On Fri, 15 Mar 2002 18:30:37 -0800 "C.B." <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
> Is there any particular European country known for not using
> deodorants/antiperspirants or not bathing much?

Ardeith writes:
Not today.....but we were talking about ancient times...

Some of the early Christian sects taught that washing
the body was paying too much attention to things of
the flesh.........so the body was unwashed in order to
enhance the purity of the soul.  Some of these people
bragged about how filthy they were.....
Also, they taught that the process of washing one's
body encouraged people to touch their bodies....
which might lead to discovering "pleasure buttons"
which might lead to self-gratification....which again
was paying too much attention to the flesh, and not
enough to the soul.......
I read somewhere that the first European's allowed
into Japan were amazed at how often the people
bathed....males and females.   And the Japanese
of that time thought Europeans smelled awful....
which they probably did.

During the Age of Exploration, herbs and spices...
particularly aromatic spices....were worth their
weight in gold because such herbs and spices covered
up the odor of unwashed bodies.  Also, folks didn't
have refrigeration back then, and much of the meat
the people ate was what I would call spoiled.....too
smelly in any case........Queen Elizabeth I may have
worn beautiful gowns, but you wouldn't want to
stand downwind of her.............

I'm finding it really hard not to get into a rant about
how such ideas have screwed up people's heads.....
but I'll restrain myself.....Read Mitchner's "Hawaii"
for a lesson in how our Western culture decimated
a strong, healthy people......or any good book on
the genocide in the Americas.......

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Walk The Path With Practical Feet!


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