Gavin's Health
Hi, guys and gals. One more time Gavin is home from the hospital, and soon the School will be back up to speed. We apologize to those of you who have been delayed in receiving your lectures or other material from the School. We hope now that Gavin will be fully cured, but the last time he came home just meant that he had to go back in a month later. The experts still don't seem able to figure out exactly what the bug is that's resident in his belly. Nonetheless, antibiotics are being prescribed and we hope he will soon be full of vim and vigor again.
We're planning to go to FPG (Florida Pagan Gathering, the weekend when April turns to May) to their Beltane Bash and of course to Sirius Rising and SummerFest at Brushwood (New York state) in mid- to late-July.
Apart from that, the garden here at home is a mess and we're gradually resuming our life.
Blessed be all. Keep sending good thoughts. GY
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
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
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?
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?
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Going to Brushwood
Hi, readers of this site, and merry meet!
It's a sign that Gavin is getting better: We're off to Sirius Rising and SummerFest at Brushwood Folklore Center, setting off on Sunday July 15 and driving gently northward. Of course this means that the School's mail will be a little bit delayed, though not so much as it has been a couple of times during the worst of Gavin's health problems. We'll get it all back on schedule as soon as we can. Don't go away; don't lose hope. We're still here.
We'd love to see some of you troops there. Oops--not just some of you, but any or all of you. Save mid-July 2013 for what can be a life-changing experience. See
www.brushwood.com
to get precise dates and all the particulars. Blessed be all. Gavin and Yvonne
It's a sign that Gavin is getting better: We're off to Sirius Rising and SummerFest at Brushwood Folklore Center, setting off on Sunday July 15 and driving gently northward. Of course this means that the School's mail will be a little bit delayed, though not so much as it has been a couple of times during the worst of Gavin's health problems. We'll get it all back on schedule as soon as we can. Don't go away; don't lose hope. We're still here.
We'd love to see some of you troops there. Oops--not just some of you, but any or all of you. Save mid-July 2013 for what can be a life-changing experience. See
www.brushwood.com
to get precise dates and all the particulars. Blessed be all. Gavin and Yvonne
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
We's Back
We's okay. Yes, our power went out, but it's back on now: It came on after three (3) days. We've had similar power outages before. Living in the mountains in a place of reasonably severe winters gives you this natural experience on a fairly frequently basis. On reflection, it seems that that the pattern is once every two years or so.
This time it was more interesting than most because it was so unexpected. A minor summer thunderstorm abruptly turned into a series of microburst tornadoes that swept across the northern part of the country from somewhere around the Chicago area and left four million people in the dark ... during a persistent heat wave. A large number of those people also didn't have water because our water supply depends on electric pumps. Of course the gas stations get pumped dry first thing, and ice becomes a commodity as rare as gold nuggets. The battery-powered radio worked well enough in our house, so that we could pick up all the tales of disaster from local towns, although interestingly, none from our own; mainly because the telephones, both landline and cell, went down.
Still, it gave us a chance to meditate on how lucky we are having lost only one piece of siding from the house, whereas a local church lost half its roof--just peeled off. An act of "God"? Or maybe of a malicious demon? We heard no one gasping, "Thank you, Lord!" or "Hosanna!" Still, as the pastor told everyone, "We're well insured." Rather he seemed to have a "What? Me worry?" attitude like that of Alfred E. Neuman. They hadn't bothered even to haul tarps over the exposed roof to prevent further damage.
This time it was more interesting than most because it was so unexpected. A minor summer thunderstorm abruptly turned into a series of microburst tornadoes that swept across the northern part of the country from somewhere around the Chicago area and left four million people in the dark ... during a persistent heat wave. A large number of those people also didn't have water because our water supply depends on electric pumps. Of course the gas stations get pumped dry first thing, and ice becomes a commodity as rare as gold nuggets. The battery-powered radio worked well enough in our house, so that we could pick up all the tales of disaster from local towns, although interestingly, none from our own; mainly because the telephones, both landline and cell, went down.
Still, it gave us a chance to meditate on how lucky we are having lost only one piece of siding from the house, whereas a local church lost half its roof--just peeled off. An act of "God"? Or maybe of a malicious demon? We heard no one gasping, "Thank you, Lord!" or "Hosanna!" Still, as the pastor told everyone, "We're well insured." Rather he seemed to have a "What? Me worry?" attitude like that of Alfred E. Neuman. They hadn't bothered even to haul tarps over the exposed roof to prevent further damage.
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