ANCIENT TIBETAN WEAPONS:THE PHURBA & DORJE

The weapons, I had intended to depict here in the photos I had planned to add, are available through various catalogs and are only replicas of the actual ones used in Tibet and surrounding areas,such as,Nepal, Bhutan,etc. But a few things must be said about the authentic weapons. One thing that many ancient weapons ahve in common is the fact that they were either actually or reputedly made out of meteoritic iron. Modern-day martiala rtists who emphasize weapons simply do not appreciate the fact that iron and steel are fairly recent accomplishments by mankind and that early sources of iron came from meteorites found on the grouns rather than from mines(those dug deeply into the earth,save in rare instances, perhaps). But more importantly. the fact that meteors came from the sky, from the heavens, gave them a celestial importance,an unearthly power, and so could be considered divine of sacred..... Consequently, all phurba from Tibet are said to be of celestial origins, that is, made of meteoritic iron, whether they actually are or not. Most of the ones finding their way to the West nowadays are not. Nevertheless, they are interesting objects like so many other things imported from Tibet, such as, singing bowls....now more popular for various reasons... Although Westerners can obtain replicas of these weapons, even though they are not really that inexpensive, lelarning about them is another matter entirely. Certainly Tibetan Culture is now fairly widespread,with Tibetans found on nearly every continent, but finding any of them versed in these weapons and willing to impart what knowledge they may have, is another matter. It might be safely said that the present Tibetan political leaders and those around them are not willing to release such to the general public nor perhaps even versed in the use of these implements even though they may posssess such. PART II, HALFORD E. JONES 2010