DAY 7 -- DONIAN GRAND LIBRARY AND HALL OF TRANSLATORS

30 Days, 30 Gods -- A study of little-known religions

DAY 7
DONIAN GRAND LIBRARY AND HALL OF TRANSLATORS

Welcome to our library! This is our most holy place. This is where our religion develops. First, walk though the Donian Grand Library. Here you can find the previous versions of our scriptures, those that are less holy. The Library is arranged in a series of five concentric rings. First, walk through the outermost ring. Here you'll see what remains of the papyrus on which Done's ideas were first recorded. Although we have no other artifacts that we know belonged to her, we do have displays and dioramas that show what her life was like.

The next three rings of the Grand Library trace the holy progress of our religion. You can see texts and artifacts from the last two thousand years, as our language and beliefs have improved. Please see the Lingual Timeline in this pamphlet to discover if your native tongue was once the language of Done.

The fifth and final ring has an interactive, multimedia display that shows you visually how the evolving text of our scriptures have changed our beliefs. You'll see how, with every subsequent translation, Done's teachings grow closer to perfection.

The innermost structure is our Hall of Translators. When our elders have determined that a better language for Donian expression has been found, we will translate the Donian scriptures and all associated texts in this hall, working day and night. The most recent translation, last year, took about 8 months. That was the 1,843rd translation, as we grew closer to perfection by translating our beliefs from Ainu to the Sotho language

Excerpted from the Donian Library's Visitor Guide, English Version, a pamphlet available with a $4 donation at the Donian Grand Library and Hall of the Translators.