The Saturn
Presentation of this planet and its moons, including ring and creatures
- Chapter 31 -
The Blue Goat. Bartering with its milk. The goat thanksgiving festival. The connection of the Saturnites with the spiritual world. The wool of the Blue Goat and its use.
What kind of animal is the blue goat? It is an extremely useful and indispensable animal for those Saturnites who are of moderate means, particularly for those who live in the mountains, where the large cow cannot move about freely and where there would not be enough to eat, though mainly there is not enough water available there for the cow to satisfy its great thirst.
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What does this animal look like? Does it look like any goat on earth? No, it does not. It somewhat resembles an elk, which on earth inhabits more the northern parts of the continents; this goat is of course at least a hundred times larger than an elk on earth. It has between its two hind legs in accordance to its size a very large udder with six teats, which easily produce ten to twenty pails of milk.
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The milk of the goat is not as sweet as that of the giant cow, but it is much more fragrant and more nourishing. Therefore, it happens quite often that the mountain dwellers take their good milk product to the people in the valleys and plains to exchange it for other things which are of absolute necessity to them. On this planet there is no trade other than barter. This barter serves a good purpose for the mountain dwellers. The goat cannot thrive in the valleys and plains, but it does at the heights, where it searches for food under the snow with shovel-like forwardbent horns. You should understand that on Saturn, as on earth, the highest mountain peaks are covered with ice and snow during the time of the ring shadow.
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This animal is somewhat shy by nature, but when it is treated well by human beings it becomes tame and domesticated; it almost runs behind them like your loyal dogs do on earth. Therefore, when these mountain dwellers want to go somewhere they have to tie this animal to a long grass rope on a tree, otherwise the goat would follow them. The Saturnites, especially those that live in the mountains, have a festival every year which they offer to the Great Spirit in gratitude for this beneficial animal.
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Quite a number of the most beautiful goats with full udders are taken to this festival. There they are taken to a particular spot where they form a circle and where the goats are milked, and this milk is gathered in the cleanest and most beautiful containers. As soon as this work is done, the animals are led to a rain tree pond which is always close by and, as part of the obligatory thanksgiving, they are watered with this exceedingly good-tasting pure water. After that they are let loose so that they can graze on the succulent pastures which surround this rain tree pond. The people return to the place where the fresh milk is waiting for them in those beautiful containers.
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Everybody takes his container and carries it to a temple which is specially built for this festival. The temple is planted with ray trees (bruda) or grown with mirror trees (ubra). The reason why I say "planted" or "grown" is because, on this planet, temples of divine service are not built by carpenters as on earth, but are grown out of the ground alive, and consist of the most beautiful trees. These trees are planted in a particular order almost like a cordon on earth in the gardens, which are regularly pruned. A temple like this, when fully grown, is a magnificent sight, especially around the time when the trees are in bloom; the sight is so magnificent that you on earth cannot imagine it. This temple is so large that it would take the people on earth a whole day to walk from the holy entrance to the opposite side where the exit is.
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When the people have taken all their pumpkin containers with the milk into the temple, they first thank the Great Spirit for the gift of this beneficial domesticated animal and also for the milk they have taken from it. After this prayer, the eldest rises from their midst and asks all the devout who have gathered to lie on the floor face down.
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The elder looks upwards and implores the Great Spirit that He may permit the elder to be overcome by a Spirit of Light and proclaim to him what would be pleasing to the Great Spirit, what they should do while in the sanctuary. And since the inhabitants of Saturn, but mostly the mountain dwellers, are almost in constant contact with the spirits of their heaven, it happens all the time that after such a request by the elder a shining light-spirit in human form comes to them and proclaims how they are to conduct themselves.
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Once the spirit is finished with his proclamation, the people arise and the elder announces what he has been told. After the sermon the people give thanks again to the Great Spirit. Once that has been done with the greatest devotion, the people of both sexes fetch their milk containers and take them to the elder so that he may speak the blessing of the Great Spirit over them. Then they return with their containers, embrace each other, and everyone invites the other to share his milk and an assortment of other edible foods. After such an invitation, they begin to eat in the temple and have conversations that contain all kinds of information.
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On this occasion, when almost all the food has been eaten, throughout the day they give thanks again to the Great Spirit, which the Saturnites seek to heighten through the songs of the birds whenever they are available. This is not done by the main singer but by the singers of the second kind, as previously mentioned.
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After this thanksgiving everybody leaves the temple, but, mind you, never by the holy front exit, but always by the rear exit, which is intended for the people; whereas the holy exit is only for the elder and for the Spirits of Light. As soon as the people are outside the temple, they call their goats which are grazing leisurely around the rain tree pond; the goats obey the call and follow their masters home.
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This is the simplest of celebrations for the Saturnites. Whatever concerns their main celebrations and the main divine service shall be described when we discuss the Saturnites in particular.
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When the inhabitants come home with their goats, they milk them again and then let them roam free once more, for the Saturnites build no barn for these goats. Also, nobody makes a goat his permanent possession; if a goat comes to the dwelling of a human being with a full udder, they milk it and let it go. Also, nobody has to care for a goat, feeding it, etc., as it does not require anyone to tend it. These animals take care of themselves; they are so tame, good-natured and attached that they always come at the right time to the dwellings of the people. They also do not need a guard or attendant, because on Saturn, especially in the mountains, there are no carnivorous animals.
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If you remember, those animals which are wild and antagonistic usually live in areas which are far from the continents inhabited by human beings, and they are separated by water. In the countries on the continents, these wild animals only inhabit areas where humans never set foot. If that should happen, it will happen only because of curiosity, pertness, and sometimes also greed. But in the mountains, as you know, wild animals other than the "pointed foot" (with which we are already acquainted) very rarely live.
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From what has been said, you can gather how easy it is for the Saturnites to keep this animal and how beneficial it is for them. We have now learned everything important about this animal.
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I do not think it is necessary to reiterate why this animal is called the blue goat. Just as the name indicates, its color is blue. In addition, this animal has extremely fine wool in plentiful amounts, like sheep on earth. The Saturnites, especially those who live in the mountains, make all kinds of warm clothing out of it for the colder shadow season. They clean the wool beforehand, then they spin it into beautiful, uniform thick threads and they weave all kinds of differently patterned cloth with very peculiar kinds of proficient tools.
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What happens when the blue goat dies? They skin it and the meat is placed into a pit, because the people on Saturn hardly eat any meat.
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That is everything there is to know about this animal. In the next chapter we shall describe another noteworthy domesticated animal.