We took the book at its word: idols were bad. Down came the asherim with all their blank leaves marked up by larvae. Then the high places had to be brought low & paved over, & the flesh had to be mortified with whips & hairshirts. We found we still itched in unaccountable ways, but the book couldn’t be wrong — everyone knows that worship & degradation are poles apart. Desperate now, we tore pages from the book & chewed them into a paste which we applied as an unguent to all the burning places. Such cooling relief! The book emptied like a chrysalis until nothing was left but the cow hide. When the wind caught it at just the right angle, you could hear it moan.
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- Next Life
- Leaving
- The Last Lion in Pennsylvania (Version 2)
- Sensei
- The Origin of the Ear
- Medusa, Bodhisattva
- Air: A Grievance
- Valediction
- Project
- Iconoclasm
- Celestial Body
- Of Two Minds
- Educational Films
- Two Kinds of Boxes
- Comforter
- Before Genesis
- Anonymous
- The Viking Buddha
- The Legend of the Cosmic Hen
- Sacrifiction
- Seahenge
- Without
This really opened out for me once I’d found out what asherim are.
Oh good. And thanks for the excellent link.