I’m continuing our series into Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. We’re looking for places to bivouac, set up camps near destinations and then get earlier starts on hikes.
We couldn’t leave our last camp soon enough because of gnats and the afternoon heat. The harsh part of Summer isn’t far off. The plan is to situate in higher elevations and the better weather, climbing to suit our lack of suits. We’ll need a place to stay to get an early start near a trailhead, which leads to a ruin that we intend to explore.
A camping spot is found near a very fun old wooden bridge.
The solid old conveyance is filled with character, there are trees for shade and a dry creeks ambiance, maybe cool air will flow down the wash as evening passes.
The spot should suit our needs, but now we need another spot in proximity to Bridges National Park, our hike for the morning. Fish and Owl sounds like a good spot. There is a Ranger Station nearby. Our information is sparse at this point and they will help.
I had some clearing out to do, when I found some old papers, printouts from the early internet. From David Icke E Magazine, I’d printed an article out on December 31st, 2000, a year after the millennia computer crash silliness, probably from a Web TV, or something. It was titled “Nudity” by Voltaire.
I had to investigate. Was this real? After a search of “nudity”, I found Voltaires’ Philosophical Dictionary, a treatise of his writings, but only under the title “nakedness.” The famous philosopher actually wrote this back in the 1700’s.
An Image of Voltaire’s Nude Statue
From: Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary
NAKEDNESS
Why should one lock up a man or a woman who walked stark naked in the street? and why is no one shocked by absolutely nude statues, by pictures of the Madonna and of Jesus that may be seen in some churches?
It is probably that the human species lived long without being clothed.
People unacquainted with clothing have been found in more than one island and in the American continent.
The most civilized hide the organs of generation with leaves, woven rushes, feathers.
Whence comes this form of modesty? is it the instinct for lighting desires by hiding what it gives pleasure to discover?
Is it really true that among slightly more civilized nations, such as the Jews and half-Jews, there have been entire sects who would not worship God save by stripping themselves of all their clothes? such were, it is said, the Adamites and the Abelians. They gathered quite naked to sing the praises of God: St. Epiphanius and St. Augustine say so. It is true that they were not contemporary, and that they were very far from these people’s country. But at all events this madness is possible: it is not even more extraordinary, more mad than a hundred other madnesses which have been round the world one after the other.
We have said elsewhere that to-day even the Mohammedans still have saints who are madmen, and who go naked like monkeys. It is very possible that some fanatics thought it was better to present themselves to the Deity in the state in which He formed them, than in the disguise invented by[Pg 223] man. It is possible that they showed everything out of piety. There are so few well-made persons of both sexes, that nakedness might have inspired chastity, or rather disgust, instead of increasing desire.
It is said particularly that the Abelians renounced marriage. If there were any fine lads and pretty lasses among them, they were at least comparable to St. Adhelme and to blessed Robert d’Arbrisselle, who slept with the prettiest persons, that their continence might triumph all the more.
But I avow that it would have been very comic to see a hundred Helens and Parises singing anthems, giving each other the kiss of peace, and making agapæ.
All of which shows that there is no singularity, no extravagance, no superstition which has not passed through the heads of mankind. Happy the day when these superstitions do not trouble society and make of it a scene of disorder, hatred and fury! It is better without doubt to pray God stark naked, than to stain His altars and the public places with human blood.
I am on the forum of FreeRangeNaturism.com often, if you would like to converse.
“You’ll get used to wearing clothes,” they say. Well yes, I’d probably get used to anything, but is constant clothing actually beneficial? Can it be harmful? Maybe clothing is something that should be done only in moderation? There are of course the superficial differences, but as a longer time nude will show, if one just takes note, the restrictions coming from clothing have far greater negative and even damaging effects.
Examples of Greater Deeper Effects:
Most obviously, just throwing off clothing reveals an immediate release, relief, or liberation, but I’m saying that the effect of clothing is deeper than that.
In constant clothing, health, psychological and spiritual benefits, all three, are lost in an artificial norm. There is a disassociation from our essence, the base, our very foundation. One needs to be in touch with one’s grounded essence to function better. As examples, a short meditation, or a deep breath during the day, being and in the moment are known health aides. Try taking a Ben Franklin air bath. It is certain, clothing disassociates us.
One may ask me, “Why are you so obsessed with being naked?” My usual response is “Ask yourself why you are clothed. Could that be an obsession?” Nude is the default position. Clothing is an additive. This justifies my lifestyle, but why is it such an important issue to me?
After spending several days acceptably nude, it is most common to notice that putting on clothing, just to be socially acceptable, is physically confining, bunched up, hot, evidently unnatural and often, actually uncomfortable.
Unless I get overwhelmed by cold, I don’t need anything to supplement my natural bodily ability for homeostasis. The body, the mind, the whole system adjusts as a complete system. It is quite complex, an ancient natural gift adapted to adept. It is honed and amazing. The freer that it is to do its job, the better it works.
I am my body and also, there is more. Something essential is lost in clothing. The joy of nudity is lost, but something more than clothing is taken away. In my skin, I’m in touch with the world around me, all senses are more aware and I’m more integrated. This aligns with and supports a more natural place, or sense of being. It opens the pathways to other senses in a unified natural activity of awareness and body.
Other senses are felt about the body, such as, I have a greater sense of well-being. I have a deeper sense of being a part of something quite amazing, even oneness. If one just tries free range naturism and is simply being aware; there is a generally obvious observation, which can expand into more in time.
This is another short post, something that I wrote a while back. There simply isn’t enough time these couple of weeks to sit down, take a complete day and finish the complex continuation, or the finale of either of the two story directions that we are flowing toward. Please, give time time as it unfolds.
I am on the forum of FreeRangeNaturism.com often, if you would like to converse.
Enriching my being and senses is, to me, like sitting on a bench watching a glorious wondrous sunset. I think that I have a right to the gift. But there is a persistent social imposition that is like having a blind man come by, swish his cane and tell me that that sunset doesn’t exist, or that it is unimportant, or irrelevant. To be denied the wonderment of this body going about its day, exposed to all the sensation that a day can give is cheating me. The imposition of not living naked diminishes my experience of my precious day on Earth.
We have a right to our natural senses. To stand outside and breathe fresh air and its scents. To sense with the entire body is elemental. To walk freely nude, is like a breath of fresh air and I would say that they are both simply a human Right.
This is a short post, something that I wrote a while back about true justice. There simply isn’t enough time these couple of weeks to sit down and finish the complex continuation, or the finale of either of the two story directions that we are flowing toward.
I am on the forum of FreeRangeNaturism.com often, if you would like to converse.
The Free Range Naturist 