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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2008 19:34:55 GMT
I don't bless my blades,... But i do spend a lot of time with my swords.
May sound silly,... but simply sitting down with a sword at your side and meditating is an experience that makes me feel closer to my sword.
Notice i say sword, not weapon,... A sword is in fact a weapon, but once i establish a sort of bond with the sword i feel it is a weapon no longer. As many say, "it is an extension of my body" so fundamentally i am the weapon. Now the terminology can be argued in a dozen different ways,... but its the only way i can describe what i mean.
No prayers, no rituals (per sei),... just good quality time with the sword. Memorizing ever imperfection, ever activity, ever line until you can picture it in your sleep. In addition to this, i spend much time using and cleaning my swords. I clean them every week, in such a way that i am expecting company will see them, so i take the most care when doing this.
It could be likened to having a foster child....
When you begin the relationship there isn't much of a bond,... but over a long period the time you spend caring for "the child" creates a bond that can be as strong as blood.
It doesn't make a difference if its a full custom, antique nihonto, production blade, whatever.... Some will say that production swords are not worthy of such reverence. But the thing that makes the sword special is not "the sword"... Its the bond you make with it. Some folks buy swords and treat them like items, but in many ways they are a missing piece of your puzzle...
Everyone's puzzle is different,... but when completed they all have at least one thing in common,... they have achieved their purpose.
[/craziness]
hehehe!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2008 20:45:04 GMT
When I was a young swordsman, and filled with more 'enthusiasm' than a sense of my own mortality (feel free to point fingers, cluck your tongues or laugh), I would wait for a dark lightning storm to take a new blade to a lake, where I would offer it to the sky. It still amazes me that I did not become a human lightning rod. Yes, it doesn't work like it does in He-Man. Anyway, I can't say I give a damn about blessing, but I've thought about having the sword I have coming customized to have the blade etched and the wood carved, or possibly replaced with a darker wood. But those kinds of things can be prohibitively expensive since I would be getting someone else to do it for me.
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slav
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Post by slav on Dec 6, 2008 2:09:16 GMT
I dont mean to suggest a religious ritual, your religious beliefs are your own and I wont judge you for it as I dont expect you to judge me for my beliefs. I am so excited though, just got my new sword in the mail and took some time to clean the grease off and inspect it. Not ready to do any cutting due to it being winter here in Michigan. I think the first thing I will do to personalize my sword is make a custom wooden scabbard, it came with a really bad leather scabbard. Not to say I dont appreciate the extra but its just not my style. The sword is a Valiant Armory Black Prince. It sounds like you are merely talking about customizing your sword. I'm not sure why you are using the term "bless" for this. Many people personalize their sword by switching out mounts and fittings, painting or coloring parts, etching/engraving characters onto the blade, or just getting entirely new mounts made by a custom-mounter. Are these the type of things you are asking about?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2008 2:15:33 GMT
That is exactly what he is asking about but some cultures view it at a more spiritual level so that is why he is using the term blessed, which has several meanings, one of which is "to bestow good of any kind" (according to dictionary.com) So it depends on whcih point of view you decide to take about the definition of blessing? Do you mean to make it better, or do you mean to religously sanctify it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2008 6:49:02 GMT
Doesnt have to be blessing it in a religious way. You were exactly right, I chose the word bless to signify the act of imparting a good feeling to your sword, could be religious or not I am not here to judge you. To some people a sword is just a metal weapon that is just on the wall and some people "bless" them by changing them to make them a part of themselves. I personally like to change a few things so that its not just a weapon, its MY weapon.
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slav
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Post by slav on Dec 6, 2008 7:09:46 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2008 23:44:19 GMT
I have never blessed my blades tho they have all been "baptized". He he too true ........ hey .... would it be sacriligeous to cut a bottle of holy water ....... would it be okay with a crusade period sword ....... I'm a real heathen so I bless all my swords in the Norse fashion, the Viking/Migration period blades that I got are named in an appropriate language (Icelandic, Norwegian, etc) and said name is engraved in eldar futhark runic script on the blade. When I was younger I had a personal ritual I called "Earth and Sky" on a full moon when a thunder storm rolled in I would take the blade and stab it in the ground outside and let the storm pass over, rain touched by the powerfull full moon would wash over the blade and it would pass to the earth. I surmised that if the blade was struck by lightning and mangled that Thor (Tor) thought it was crap and to get rid of it ..... But if it passed unscathed then it was a go'er ....... Of course the ritual of "Grease grease go away rust" came that morning ...... but none have ever rusted ...... blessed huh ...... thats old school respect
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2008 5:29:20 GMT
I ALWAYS give my swords a name , its a habbit. with my rosewood shirasaya i tied a cord around the saya and a few other slight modification (nothing major as i lack the skill) i used a wood burning tool to burn a symbol into one of my other shirasaya (on the tsuka)
i spend alot of time with many of my swords and personalize them they are quite important to me (even tho they are not the best in the world) so if you count that as blessing then yes , i do bless my swords.
also i dont find it silly at all , if its considered a part of you why wouldnt you try to make it fit your stlye more
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2008 12:06:19 GMT
Yeah, I bless my blades...
Bless them out for costing too much or not performing the way I want them too...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2008 19:25:37 GMT
Mine typically get a name as part of a ceremony for one of the chivalric orders I belong to. I haven't done any customization...yet. I plan on doing some minor custom work to get katana, wakazashi and naginata match when I get a "good" one of each. To date, I just have the katana (my VA 1601).
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