Three Loves Seven, Chapter 14, Part 1 - "A Religious Experience"

Hello friends, family, and gentle readers,

We're back with another installment of Clete's adventures on Dog Island. It's been mentioned earlier that he feels the need to pay his respects to the local deities, so he makes an appointment to go visit their all-purpose shrine.

I don't describe the various altars in the Shrine and I leave it up to your imagination, but I will say that you should visit a non-Christian Chinese temple in American some time. They are mash-up affairs of various folk deities, lo-hans, immortals, demons, and buddhas. Take that level of aberration and raise it to the power of 10. Dog Island is one of the farthest extant outposts of Chinese culture and it's been influenced and colored by just about every belief system that could have been shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean over the last 600 years.

You met Ting Ting just briefly in an earlier passage. She's the one who got him safely out of the Island's "sweat lodge." She was introduced to him formally at the first Security Council meeting and she was present at the second meeting. Have no doubt that she was keeping an eye on him the whole time. I think the key to understanding her is that she is very horny and does not realize it (the last time she got screwed was when she was impregnated with Jie, so it's been a loooong time).

There will be two more parts to this episode--one from Wen's point of view, and another from Clete's. Stay tuned.

Love,
Pops


Entry into the Annals

[Diary entry offered by Jie, the Second Tortoise Guardian Princess of the North recounting events of and leading up to Professor Wong’s visit to the Shrine on Dragon, Month, 6, Day 11, Xingqi 7 (or Sunday, July 29, 2012)]

Let me say first that this is definitely not from my diary. My cousin asked for the actual pages to be included in the Annals. I could never do that. My thoughts are much to private to be shared with anyone, not even my mother. Or perhaps I should say especially not my mother. Like all of my younger cousins here, are mothers are such large presences in our lives. I suppose they always will be. I feel like an extension of her at times, but I suppose I will never be quite as connected as she was to her mother, or to all of the Firsts.

Qin asked if I would like to be interviewed and recorded instead. That would be even worse. Who knows what would come out of my mouth. Probably nothing.

Instead I have rewritten this remembrance to document some of the things that I think would be good to be known about the summer that Dr. Wong came to us.

I was informed by my mother (she is the Tortoise Guardian Princess of the North) that Professor Wong wished to perform his worship at the shrine—this was to take place in the fifth week he was with us, on the seventh day. And that he would like to pay his respects to honor the local religious customs in any way that he could. It fell to me to make preparations since I was assigned the duty of being the Guardian Princess of Ritual Observances. I was given title two years ago when I attained womanhood at age 15. Plus Mother wanted me to take responsibility for planning a visitor’s devotion from start to finish.

We knew that he was a Christian but I knew nothing of how to prepare the devotional materials that a person of that faith would require. I had heard that Christians use incense so I made sure to have an array of the many blends I had devised. We are blessed to have incense trees, sandalwood trees, tabu noki trees, acacias, and so many other sacred trees in our Grove. Plus there is the perfume garden that we have long cultivated as well to create herb- and flower-based notes. I have blends that invoke spirits for imprecations of joy, reverence, sorrow, bitterness, forgiveness. I knew that I would be able to meet his needs.

After we had completed a tutorial review session earlier that week, I asked if he would give me any sacred couplets that I could inscribe and mount in anticipation of this coming. He said he would retrieve something from his cottage and come by the Shrine later. When he did arrive, I took him into the Shrine’s preparation room. I had opened every box and drawer we had to see if there articles that he wished to use.

     “Holy Sacred Walmart! You’ve got every Goddamned religious artifact known to man here!” He picked a shaker and sounded it. “Gourds, drums, wheels, chimes, gongs, beads, brooms, cups, smoking pipes, censers,  statuettes … oh, I guess I should not say ‘goddamned’ here should I?”

     “I wasn’t going to mention it, but no. Feel free to use any of these things. People of every type of religion have dwelled on the Island and we’ve always found a way to fit them to one of the 10 altars.”

     “In that case, let me give this to you.” He handed me a book. “Here is what we call The Lectionary. This is the version we use in the Presbyterian church. It’s a collection of the most fundamental sections of the Christian Bible. If you read or preach from it, you will cover most of the Bible in in a cycle of three years.”

     “I notice that you just read a Bible on your Sunday mornings.”

     “There’s a reason followers of my faith are called ‘People of the Book’ by others. Studying the Bible is a big part of what we do, and self-directed study is one way to do it. At least if you’re Protestant. The Lectionary is a worldwide system that was put into place a long time ago. I would like to employ it for this case. I would like to use any of the readings for the Sunday that I arrived on the Island. It seems appropriate—June 24. I’ve bookmarked it and I’ve checked it off in red too.”

