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Soda
Citizen
Username: Soda
Post Number: 1033
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2003 - 3:37 pm: |     |
THE ORIGIN OF THE DANCING GOAT SOCIETY
It was a winter morning in Ethiopia, some 1200 years ago. Khaldi, a goat herder known for his mellowness and sprituality, awoke one morning to find his flock behaving extraordinarily. To his amazement, the beasts were standing on their hind legs and dancing like dervishes, bleating out a ruminant rhapsody, as if accompanied by the goat-god Pan.
Khaldi noticed that some of them were happily munching on nearby branches containing bright red berries; deciding that enlightenment must be at hand, he popped a few berries into his own mouth. They tasted bitter, but soon he found himself oddly exhilarated, clear-thinking and joyful. He rushed home to tell his wife.
Khaldi's good wife, accustomed to a far more placid husband (but more than willing to adjust to his new attitude) convinced her man that he must visit the nearest monastery, to share these miraculous berries with the world.
When he arrived, he was quickly ushered in to present his discovery to the elder monk. To Khaldi's surprise, the monk became infuriated. (Like most men of the cloth, he was distrustful of any mysterious power outside of his control -- especially power held inside something so lowly as a bean...) In a fit of anger, the old man threw the berries into a bonfire, around which a dozen monks were meditating. A heavenly aroma suddenly eminated from the fire.
Though lacking even basic knowledge of the roasting process, the elder monk had, by heating the coffee berry, begun a love affair with coffee which mankind celebrates to this day. His fellow monks leapt to their feet in the midst of this caffeinated fog, and proclaimed the humble berry to be a gift from God.
After considerable experimentation, the curious monks eventually ground some of the beans into powder, and soaked the result in hot water "so the goodness will flow through the liquid." A splendid time was had by all, and "the bean" became a monastic and religious tradition.
Over centuries later, as secular demand grew for coffee, qahveh khaneh (better known as coffee houses) began springing up in metropolitan centers in the Middle East. The most famous of these "coffee meccas" later became known simply as the city of Mecca.
As one might suspect, the elite and powerful of the day came to feel threatened by the music and free-wheeling social, political, and religious discussions common to these coffee houses. Soon, kings and priests attempted to shut down these meeting places.
During this dark period of bean history, the Dancing Goat Society was formed. The Society created covert coffee-drinking locations, periodically moving from house to house within the city. The coffee house persecution was soon recognized as a failure, and ultimately dropped, but the Society remained.
Today the spirit of the Dancing Goat Society is alive and well in South Orange. All those in need of mellow enjoyment are suggested to seek out The Dancing Goat; go and enjoy, and "the goodness will flow."
--Plagiarized by The Oracle Of MOL
BTW: They have boss smoothies, too!
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Soda
Citizen
Username: Soda
Post Number: 1034
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2003 - 3:47 pm: | |
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enigmabomb
Citizen
Username: Enigmabomb
Post Number: 291
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 12:31 am: | |
I dig that place.
-enigmabomb- |
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