandy.

[Green]

Hello/Salam Alan;

That is a rather curious comment from you and quite corresponded to Jagabuana's 'feelings' about this keris. You're usually rather -shall we say- verbose in your comments, so, I'm not sure if your comment here is meant to be taken tongue in cheek or other wise.

Having said that, I once brought a keris for repair to a silversmith who specializes in making ornamentations on keris ( on pendok, pendokok hilt etc) and as often happened, some other client came by and saw my keris. He is also a part time bomoh. ( healer using shamanistic incantations or quranic verses) and he immediately said that my keris has "isi" (but not the others in the workshop). The silversmith that has handled hundreds of keris before immediately became afraid and refused to put my keris in his house and always put in his workshop until he completed the repair. But it has not given me any ''strange/uneasy" feelings although it is with me for quite a while now...

[Mickey the Finn]

There's a young man at my work, about 19 years old. He used to drive a Honda, a souped up little Civic or something. A friend of his told him that he (my co-worker) should buy a truck because he (co-worker's friend) wanted to buy his (co-worker's) car. A former boss of mine told me once that children and drunkards "get extra help from God". This young co-worker of mine is no habitual drunkard and no longer a child, but I know with certainty that he also benefits from this "extra help". This co-worker of mine, to oblige his friend, went down to a motor vehicle dealer on what turned out to be just the right day! The friendly and helpful salesman just happened to have a pickup truck which his boss had told him just that morning to sell at a steep discount to get it off the lot! The payments? More than what he was currently paying for the Honda. After disclosing his monthly income to the salesman, the latter crunched some numbers and informed him that "only today", he would make a special, extra discount to the price, so he (my co-worker) would just be able to swing it. My young co-worker disclosed to me after the fact that he'd agreed, reluctantly, despite not really feeling all that good about the deal. But in order to be able to sell his car off to his friend and take advantage of the great deal the kindhearted salesman had arranged just for him, he'd agreed. As I'd stated earlier, I have no doubt that the young truck buyer I work with benefits from "extra help" from God. He had a good friend willing to take over the car payments, he'd walked onto the car lot on just the right day, and spoken with just the right salesman; what's even better is that his friend didn't talk him into putting all his savings into a Ponzi/pyramid/multi-level marketing scheme! One might say it all worked out providentially! I'm left with a nagging uncertainty, though. Would that part-time bomoh have discerned anything special about your keris on the day after you brought it in and were no longer present? Would the car salesman have been willing to make that "extra discount" to the price of the truck if someone else had gotten there sooner? If someone else had come to the silversmith looking for a custom mendak for a very, very old keris Brojol after you'd left, would that part-time bomoh have discerned anything special about it instead of your keris? If none of what I've just said seems to make much sense, I'm working on a draft post re: the "armour piercing keris", the "golok Nabi Mulud" and my tombak Brojoguno (which I've yet to extricate from it's tutup), which may perhaps (God willing) shed some light (however dim) upon what makes some tosan aji so much more powerful than others, and the stuff of legend.

[Green]

Mickey the Finn, that's rather convoluted and too literary for my little head... in any case , may be my english wasn't up to scratch and it was misunderstood. To clarify, I was NOT present when that part time bomoh went to the silversmith and made the comment. I was TOLD by the silversmith about it and what he did to my keris (not putting in his house but leave it in the workshop- which might be exposed to theft). And I did not believe any of it about the "isi" as it was proven that nothing happened to me and i did not feel any uneasiness or strange feelings about this keris. It is just like any others in my collection. And there's nothing to do about selling or buying this keris.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, a short, pointed comment.

Sometimes, very rarely, that is all that is necessary.

But the concept of something contained in, or associated with a keris, or anything else for that matter, is specific to a person, it is not general. A rifle, so to speak, not a shotgun.

The way in which an unseen presence affects one person is not necessarily the way in which it affects all people.

[David]

Nik, is the hilt of your keris Tridacna (giant clam shell)?
I can't say much more about your keris based solely upon the photos provided. Perhaps if you can supply more down the line. Occassionally we do see keris with 15 luk or more. I would say that more than 13 luk is unusual for keris fro ANY area and generally means the keris was made for someone outside of the norm. Artists, performers, etc. People with unusual skillsets.
As for this keris containing isi, i really don't know how that works reading such things simply by viewing it on a computer screen. For me, i would have to hold your keris first before saying i could feel any particular energies from it, or at least be in the same room. But i do not see why the presence of isi should necessarily give a person a "strange/uneasy feeling". I suppose it could, but why would it have to, especially if one is in sync with the particular isi of that blade?

[jagabuwana]

Originally Posted by Green

as it was proven that nothing happened to me and i did not feel any uneasiness or strange feelings about this keris.

It's as Alan said - if it is true that the keris ada isinya, then the effect of this is not the same for everyone. If this is something that you believe in but don't feel or recognise from this particular keris, I'm not willing to ascribe any meaning to that despite there maybe being one.

When my mum's brother was a kid he once stole a small keris pusaka from my great grandfather, because like a lot of young boys he was fascinated by guns and cool metal stabby things. Despite many people having handled this keris with no issue, my uncle became increasingly ill with a lot of symptoms and experiences one wouldn't normally ascribe to pathogens.

[A. G. Maisey]

That resonates.

[Green]

David;

Yes the hilt is from Tridachna gigas. In fact, the main reason why Im attracted to this keris in the first place.

[Anthony G.]

Originally Posted by Green

I find this keris blade a bit unusual but I can't put a finger to it why I find it so. This is the only pic I have at the moment. The blade has 15(?) luks. Rather unusual for a normal bugis blade which is usually 9 or less. The blade color seems whitish? and the surface looks like it is grainy or porous?

Any comments are welcome. Thanks

Hi, interesting keris. Are you able to provide bigger photo of the bilah? Thank you.

[Paul B.]

Think I have seen these pics from an auction house ... I recognize the pillars in the bottom corner.

[Green]

Yes Paul B. I won this from the auction.

I've not received the keris yet so can't show the blade in close ups.