     “What do I need to do in particular with this?”

     “Just prepare as you would for any guest and keep an open heart, and I’m sure whatever you do will be fine. Please take care of me, Miss Guardian.”

At that time I was in awe of Professor Wong and quite infatuated with him. I suppose we all were. I remember that at that time I was having particular difficulty with the trigonometric functions. He told me:

     “The best way to understand a mathematical concept is to confront the problem that forced the mathematician to come up with that technique in the first place.” So he took me out onto Great East Dragon Promontory with some of his most simple surveyor’s equipment and made me calculate the distance from the top of the hill to the Great Boulder using secondary measurements only. Which I did. Imagine my surprise when we paced it off, it only deviated by a few steps (irregular terrain error). I had no problems after that. “Keep it real, but once reality is grasped, eventually math will be your ticket into the abstract or imaginary world.”

After he departed, I took his lectionary and studied the marked pages. There were several sacred text portions assigned for that day, but I disrobed to be natural and unfettered, unfastened my hair, and set myself in the sitting-alert posture. Thumbs barely touching, tongue to the roof of my mouth. I cleared my mind and meditated on each and settled on the passage entitled Book of Mark, Chapter 4, Verses 35 through 41, that day’s so called “festival reading.” I think I liked it because it was about the sea. I took the main words and concepts, translated them into Chinese characters, and fashioned them into a long-form banner talisman. 

I got out a fine length of rice paper on which to draw the talisman, but when I thought of how much he had brought to all of us and that he would probably not visit the Shrine again, I decided that only our red silk that we held for signature occasions would be appropriate. I hoped mother would not object, but I was not going to ask permission. I was the Guardian Princess of Ritual Observances, after all, and as such was allowed to make that decision. We had a full bolt and it had not been used in years. Even so, I was so fearful of setting the brush to make the first stroke. 

I prayed to the Christian god and for my being in tune with the Great Way and my hand moved as if guided by an angel after whom Professor Wong had named me. I laid it out to dry and imagined how it would look mounted on a white scroll. I would add gold trim as well. It would be marvelous.

Day Seven morning (Sunday) came and the Professor arrived early.

     “Good morning,” he said as he entered the Shrine.

     “Good morning,” I said in return, as well as did the others who were present, my mother Ting Ting, Auntie Feng, and Cousin Wen. I had everyone put on the gold and black ceremonial robes. “I have asked Feng and Wen to play while you are in worship, if that is all right?” I said.

     “Really? I think that will be lovely. Thanking you in advance ladies.” Feng and Wen held their expressions neutral and gave solemn bows in unison. They took up their usual positions on the porch where they normally practiced and Feng began to play. They would switch off as necessary. I had asked them to play music that was serene and peaceful in nature. “That’s odd. I she ill or something?”

     “Excuse me?”

     “Feng. She nearly always has a word of correction or reproof for me whenever we meet.”

     “Today she is your servant. That is her role as court musician,” my mother broke in. “Enjoy it while it lasts.” Mother and I escorted him into the main hall.

     “The Shrine is constructed on three levels,” I said “with its ten separate altars distributed throughout. On the first level are the altars to the four directions, the Dragon, the Phoenix, the Chi-lin, and the Tortoise. We ascend here into the second level onto this pentagonal platform where altars to the five elements are situated, Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth. Ascending to the third level is the central, circular platform upon which is altar to the God of No Name also known as the God of the Fifth Direction.”

     “What is the fifth direction?” asked the professor.

     “Up,” I said. He looked about to orient himself.

     “Up doesn’t have a totem animal?”

     “Not that I know of.”

     “What would you pick?”

     “Um, I have no idea.”

     “Well Clete,” said Mother, “what you YOU pick?”

     “Gotta be Afipia. They fly higher than any eagle.”

     “What’s that?” Mother asked.

     “It’s a bacteria that they find that lives and feeds in the troposphere. Way, way up there. Not as romantic as a dragon or phoenix, but just as amazing. They even have chimera forms.”

     “What do they look like?” asked Mother.

     “Like microscopic baked Cheese Puffs.”

     “And what do those look like?”

     “Like … time capsules you take when you’re sick with a cold.”

     “And what do those look like?”

     “Like … uh … a short vacuum tube that’s capped off with a hemisphere on either end?”

     “That’s not helpful either.”

     “Fuck an A lady! I’ve run out of visual metaphors. How about a hot dog? A sausage? I know you guys make those here.”

     “Mmmmmm. Sausage. Up. I HAVE IT. Like short snake or a larva maybe. Now you’ve made me hungry.”

