Dirtland

So, you're probably wondering... why call a blog Dirtland? Is it like Ghostworld, a misanthropic lens of life? No, actually the opposite, but first let me explain.  I chose the name after a concept that an absolute baddie, Mary Douglas, created. Douglas was an anthropologist who wrote about human culture, symbolism and risk.  Douglas wrote a lot about things that cross borders that have a limbic quality about them.  She defines dirt as 'matter out of place.' This is really cool because anything can be dirt. Simply redrawing a border can make something appear out of place in a society.  She writes,  " Where there is dirt there is a system. Dirt is the by-product of a systematic ordering and classification of matter, in so far as ordering involves rejecting inappropriate elements." -Mary Douglas So impurity is also subjective. Douglas writes that rituals cleanse impurity. Anything can be impure in a society - germs are a social construct. The rituals we do in cult...