The Saturn
Presentation of this planet and its moons, including ring and creatures
- Chapter 41 -
The inhabitants of the lowlands visit the mountains. Their reception by the mountain dwellers. Half-heathens and their conversion. Courting in the lowlands.
It happens occasionally that families from the valleys and plains, because of corporeal health, travel to the mountains. If this is the case, the mountain dwellers have a rule whereby they receive these "seekers of health" warmly, and provide or obtain for them whatever they deem necessary for their health.
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Should these seekers of health decide to dwell in the mountains permanently, then the elder of the mountain family appoints a leader from that family to help the people of the lowlands who wish to settle. Should the people from the lowlands want to retain this person as their leader in the future, he is obligated to honor their wish.
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Should this leader be married, he leaves the new settlers only for as long as he needs to get his wife and children from his home, and to receive on this occasion from his elder the blessing for his new office. Once he has put everything in order, he sets out with his wife and child and with whatever other supplies he requires to the newly settled family.
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Once there, he begins to instruct this family in all laws and customs of the mountain dwellers and encourages them to build a temple and also in accordance with numbers and needs to build a storage building and the living residential homes, because these are also laws which the mountain dwellers have to obey!
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It also happens that these valley and plain dwellers travel to the mountains strictly for the beautiful view. When the travelers meet a mountain family, they are stopped and questioned in a very polite manner regarding their intentions. Usually they answer these questions in a very polite manner; since, as a rule, their intention is to climb the summit of a high mountain because of the spectacular view, the elder of the mountain dwellers will inform them which of these summits do not present any danger to the climbers. Should any of the mountain peaks pose any danger, then these holiday makers are politely prevented from embarking on this endeavor, and informed in detail as to the dangers they may face if they do not change their plans. Usually the advice is taken and a change of plans is made, upon which the travelers return to their home.
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If, however, these mountain peaks are accessible without posing any danger to the climbers, then the mountain dwellers will provide a guide for these travelers. This guide is responsible for three things: first, he must lead this group to the summit on the best and safest trails; second, he must supply them with food and drink, which is usually carried by the house servant fur; and thirdly, he must explain everything to them, and at the same draw their attention towards the Great Spirit in everything he does.
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The guide cannot ask anything in return for his efforts, except that, after they invigorate themselves on the grandeur of the Great Spirit, he can ask the group for their assurance to follow the Great Spirit at all times and never to undertake anything without His expressive will.
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Once he has obtained this assurance, the guide reminds the group that they have to thank the Great Spirit for everything they have learned and experienced, and, at the same time, they should ask Him to let them reach their homeland safely. Once that is done, they set out for home.
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The group is taken to the guide's home for food and drink. Once they have properly refreshed themselves, they are politely reminded to give thanks to the great and holy donor; they are also greeted and blessed by the elder and set out to return home to the lowlands.
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In some of the mountain crannies live the "pointed-foot flesh doctors"; the plains people are forewarned about these charlatans by the mountain dwellers. It is pointed out that these people are trespassing fugitives from the lowlands who have settled in the mountain crannies for sheer greed, by cheating inhabitants of the lowlands with all kinds of worthless and ineffective things. The mountain dwellers warn these gullible people from the lowlands in the following manner:
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"The Great Spirit has set thousands of wholesome and healing herbs and fruits into the ground for the maintenance of our bodily health, so that they grow to strengthen us. He created clean water throughout the entire world and planted giant trees in the soil to attract all the toxic vapors and change them into a fragrant, pure air. And the Lord who is exceedingly benevolent in all His infinite might placed a magnificent sun in the firmament, whose rays awaken the most wholesome energy in the star lilies which are so wholesome that their power reaches as far as the rays of the sun. And that is how the Great Master has arranged the firmament with the which illuminates the night for us so delightfully after the sun has set that it is almost as pleasant as the day, and even during the night we are invigorated by the strong rays of this ribbon. Besides this ribbon, the great Workmaster has placed , of which several alternately delight us at night, even at the time of the full shadow.
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The Great Spirit has been exceedingly benevolent and has graciously cared for us all. And we, the inhabitants of the mountains, have experienced this at all times. That this is so is because we have never been afflicted by an ailment. When someone dies, it is never of an ailment; they only die as a result of their completely matured spirit, which for eternity will never die again, but live forever. We are witnesses of this existence after death. We can prove that this is so at any time right before your eyes.
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It is therefore great folly to attempt to obtain a remedy to provide you with eternal life from a human being whose eyes are full of deceit, since he himself is far removed from the life of the Eternal Spirit. However, the remedies with which the Great Spirit has blessed us so abundantly are considered to be inadequate according to these pointed-foot doctors and not fit for use.
