Tuesday Oct 11, 2011

Kujang - the Talismanic Sickle

There is a unique weapon that originates in Western Java, within the Pasundan (Sundanese) region. This weapon is named "kujang," (pron. "koo-jaang.") Lacking the correct English equal for this we've got used the term, "sickle," eventhough its kind considerably deviates from the true form of a sickle. Neither does it resemble the "scimitar" which curves convexly. In Indonesian a sickle is actually known as "chelurit." The Javanese living in the jap half of the Java island refers back to the kujang as "kudi." To those that are uninformed, the indigenous individuals of the island of Java usually are not all "Javanese." The western part of the island is populated by a significant ethnic group referred to as "Sundanese." The kujang is the only real monument of the town of Bogor here in Indonesia. The kujang is stuffed with mysteries. It is mentioned that it carries within its kind a magickal power with a mystical purpose. Embodied inside its unique figure lied the philosophy of the traditional Sundanese with its Hindu heritage. It is evident from the foregoing that this mystic blade was created to be extra of a talisman, a symbolical objet d'artwork, moderately than a weapon. This is particularly so regarded in contemporary times. The unique creation of the kujang was truly impressed by a utensil used in farming. This utensil was extensively used within the 4th to seventh centuries AD. The newly created kujang differed barely from the tilling implements normal by the famed blacksmiths, Mpu Windusarpo, Mpu Ramayadi, and Mpu Mercukundo, as might be seen in the local museums. It was solely within the 9th to 12th century that the type of the kujang took the form that we're so accustomed to today. Within the 12 months 1170 there was a change within the kujang. Its worth as an amulet or talisman was progressively being acknowledged by the rulers and nobilities of the Pajajaran Makukuhan kingdom, particularly through the reign of Prabu Kudo Lalean. During one of his non secular retreats, Kudo Lalean was instructed via a psychic imaginative and prescient to re-design the type of the kujang to evolve to the shape of the island of "Djawa Dwipa," as Java was known as in these days. Immediately the sovereign king commissioned the royal blacksmith, Mpu Windu Supo, to trend the blade seen in his vision. It was to become a weapon embodying mystical qualities and a non secular philosophy; a magickal object, unique in its design, one that future generations would always affiliate with the Pajajaran Makukuhan kingdom. After a period of meditation, Mpu Windu Supo confirmed the imaginative and prescient of Kudo Lalean and commenced with the fashioning of a prototype of the Kujang. It was to have two distinguished characteristics: the form of the island of Java and three holes or spherical notches someplace in the blade. Constructing the kujang blade into the form of Java was interpreted to imply the ideal of unification of all the petty kingdoms of Java right into a single empire, headed by the Makukuhan king. The three holes or round notches was to symbolize the Trimurti, or the three features of the godhead of the Hindu faith, of which Kudo Lalean was a devoted votary. The three elements or gods referred to are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The Hindu trinity was additionally represented by the three major kingdoms of that period, respectively, the kingdom of Pengging Wiraradya, positioned in the east of Java; the kingdom of Kambang Putih, situated north-east of the island; and the dominion of Pajajaran Makukuhan, situated in the west. The form of the kunjang developed further in later generations. Completely different models appeared. When the affect of Islam grew upon the lots, the kujang was re-formed to resemble the Arabic letter "Syin." This was largely the stratagem of the sovereign of the Pasundan area, Prabu Kian Santang, who was anxious to transform the populace to Islam. Understanding that the kujang embodied the Hindu philosophy and religion of the prevailing culture, the muslim rulers, imams and lecturers, anxious to propagate Islam and dessiminate its doctrines, re-modeled the kujang to signify the premise of their religion. Syin is the primary letter of the syahadat verse of which one testifies to the witnessing of the sole God and the Prophet Muhammad (blessed in his identify) as the messenger. By reciting the syahadat verse, one is automatically converted to Islam. The modification of the kujang broadened the realm of the blade which geographically corresponds to the Pasundan or western area of Java to evolve to the form of the letter Syin. The newly-designed kujang was imagined to remind the possessor of the thing of his allegiance to Islam and to the obedience of its teachings. 5 holes or round notches in the kujang changed the three of the Trimurti. They represented the five pillars of Islam. With the influence of the Islamic religion, some kujang fashions painting the inter-blending of the 2 fundamental styles as designed by Prabu Kudo Lalean and Prabu Kian Santang. These days, the kujang is usually decorated in properties as it is believed to bring about luck, safety, honor, etc. They're displayed in pairs on walls with the inside edge dealing with each other. There's a taboo, nevertheless--nobody is to be photographed standing in-between them as this might by some means trigger the death of that individual within a year. I have been assured by a senior practitioner of Kejawen the reality of this, as he had witnessed this himself. Why this occurs shouldn't be known for sure, we'd shrug it off as superstition, coincidence or synchronicity however behind every phenomenon cosmic legal guidelines and intelligences are at work; we simply want to discover what those legal guidelines are and the mind-set of those metaphysical intelligences directing these legal guidelines to know the rationale for the anomaly. From the occult facet, like the keris, another weapon utilized by the indo-malayan natives, the kujang was typically consecrated with magickal energy and acquainted spirits connected for specific functions, such as the safety against psychic attack. Due to the inherent energy of the kujang together with the presence of its spirit guardians, the well-knowledgeable natives revere them as sacred objects. Copyright © 2006 Luxamore

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