Sunday, November 29, 2015

"I am not interested in religion or politics."

To this person, I say, you might as well sit in a tree. Oops, some political deal could get that tree cut down. You are fundamentally nowhere as far as travel goes.

Just think about the politics of how people dress to worship. (and I don't know the half of it)

In the Catholic world, women used to have to cover their heads and no naked shoulders. Men had to take their hats off. Respect. Still necessary in many Catholic countries.

In the Buddhist temples, Everyone takes off shoes and you can not have the bottom of your feet facing a statue of Buddha. Women have to cover their knees and shoulders. Hats are not permitted. Shorts on men are frowned upon. (not a bad idea)

In Hindu temples and sacred places, men cover their head and wear a sarong over their pants. Women have to have a sarong and tie a sash around their waist, knotting it twice. No hats for women. Most wear a long sleeve shirt.

In Jewish Temples, men wear their little yarmulke. I don't know of dress regulations for women. Clothing regulations get quite severe for Orthodox Jews. You have seen them in black, side locks, hats on men.

In Mosques, shoes off, men and women separate. More fundamental requirements are that no hair shows on the women and they are completely covered from head to toe. Less strict practices are common in many countries.

How about those Mormons? The strict women wear this temple undergarment that buttons everything up. They don't even take it off during childbirth if an outsider is present. They wear Little House on the Prairie outfits. Never thought about it but maybe Laura and her family were Mormons.

It gets weirder and weirder. Some Mayans put wood blocks on their babies heads to make them more square. They wear a lot of ribbons and certain colors (White shirt, red pants) for ceremonies and feathers.

Native Americans put hooks through their skin for the sun dance.

Africans have a million varieties of worship appropriate clothing. Tats and body piercings and dead animals on their heads. It gets exciting!

The point is that even taking one tiny tiny corner of religion such as appropriate clothing, it would be very hard to go just about anywhere and not find it interesting. The art, the music, the dance, the poetry, the wisdom traditions that have come from the stunning variety of religious experiences is, for moi, one of the first most interesting aspects of travel.





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