Water Thots

Water

If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.

Going to church
Would entail a fording
To dry, different clothes;

My litany would employ
Images of sousing,
A furious devout drench,

And I should raise in the east
A glass of water
Where any-angled light
Would congregate endlessly.

poem by Philip Larkin


Larkin is not the first to suggest incorporating water into religion. Predating him by several centuries was the Roman philosopher Seneca, who declared: "Where a spring rises or a water flows there ought we to build altars and offer sacrifices". It is a practice we should consider reviving. And predating Seneca were a host of ancient religions that believed water was holy and sacred, the FONS ET ORIGO, the fount and origin of all forms of life. Linked with the moon through the movement of tides and with women through their moon-like menstrual flow, water was honored as the eternal and essential Female energy, the womb of life itself.

In the ancient Egyptian Heliopolitan creation story, the sun-god Atum (Re) (Male) reposed in the primordial ocean (Nun) (Female) and emerged from the depths of the womb-waters to spark life.

In Assyro-Babylonian mythology, first the gods and subsequently all beings arose from the fusion of salt water (Tiamat) and sweet water (Apsu). Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of the moon, lived within sacred springs, and her temples were often situated in natural grottoes from which springs emanated.

According to the Vedas, the holy books of the Hindus, all the inhabitants of the earth emerged from mätritamäh, the primordial, "most maternal" sea. The sacred River Ganges embodies, for practicing Indian Hindus, is still referred to as the “water of life”.

The Judeo-Christian story of creation tells us about the spirit of God created a "stirring above the waters," and placed, "a firmament in the midst of the waters to divide the waters" (Genesis 1:1-6). The Garden of Eden is watered by a river that divided into four rivers. In Judaeo-Christian culture, God is called "the fountain of living waters" (Jeremiah 2.13). And for believing Christians, baptism links the concepts of the water of life with the waters of purification. And from the Koran come the words "We have created every living thing from water".

But what exactly is water? Water is truly unique and remarkable; it is unlike any other substance on earth. Here are some factoids.

Water is absolutely essential for life on earth. Though water covers about 70 percent of the earth's surface in the oceans, lakes, rivers, and glaciers, 97% of the water on the planet contains a large amount of sodium chloride (common salt). Only 3 percent is fresh, and two-thirds of that is ice.

Despite its ubiquity, the chemical and physical properties of water are complicated and incompletely understood. Chemically, water is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen, its molecule consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Water's composition by weight is one part of hydrogen to eight of oxygen (or 11.1 percent of hydrogen and about 88.9 percent of oxygen). Scientists believe that the structure of liquid water consists of aggregates of water molecules that form and re-form continually. The water molecule, H2O, is not linear but bent in a special way; part is negatively charged and part positively charged. This may account for its ‘wetness’.

At ordinary temperatures, water undergoes evaporation. When cooled to its freezing temperature (0°C., 32°F., under standard pressure), water changes to a colorless, crystalline solid (ice). Unlike other liquids, water expands when it freezes and is less dense as ice than as a liquid at 4°C. When water is heated to its boiling point (100°C., 212°F., under standard pressure), it vaporizes into steam.

Water is an odorless, tasteless, transparent liquid at room temperature. In small amounts, water is colorless, but it exhibits a bluish tinge in large quantities. Water is relatively incompressible and completely pure water is a poor conductor of electricity. And as all of us have discovered at one time or another, water is a very effective solvent.


It has been said that earth is water planet. We live because of water. Humans are, as someone once remarked, sentient, perambulating bags of water. About a billion plus of the 6 billion bags here on the water planet aren’t very full at all. Another 2.6 billion are pretty full but their contents are contaminated with all sorts of unpleasant stuff from benzene to goat shit. Here in the USofA, most of us are pretty full bags and mostly toxin-free. And we have an added advantage; if we do happen to get thirsty, fresh water is only a Store 24 and a buck away so we can always pick up some to top ourselves off.

But I wonder what would happen if we ever truly begin to think of water in the same terms as we think about oil? Try it out for a while. Whenever you hear that oil is a limited and nonrenewable resource, remember that water is too. Not only is it limited and nonrenewable, it is not evenly distributed across the planet, just like oil. Also, lest we forget; though oil may be essential for your Lexus, you can actually can live a very full life without it. Without water you won’t last more than 5 days.

There is, however, an important difference between oil and water. Unlike oil, water can, under certain circumstances and with the infusion of a lot of technology and energy, be reused. Though in strictly practical terms, water isn’t always reusable at least as far as drinking it is concerned. We can ‘treat’ it and flush out most of the ‘impurities’ and toxins it has collected along the way, but we can’t take out all of them.

But back to the bottom line: water is NOT a renewable resource. There is no way to make any more of the stuff. All of the water that ever existed on this planet, still exists on or about the planet. It’s just been recycled ad infinitum. The next time you guzzle down some Evian, try thinking about this: It’s possible that you contain some of the same water molecules that were once part of the body of Buddha, or Genghis Khan, or your great Uncle Fred, or your favorite now-dead cat Isadore, or a trout from a stream in Wyoming, or, well, you get the picture. We are all composed of recycled H20; we just can't be sure where it’s been. It’s safe to assume it’s been pretty much everywhere.

Following Seneca’s advice about building altars to water is far-fetched these days. In the modern world, economics has replaced religion. Water still has great power, but its value is tallied on ledger sheets more than on pages of scripture. Water inspires not notions of God, wisdom and life, but visions of great schemes, greater profits, and absolute control. Any altars that are built are likely to be sporting corporate logos, and the sacrifice that will be made will be common access to a common resource.