It was my tenth birthday and my mother led me up to the Frame Walk. I was so nervous. We stopped outside the entrance and she knelt on the ground to speak to me. She said "Just walk, dear. When you get scared remember that all of us built this maze. It is constructed with our love and nothing bad could ever happen inside. We'll be waiting for you at the exit and we won't leave until you come out."
I'd heard it before. She said it to me practically every day for the past two weeks leading up to my birthday, and my first Frame Walk. But her repeating it again in this moment made me realize that there really was nothing left to say. Nothing could make my anxiety go away. I just had to walk.
When I entered the maze, they immediately boarded up the entrance everything became very dark. I cried. I know they could hear me but no one said anything to console me. Not even my mother. I really was on my own.
I could make out a faint light which revealed where the path split off. I made my way towards it and was faced with a decision: left or right? I tried to remember what the maze looked like from the outside. I thought I'd memorized it, but between the darkness and my fears I was drawing a blank. I couldn't tell you which way I went. I just moved as swiftly as I could until I hit my first wall. I screamed. I banged on it with my fists and I probably told everyone how much I hated them for forcing me to do this. Silence.
I took off in the other direction and toppled over a step hidden in the shadows. The pain was terrible. I felt my shins and they were a little wet with what I assumed to be blood. I started to growl and howl and just make the scariest noises I could think of. Like I was possessed by some animal. I clawed and punched at the walls and still nothing but silence from the outside.
After a deep breath I put my hand against the wood and started to walk again. I decided that If I just kept running into these obstacles they'd all feel sorry for me when I came out all bloodied and bruised. But something funny happened. With my hand on the wood walls I felt like I could.... feel the grain. It sounds so strange but not being able to see much, my sense of touch felt heightened. I closed my eyes tight and focused on the grain of the boards and it felt like they were guiding me. I knew the turns before they came. I even took my boots off so that I could feel the wooden floor as well, and I think it allowed me to avoid banging into any more steps.
My mother's words echoed in my head. The Frame Walk was built with the love of the whole town of Bellwether, and I could feel it in the grooves and notches of the wood around me. My family and friends, my loved ones and neighbors were all with me in that maze because of their contributions to its construction.
I found the exit and part of me didn't want to leave. Never in my life had I felt so connected to my community and myself. But it was time. I felt around for a handle and opened the door.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light, but when it all came into focus I could see everyone. They were on their knees, singing the Joinery Hymn. Their arms were wide open waiting for my embrace. I ran into him and I'd never felt so full of love and compassion in my life. It was like I understood my place finally. I understood that I had a place.
I do it every year and every year I feel rejuvenated and reconnected to the people who are important to me. You. The kids. And our town of Bellwether.
-Elsa Kashin, the night before her 67th birthday.
Frame Walk in Bellwether
The Frame Walk is a birthday ritual celebrated in the town of Bellwether. Participants enter a labyrinth constructed by the town and make their way to the exit. It is meant to be a time of spiritual contemplation. However the path has several obstacles meant to frustrate and stifle the Frame Walker. These represent every day challenges that can be overcome by trusting in ourselves and embracing the Structure.
The construction of the maze is rooted in Structuralist ideals, a religion which the people of Bellwether are among the most stringent followers in the territory. In Structuralism, importance is placed on order and human ingenuity. It is important for humans to work hard and improve their skills in order to improve the quality of life for the community. It is with this in mind that the people of Bellwether built the Frame Walk which fully encapsulates the walker in a wooden maze. In some respects the journey represents the journey of being born, but with the mother's birth canal replaced with the more rigid stable construction that a Structuralist religion provides.
After exiting the Frame Walk, one is greeted with the embrace of the town, who sing a Structuralist song called the Joinery Hymn. This hymn further highlights the community's responsibility to each other.
One is eligible for their first Frame Walk at 10 years of age and is encouraged to do so every year going forward. It is one of the first major steps from childhood to adolescence and eventually
The Rite of Obligation, a ritual in which one gains a more mature understanding of the Structuralist doctrine known as The Articulation.
Frame Walk in Goroma
There are current plans to construct Frame Walks in neighborhoods through out the city of Goroma, the capital of the Structuralist territory. Bellwether's Frame Walk is an inspiration to many clergy within the Church, and there is a push to make it adopt it as an official birthday practice of Structuralism.
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