Help with talismanic inscriptions?

[VVV]

Bill,

Thanks for your interesting posts.
One thing that puzzles me is the Negrito connection?
As far as I understand the "Moros" are of Malay-Indonesian origin and not related to the original "Negritos" living before them on the islands?
Another influence, especially important related to Kris culture and Folk Islam, is the pre-Islamic Hindu beliefs in this area.

Also there exist some early documentation to be found on the beliefs in the area from the time before this Kris was produced.

On the two avenues it's a classical clash of two schools (f.i. within your field of comparative religion);
- all symbols are universal (Eliade, Jung), and
- all symbols are specific to the local culture (Evans-Pritchard, Geertz).
As usual with two extremes "the truth" is often found somewhere inbetween.

I really enjoyed your Martian example but if the Martian had read about the earthlings before his field work probably he had drawn less drastic conclusions?

I fully agree with you on:

"Still we can glean information from their works and hopefully enjoy a glimmer of understanding."

That's exactly the purpose of this thread. We can probably never find out for sure the exact meaning of this motif. But together maybe we can find some possible explanations of it?
The alternative is to dismiss it as all guess work, which in a way it of course is. But that doesn't increase the possibility of understanding on how to get closer to some of the more probable meanings of this riddle.

Michael

[Tim Simmons]

We also know that the people in question are indeed Muslims and as one of the worlds major faiths comes with its own iconography. Look at the array of styles of Christian crosses from region to region, all mean the same thing. Could the images on these two weapons be the same scenario? We know religious mottoes and talisman are used as protective and good fortune symbols. We could want or have a need to dig too deep and expect or hope for a strange occult outcome when it might be quite straight forward, perhaps even obvious once one is attuned? Somebody must have another Islamic weapon with something similar on it?

[katana]

This thread is getting better and better..... Bill you 'martian' analogy is 'spot on' ...sometimes symbolism can be 'over anaylsised'. And you are correct the 'Rosetta' stone finally unlocked the hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt. Tim interesting input and VVV thankyou for your comments. Keep up the good work

[ibeam]

Hello VVV,
Can you share some other examples of Moro swords from your collection that have talismanic inscriptions on their blades. Maybe there are some that maybe be related and may bring some more discussion.
Since talismanic beliefs tend to be more protective by nature, should these inscription also be seen on other Moro battle attire like Armors, helmets and shields as well??

[Dajak]

The same geometric signs can be seen on shields


Ben

[Spunjer]

lol, forgot to mention that on the other thread but yes other than the large ones there are small geometric designs and circles on that shield. first time i seen them on a moro shield. would be nice to see other examples.

[VVV]

Originally Posted by ibeam

Hello VVV,
Can you share some other examples of Moro swords from your collection that have talismanic inscriptions on their blades. Maybe there are some that maybe be related and may bring some more discussion.
Since talismanic beliefs tend to be more protective by nature, should these inscription also be seen on other Moro battle attire like Armors, helmets and shields as well??

Hello Jon,

I am travelling this week and will post some more examples when back home again.

Michael

[Spunjer]

...reviving an old thread.

michael, it would be very interesting to see more examples from your collection, or anyone else that has moro swords with talismanic symbols for that matter. meanwhile, here's a barung that has talismanic symbols:

[kino]

Spunjer, It looks like Zulfiqar, the sword of Ali. Nice Barung, give it to me for Pasko, Pare.