Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Brushwood and Church stuff

Okay, we're home. We're trying to catch up on the mail, and by gosh we have everything out except a couple of certificates. They will go out in a few days.

Last year we missed Brushwood altogether because of Gavin's health. But during our time there this year we made some tentative Church decisions:
1. To issue another church charter
2. To move the annual general meeting of the Church in the future to probably the Wednesday of the Sirius Rising festival.
We want to invite all the old Church trustees, plus the trustees of the churches that were members / charter holders but which have gotten their own church charters, which churches we have lost track of. Anyone and everyone who was associated with the Church of Wicca in earlier days is more than welcome to attend. There are faces we'd love to see again, and people with whom we'd love to update ... and compare the cape-and-tights grandchildren we're all so proud of.
Yes, we know it will cost you money to pay Brushwood's entrance and/or camping fees; but it's a great festival anyway, even if the reunion turns out to be a disappointment ... This year there were 1,600 happy frolicking pagans on site. The bonfires were as spectacular as usual and the musical groups were exceptional. You can soon check out pictures and next year's tentative program at
brushwood.com . We'd love to see you all there. Blessed be! Gavin and Yvonne

roddenberry

Hi, readers of this site. Yvonne has a query concerning a strong and ongoing personal interest of hers. It concerns
For many years she has felt that Alfred Russel Wallace has been undeservedly overlooked (indeed, declared a non-person). Here's why. Dr. Wallace was a naturalist--but a middle-class individual without Charles Darwin's upper-class status. His work in that field led him (Wallace) to develop the theory of survival of the fittest and natural selection. He wrote to Darwin outlining this idea; and, to put it bluntly, Darwin usurped the idea and claimed it as his own. After all, a middle-class naturalist couldn't possibly have a better idea than an upper-class one.
What Yvonne is interested in is this: How did Roddenberry know of Wallace? In an episode involving a holodeck experience of a 19th-century reception, why did he have Samuel Clemens/ Mark Twain repeatedly mention Wallace so forcibly? Did Roddenberry share Wallace's--and

Arthur Conan Doyle's--belief in spiritualism (spiritism)? Did Clemens share it?