Godspace

[Guest guest]

Hey, here's a little essay by my friend Bim. It's kind of quaint and is

varnashramy, I think. Check it out!

 

GODSPACE

I LIVE IN A HOLY PLACE On earth in Temperate Zone dissected plateau like

the

Ohio river valley. The hilltops are cleared for pasture or hay or

grain.

The

bottoms are used for gardens. The sloping edges of the hilltops are in

 

fruit trees and pastures the hillsides are in woods for firewood. The

 

houses are rather small log or masonry and have masonry stoves of brick,

which are fired once or twice a day depending on the weather. They have

two

drafts. One for winter which feeds into the firebox and one for the

summer

which lets additional cool air vent the shell and thus keep the house

cool

while cooking. These stoves can bake or cook and the better ones can

be

fired hot enough for pottery. Small toy clay whistles are made on some,

 

which cannot get hot enough for pots. These whistles go to market. The

 

walls of the houses are low and the roofs large and steep. Dormer

windows

are installed in these roofs. The roofs are made of shingles which are

 

thick an many layered and thus are waterproof and insulative, but in

the

summer they get hot at top and the garrets are used to dry herbs. The

floors are of clay, tiles, or wood or earth. The earth floors

usually

have

a layer of vegetation on them, which are herbs and pine that must be

changed

every year. Wheat is the primary grain, with oats and corn. Wheat is

grown

where practical, but importation is still necessary. The wheat is

milled

into flour either in the home or at the community mill stone. It is

 

kept in

large ceramic jars. The wheat is kept for years but the flour is

almost

always used within a few days but sometimes is kept as long as a month.

>From this flour, sourdough bread is made. The ongoing production of

good

bread determines the culture of these people to a depth that is not

immediately comprehended. Fields of hemp are grown for spinning into

cloth.

The houses are arranged around the temple that serves as the center of

the

community. The theory behind this organization is that the economy is

derived in the most direct way from the immediate surroundings and in as

simple and traditional a way as possible so that primary attention can

be

given to spiritual progress of the inhabitants.

Medicine is not a big problem since people are generally healthy and the

 

old

people live mostly at the temple in a spirit of renunciation and

spiritual

devotion. There are many activities for them such as picking flowers,

teaching, cooking, sewing clothes for the deities.

Only the temple protects cows, although we have heard of communities

where each householder has a cow. Evidently pasture is more plentiful

there. Dairy products are marketed for the support of the temple.

Only transient people are permitted to hunt the deer. Cowhides,

usually

from ones that died from old age are used for leather. This is done

by

first nailing them down to the interstate highway, just over the crest

 

of a

hill, in the early morning and permitting the vehicles which pass over

 

them

to remove the flesh, then burying them in the oak sawdust that

accumulates

from the sawmill. The men who engage in this process are rarely

allowed to

dress the deities.

There are three ways we bathe here. The usual way is ‘bucket bathing’

where

a person squats with a bucket of water in front of them and uses a bowl

to

pour water over themselves. This has a few advantages over a shower: 1.

The

water temperature is precisely predetermined. 2. Squatting is safe and

stable so you don’t fall. 3. Water use is calibrated hence minimized.

4.

The

lower portals are extensively exposed for superior cleaning. 5. The

squatting position stimulates peristalsis. In the winter sweat lodges

 

are

built and groups sweat, sing songs say prayers and preach and generally

cleanse themselves internally and externally all at the same time in

the

way

the Native Americans do. The third method is bathing in either lakes or

 

streams. This is done whenever it is warm enough except during ‘dog

days’ in

late August when water quality is questionable.

Evacuation is accomplished with the use of ‘outhouses’. There is one

 

for

every family. Lime or ashes are sprinkled after use. They last for

years

and then are ritualistically burned to the ground and a new hole is dug

 

and

a new house is built over it. Chamber pots are used indoors only as an

extreme last resort.