     “Mother? Can we continue?”

     She brushed me off, she seemed to be enjoying herself. “You know, I’d make it the rabbit myself,” said Mother. “He is the Lord of the Moon after all.”

     “RABBIT? But that’s a burrowing animal!” said the Professor dismissively. “Speaking of which, how about Down? Why not a direction number six?”

     “Now that would be silly Clete. Who ever heard of six directions? You’d have to throw out your whole way of thinking and orienting the universe.”

     “Not a problem. Scientists are trained to be ready for paradigm shifts nowadays. Anyway, I know the perfect totem animal for number six down, the star-nosed mole. Those guys move through dirt like fish through water. They’re amazing. The naked mole rat gets my second place.”

     “A NAKED mole rat? How intriguing!” Mother said. “So do other American rats wear clothes normally?”

I found myself wishing that the Professor had not used that word “naked.” Mother instinctively started to unfasten her own clothing. She felt it was disrespectful to stand clothed at any altar. I intervened, closing up her garments as if helping her to straighten them up. She cast a scowl at me.

     [switching to Chinese] “Is that how I raised you?” she whispered in Chinese. "It's so wrong to be in here dressed like this!"

     “He’s company,” I whispered back. “And Auntie Feng will get very angry if you go luoti, sun dressed, now.”

     “She’s on the porch and can’t see a thing. I don’t go telling her how to dress when she tends her ducks. And the Professor seems quite tolerant too—quite a sport actually. And this is my shrine after all.”

     “It’s NOT your shrine. We’re just the caretakers. And how do you know he’s a sport? You’ve ever spoken to him before today except to set up this appointment.”

     “We’ve met before. In the steam house. HE was sun dressed too. Would you believe?”

     “NO. You did not! He was not! I would have heard about it.”

     “Don’t underestimate your mother.”

     “Hallo? Earth to Heavenly Maidens. So Reverend Ting, are we counting Mickey Mouse?” said the Professor. “If so, I’d say dressed rodents are pretty common. But naked mole rats just don’t have fur. To me they kind of look like regular humans without clothes on, being pink and just slightly hairy. If you look at pictures of groups of them, it reminds me of going to the beach in summer in Germany. I don’t suppose you’ve ever been to a nudist beach though?”

     “It’s the only kind I go to Clete…” said Mother.

     “MOTHER,” I broke in, “I think we should continue. Don’t you?”

     [switching to Manchurian] “You’re taking this all too seriously.”

     “Shouldn't we take service to the gods seriously?”

     “Oh all right! Certainly. Carry on darling. You’re in charge today.”

     [back to English] “You’re going fishing afterward right?” I asked. “Perhaps an offering at the Tortoise altar would be best? The fish belong to the Tortoise domain.” I suggested. “Or the Water God altar, for calm waters?”

     “Is it appropriate to make an offering and light incense at each?” asked the Professor.

     “It is not necessary. It is not like any spirit or god will get angry with you for neglect.”

     “But I want to. I figure it’s like politics. You want to cover all bases.”

     “Very well. Then that will be fine. I will provide you with the preferred incense and we will recite a prayer at each for you. Let’s start with the directions and move in then.” We proceeded from altar to altar lighting incense and kneeling. The professor would position himself at the center and mother and I flanked him. Our prayers were stated in Chinese and the professor insisted that we state a phrase which he then repeated. We came to the central altar and he asked a question.

     “These small black statues at each altar—what are they?” He indicated the squat figurines at each. They were all the same size, about 38 centimeter cubes.

     “They are personifications of the elements or deities. They are carved from the crystalline rocks that are found on The Mountain in the Outside.

     “Am I allowed to handle this one?”

     “You may pick it up if you wish,” I said. He studied the figures carved into each side. It was the Chinese number 10, like the plus sign. All the others were carved into the form of a man, woman, or animal.

     “You say these were carved from rocks from this Island?” He dug his fingernail into a crevice as if testing it. “I suppose it would be disrespectful to put my tongue on it wouldn’t it?”

     “I’ve never been asked that. Is that a Christian practice?”

     “Nope, geological practice when you don’t have any equipment.” He set it back down. “I apologize for even asking that question. No matter, I’ll eventually get to the quarry site, I’m sure. But, it’s the most interesting native geode I’ve come across to date here.”

     “I’m sure that is why our ancestors chose those stones to work with. We have entire black beach composed of this element.” He thought about that and looked like he was going to say something about that, but held back and asked something else.

     “Can you tell me whether there was a specific reason to locate the Shrine in this spot?”

      “Mother? I don’t know an answer to the Professor’s question. Do you?”