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Dear brothers from the lowlands, I will tell you that in the future you should no longer seek your well-being from these quacks; instead, seek your well-being seriously in the will of the Great Spirit, for then you will remain healthy until your spirit has fully matured.
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When your spirit has fully matured, which means when it has completely become a lord of life out of the will of the Great Spirit, you will nevermore taste death; you will be able to step out of your flesh and blood without pain and without restraint with the clearest and fullest consciousness, and you will discard this heavy garment of flesh and bones with the greatest of gratitude towards the Great Spirit."
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After the lecture, these so-called long-life remedy seekers are released with blessings to return to their homeland with a much better life remedy.
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In some places on the plains and in the valleys, especially along the lakes and rivers, there are certain heathens who consider the white ring in the firmament to be a divinity; others consider the ring to be the path upon which the Great Spirit walks to and fro and from whence He looks down upon the planet to see what the people are doing. These half-heathens often climb the mountains in the belief that they are closer to the white ring and perhaps might even reach the ring itself.
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The mountain dwellers feel a kind of duty of love to lead these travelers onto the right path and to show them what the ring and the moons really are and what their purpose is. They accomplish this feat through their firm will by placing these lost human beings into a state of clairvoyance in which these travelers are able to examine the ring and the moons from beginning to end.
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Once these heathens have experienced this, they realize how wrong they were, whereupon they are instructed in an affectionate but wise and serious manner in the true cognizance of the Great Spirit and His will. It is left to their discretion whether they wish to spend the rest of their lives in the mountains or whether to return to the valleys and plains where they lived before.
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Should they decide to stay in the mountains, then they are provided with living quarters. However, should they prefer to live in the lowlands, they are blessed and provided with food and drink and sent away in the name of the Great Spirit.
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But as long as these heathens from the lowlands do not give up their erring ways, there is no hope that the strong mountain dwellers will let them go. Should any of these heathens be of an obstinate or rebellious mind-set and take the initiative to escape or attempt to harm someone, their actions will be to no avail because at first there will be threats, and then a punitive angelspirit will be present who, with the simplest of means, makes such an obstinate and rebellious person understand how little he will accomplish with his defiance. After such a lecture, the obstinate person usually mends his ways. Should he persist with his obstinacy, it happens that he is punished by the avenging angel, either with severe abdominal pains or, under extraordinary circumstances, even with corporeal annihilation. The effect of this punishment is that such a person will remain for quite a while a guard of the night and coldness.
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One of the most important house rules for the mountain dwellers is the following: Should the majority in a family be male rather than female, then the male majority is at liberty to look for a wife among any other neighbors. Should he not find a wife there, he can go to the lowlands. Should he not be able to find a wife there, he can travel even farther. It does happen that at times a bridegroom travels to two, three, or even four continents in search of a wife.
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Should he find a wife in these far away places, as a rule there is no objection if there exists a female majority. The bridegroom is at liberty to remain there with his wife, and this is usually the case; or he can return with his wife to his homeland, but he is obligated to visit the house of her parents every three years as long as the parents are alive. Once they are no longer alive, then the obligation has been fulfilled.
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Should the majority of the members of a family be female, then messengers are sent to inform the neighboring families; on this occasion one or several suitors may be considered.
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The elder calls upon the Spirit of Light to indicate to him the will of the Great Spirit regarding which of the suitors is the most worthy among them; this takes place immediately. The one who has been chosen to be the bridegroom then takes his bride home after the wedding ceremony which was described in the previous chapter.
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Should there be more than one eligible woman in one family and only one suitor, then the elder calls upon the Spirit of Light to indicate the one most worthy for that man. Whereupon those two are married in the ceremony described and the bridegroom takes his bride home.
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Should there be the same amount of eligible women as there are suitors, then every suitor has the right to choose. Once they have chosen, the suitors have to inform the elder of their choices. The elder then confers with the Spirit of Light as to whether these choices are just, with the approval of the Great Spirit. If this is confirmed, the marriage ceremony is carried out without any further ado. Should the Spirit of Light not sanction the choices, then it is asked by the elder to indicate the proper choices in the name of the Great Spirit; this is done immediately, and the couples agree with great gratitude in their hearts. Upon which the couples are immediately married and the bridegroom can take his bride home. It is obvious that the details of the ceremony which have been explained in the previous chapter, inclusive of all the customs, apply here as well.
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Besides these house rules there are a few other unimportant household rules which will not be mentioned, because to know them would not serve any purpose. In the next chapter we shall discuss the religion of the Saturnites.