In the same way that "Adonai" is spoken by Jews in
reference to the ineffible name of God, there must be
some secular words used by people of these tribes to
reference the sacred objects.

Perhaps rather than words, you could use geographic
maps, visuals of some kind, or abridged common
stories.  I don't know PastPerfect, so maybe that
can't work.

What do members of the tribes tell you about how they
themselves explain the objects to non-members?  How
could you best replicate this in your database?

--- Keepsafe Systems/Jerry Shiner <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> >I'm developing the database (via PastPerfect) for a
> >tribe (no details, please). ...The words are
> considered
> >sacred, and to speak them or use them out of
> context
> >would be inappropriate.  Do we sanctify our
> computers,
> >or what?  Any help and/or suggestions would be
> greatly
> >appreciated.
>
> How do other cultures deal with secret/sacred words?
> (Unspeakable names of
> gods and spirits seem to lie at the heart of many
> ancient religions and
> customs.) "Sanctifying" the computers seems awkward
> and inelegant. What
> will you do with the (now sacred) machines when they
> are outdated- there's
> another problem. And who gets to handle the holy
> machine, and what is the
> ritual?
>
> Resolution will be likely be specific to the tribe,
> though I suspect that
> an acceptable solution will be found through
> precedent, either in the
> tribe's own history, or some other culture's past.
> What do the elders say?
> I presume you went to them first, and not us!
>
> I suppose you can't make access to the computer
> records exclusive to the
> righteous. This is one purpose of ritual, or just
> locking things away works
> fairly well (think of the Shroud of Turin, and many
> other with holy relics
> or icons, etc.).
>
> Another common solution is to substitute words or
> acronyms to represent
> other (holy) words. For example, Adonai (which means
> our God) is used in
> place of the ineffable name of the Hebrew God
> (Jehovah or Jaweh). The US
> National Security Administration does the same
> thing. Acronyms don't just
> make the name shorter, it's about ownership and
> secrecy!
>
> BTW, our website has been "born again" for anyone
> interested in oxygen-free
> preservation or constant humidity display and
> storage: www.keepsafe.ca
>
> js
> Jerry Shiner
> Keepsafe Systems
> Microclimate and Oxygen-free storage supplies and
> solutions
> www.keepsafe.ca
> toll-free 800 683-4696  fax: (416) 703-5991
>
>
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