     “So NOW you want me to talk? Well then, tradition says that one of the first Sea Witches divined this site as the most auspicious. All rites had been conducted on the beaches or on many locational altars until this Shrine was built. It was said that beneath us was a rocky core that extended solid all the way to the center of the earth. Therefore, prayers offered here resonated throughout the world.”

     “Wow. That is an awesome story,” said the Professor.

     “It can’t be true though?” I asked. “Isn’t the core of the earth liquid? Molten metal?”

     “That priest or witch was right in a sense, since seismometers can be placed anywhere to sense earth movements all of the globe. And while the heat of the core is way past the melt point of iron of which the core is made, the intense pressure makes everything solid. It’s when parts of the mantle surface high enough to be released from pressure that rock becomes liquid magma and escapes from volcanoes as lava. This point may be resonant, but all points on the surface of a bell are resonant aren’t they?”

     “How do you know the earth’s core is solid?” asked Mother.

     “We measure the nature of the waves that pass through the earth on seismometers on the opposite sides of the earth. The measurements tell you whether they traveled through liquid or solid mass by their signature.”

     “What you’re saying Clete, though,” said Mother, “is that there’s nothing special about this location.”

     “Now I didn’t say that did I?” said the Professor. “That would be considered rude. Right?”

Mother was having a little joke with him. I wanted to nudge her so badly. She had heard from the other Firsts that his rudeness was so legendary that she wanted to goad him into saying something awful.

      “MOTHER! Who’s being rude now?”

     “Oh Daughter. Don’t you be the old lady in this family. I’m just treating Clete like I would treat a ‘little brother,’ like family.”

     “Yes, well,” said the Professor, “since this is the holiest place on the Island and the 10^th altar is the center of this place, let’s do it here.” I brought out an array of incense and inquired what sorts of prayers he would be stating. We settled on a succession of scents that would in turn represent seriousness, grief, and then joy or sweetness. I set out a small ritual bowl of rice and cup of wine before him and then I hung the talisman.

     “Excuse me, but what is that? It’s exquisite. Is that your brushwork?”

     “It is a talisman.  Or it’s at least a hope of one. You really have to be a recognized priest for them to be truly effective.”

     “Recognized by whom?”

     “A master priest. There was such a priest on this Island at one time. Abbot Thuy. He had been shipwrecked and he floated in one morning I’m told. He stayed. Mother says he organized the Shrine into the configuration that you see here now with its 10 altars. He took on my mother and the Sea Witch’s elder daughter as apprentices when they were small. He told them he sold talismans on the streets of Saigon before a group ran him out of town and he fled on a boat which lost him at sea.”

     “So these talismans?  They are stylized renditions of Chinese words. They ward off bad luck?”

     “Or bring good luck.”

     “No offense meant to your teaching heritage, but he seems like he had a lot of bad luck. How effective can his approach possibly be? I assume he used his own stuff?”

     “That’s a very interesting question, Dr. Wong. But he did wind up here and married a local woman and stayed. Would you consider that good luck?”

     “That’s a highly subjective question to ask, and potentially dangerous one to answer.”

     “If you found that you had to remain on this Island, Clete,” asked Mother, “would you consider that good luck or bad luck?”

     “Would I still have to report to Lee every day?”

     “So you do not like her?”

     “Did I say that? I’m trying to be more polite. I really am, but you people keep setting me up to be a jerk with everything I say!”

     “Ah. Do you like her? Or not?”

     “Uh, she has her admirable qualities.”

     “Just so you know, Clete, she is not available.”

     “I’m not on the market either. So let’s avoid ALL idle speculations.”

     “In all fairness, mother said Abbot Thuy claimed he was run out of Vietnam not because of his talismans but because of family members’ dissatisfaction with his specialty medicinal mercury infusions.”

     “Medicinal mercury! I hope didn’t take up a medical practice here. I’m not surprised his family was dissatisfied?”

     “His patients’ families.”

     “Probably overcharged. That’s everybody’s complaint about doctors. But were his patients satisfied?”

     “He said hard to say one way or the other as they all died. Mother said that he claimed in his defense that they would all have died anyway.”

     “There’s no arguing that. But, you did make me fine banner. Certified talisman or no. I’ll take it as a physical prayer. Just letting you know, I’m not a believer in word magic. I’m not highly literate in Chinese either. Let alone its stylized forms, but is that based on the words from Mark 4?”

     “It is.”

     “Ah! Your devotion is not only genuine, but artful. I’m touched. Thank you Angel.”

He grabbed my hand and gave it a firm squeeze. I found it difficult to even say a word after that as my heart started to race, but my participation was no longer necessary. It was enough for me to present while he offered his service to his god.