Sunday, June 08, 2008

Theology of Space: Dante's Inferno

On one side and the other, with great howls, Rolling weights forward by main force of chest. They clashed together, and then at that point Each one turned backward, rolling retrograde, Crying, "Why keepest?" and, "Why squanderest thou?"

In Dante’s Inferno there is a circle of Hell reserved wildly differing groups of people, engaged in eternal war -- the Hoarders and the Wasters. They spend all of eternity rolling huge weights at each other on a hot and scorched plain. The weights are actually diamonds and represent the things they had such unhealthy relationships with. They scream out “Why keepest?” and "Why squanderest thou?" They do their roundelay -- forever and ever. This is the 4th circle of hell.

The LH and I sorted some of his clothing last weekend and were busy getting ready for an estate sale this weekend at his grandfather's house. I don't think that anyone is 100 percent a hoarder or a waster: we contain both. I think there are multitudes of reasons we hoard and/or waste. We hoard out of fear, out of a primal urge to collect our sticks and stones in our caves to fight off other cavemen, we hoard precious things to remind us of moments of happiness, of relationship.

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