[UA] Today's Mythic Experience

[Greg Stolze]

I can't believe I never UAed this before.  It's ripe for it once you look
at it right.

Today I donated blood, which involved the following:

I went and answered a bunch of intensely personal questions, asked by a
woman whose name I don't know.  I testified that I was pure in body and
spirit*.  She drew a quantity of my blood and weighed it in the balance.

Being found worthy, I was admitted to the inner chamber.  There, on a
crimson couch, they pierced my flesh and drew my blood, promising that it
would give life to a stranger -- a stranger I would never meet or know
about, who would never know whose blood s/he received.  They filled one
large container, then four smaller ones.

I was given a token -- a sign that others I meet today might know what I
had done and respect me for it.  Those who give enough receive permanent
tokens, or even a glass from which they can drink.

After, I emerged from the inner chamber and was given food and drink.

Now, if THAT setup isn't begging to be ritualized, I don't know what is.
Maybe that's where our hypothetical Commumancers are hiding -- they act out
their charging rites in blood centers throughout the United States, taking
from each according to his abilities, giving to each according to his
need...

-G.

*And as an aside, every time I'm sitting there answering "No, no, no, no"
while they say "Ever had sex for money?  Paid someone for sex?  Exchanged
drugs for sex?  Had sex with someone who'd paid for sex with drugs or
money?  Ever been in jail or prison?"... I find myself thinking "You know,
my life's really been fairly conventional.



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