Читать книгу Forbidden Graces, Book One: Beginnings - Carol Inc. Bridges - Страница 12

There is not the usual need for food anymore. Bodies function quite well without it, but it ties people to a set of pleasures that are hard to replace. Meals here are usually special occasions to celebrate something or someone or to stimulate a memory or assist a person in reaching a special state of consciousness.

Teas, of course, are primary substances offered, particularly to newcomers, to assist them in orienting themselves to the place. They loosen the ties that bind the self to limiting states of consciousness. Then, there are the cherished foods, dishes that signify transformative moments. There is also a long list of comfort foods, the ones that made you feel good in Earth life when things were not going well.

The blueberry pancake breakfast was a detail of the life Grandmother lived with Tha. It symbolized a kitchen welcoming close friends, a kitchen suited to fresh food preparation, canning and storing, with all the kettles, jars and wooden spoons, a walk-in pantry and a pastoral view out the window over the sink.

Just outside, we can walk the stone path through the flower garden to the vegetable patch near the small lake. The shed holds just the right tools, all in their places though seedling trays, gloves, bottles of plant-helper concoctions, buckets of soil and jars of seeds are scattered about on their way to becoming a fine performance for the spring show.

Grandmother and Tha worked many Earth years creating a situation that would allow, or at least encourage, other people to live in small group settings, provide food for each other, maintain the buildings, and spend most of their days creating art.

Art, in those days was generally seen as something separate from life. It was considered to be not as important as inventive technology and the accumulation of numbers called "money." Their culture had become totally fascinated with consuming resources, and Grandmother, Tha, and many others believed this to be an erroneous path. They set out to live more simply with an emphasis on spiritual attunement and artistic creativity. For a long time, it seemed to them that they had failed in this endeavor and that the Earth might not survive.