Greetings to all Full Circle friends and members,
In this May edition of our newsletter we have:
Heart Craft: All about spiritual things
Gaia's Guardians: Caring for the planet and its creatures
3 reasons to bring some cash: Our Photographer, Our Face Painter & Our Food Vendor - Click on the Added Attractions Page for more information about all three.
Wondering What to Wear? Our Costume Page has costume suggestions & links.
Wondering what the ball is like? Go to our FAQ Page (Frequently Asked Questions) to find out.
Wondering how to buy Tickets? You can buy your tickets on line or at the door. We will accept cash, checks and credit cards at the door. We accept credit cards via PayPal at the website. Tickets are $20.00 now and $25.00 at the door.
Our Music Page is up and you can send suggestions for dance tunes to our Music Chair.
Wondering what the Lucie Stern Center is like? Then click on our Location page. This page also has a map so that you can find us.
We will have seating in the community room, the fireside room and in the garden, so you can sit, eat, flirt, mingle and watch the crowd. We will also have seating in the grand ballroom. Sia will also bring our collection of fairy, celtic & Egyptian coloring pages for the kids (and yes, the grownups can color these, too).
Would you like to help during Set Up or Break Down? It’s a great way to meet people. Then visit our Volunteer page.
We would like to thank our wonderful Sponsors for making this event possible:
Xcentricities Corsets: Our Gold Sponsor.
You may remember their fabulous booth at the 2002 Bohemian Ball. They will be in the Vendor Room at our Witches’ Ball on October 23rd. Their website says:
We make corsets for every body. Men's corsets! Large and very extra large corsets! Small and very extra small corsets! Please look at our style pages for options of our specialty. If you don't find what you're looking for, consider calling and letting us know what you want.
Our corsets are Steel boned. If it ain't Steel, it ain't real! Our corsets have two layers of liner fabric and a rich outer fabric or leather. Our standard fabrics include rich 8-ply Chinese silk brocades, poly cotton brocades in bright and beautiful colors, most colors of heavy weight satin, and leather in a number of colors.
With our new system of organization, we can have a custom corset to you four weeks after your paid order. Just select your style, fabric, and get your measurements; enter these in our new order form and we'll contact you within 24 hours of your order at the e-mail address or phone number you indicate.
We are committed to making clothing to fit you even when you're accustomed to hearing, "Oh, we don't make your size ...
Come in and entertain the possibilities!!
Serpentine Music: Pagan & World Music for every occasion. The Owner is the co-author of “Circle Round & Sing”.
The Magic Wardrobe: Costumes for all seasons. (And the creator’s of the famous “Vampire Queen” costume, which was such a hit at the Bohemian Ball.)
Spectrum Mobile Dj: Our famous Dj “Chuck” who kept us all dancing at the 2001 Fairy Ball is back and he’s is bringing his full light show with him!
WaveRider Systems: For E-commerce Solutions. They built the FCE web site and our box office.
Snapdragon Gifts: Currently, all Greeting Cards are on sale. They have Fairy, Pagan & Fantasy designs, among others.
Other notes:
For some interesting costuming ideas, take a look at these from the Beltane Fire Festival in Scotland. (Click on Quick Links, and “Find Out in our Bestiary.”)
The ball is on Saturday, May 8th, so you still have time to transform yourself into a Fairy, Sprite, Elf, Greenman, May Queen, Witch, Warrior, or Knight of the Round Table. Come join the fun and welcome the season of love and delight.
“Tra la! It’s May, The lusty month of May!” A time of flowers (and flower fairies), of maypoles (and even clip art of maypoles), Rituals, Morris Dancers, and best of all, the time when we gather together at the Lucie Stern Center in delightful garments to dance, celebrate, and enjoy.
The School of the Seasons says has a wonderful, informative article on May Day. Here is a brief excerpt.
In Italy, May Day was celebrated by tying lemons and ribbons around flowering branches and brining male and female trees to be married in the piazza, according to Carol Field in Celebrating Italy. Field reports that men in Tuscany and young women in Piedmont sing in May with rhyming songs called maggiolate. In Assisi, two sections of the city compete by singing love songs, a custom which she traces back to the Celtic Campi de Maggio, battlefields of May, the time when the weather was nice enough for war again (or perhaps an early version of a tournament). Some scholars believe that the love poetry of the troubadours originated in the love poems associated with May Day. The Welsh medieval poets loved to write long poems rhapsodizing about spending May in a green bower with a lovely lass..
…This is a time for giving gifts. Gather flowers with special messages for friends and relatives. Make up your own explanation of the meaning of each flower and give it along with the bouquet. For friends at a distance, send pressed flowers or May Day cards or packets of flower seeds. Barbara Walker in Women's Rituals suggests other appropriate gifts including perfume, incense, candied flower petals, herbs, sachets and artificial flowers… If you can, stay up all night, preferably outdoors. At least go for a walk in the night on April 30th and listen for the bells that herald the approach of the Fairy Queen. And you can run around, under cover of darkness, leaving May baskets of flowers on doorsteps.
Health and healing
· Here comes the sun: May is Melanoma Awareness Month. This deadly skin cancer kills more young people than any other form. People at greatest risk include those with fair hair and skin, light colored eyes, and freckles. Teen-agers are increasingly being diagnosed with skin cancer, and the onset of the disease appears to be much earlier than in previous generations, with malignancies being removed from what one-dermatologist terms “remarkably young” patients. Even sunscreens, long believed to be a protection from melanoma, play a role in the increased incidence of the disease, since they can mislead people into feeling that they can safely stay out in the sun longer. However, scientists are testing a sunscreen that cuts down the risk using DNA fragments that “trick” skin cells into turning off production of proteins that may play a role in creating mutations that spark cancer.”
Sia writes:
This section on melanoma is dedicated to two people on our member’s list who have this disease.
The first person is a beautiful Pagan woman who lives in Oregon. She is beating the disease but she has had to endure surgery on her face in order to do so. She is fair skinned and has never tried to tan in her life. She is only 30 years old.
The other person is a good man who lives in Sonoma County. He had just gotten engaged to the love of his life, bought his dream house and received the promotion he’d always wanted when he was told that he had a 60% percent chance of dying within the next two years. Right now, he’s on interferon and trying to beat the odds. He is also fair skinned and he’s never tried to get a tan, either, the cancer first appeared as a bleeding mole on his back last October. His doctor said it was nothing to worry about. Three months later, he went back to have it checked and got the bad news. He is 45.
Please keep a thought for these two people, read the information listed above, and take care of yourself, as well - Your loved ones need you.
· Improvements in prostate diagnosis: Early diagnosis produces the best prognosis for prostate cancer, so each year, hundreds of thousands of men have prostate biopsies. Most won't end up having cancer (and thank goodness!). Now there's a new assessment tool that may eliminate many of those unnecessary biopsies.
· Mercury and rituals: Mercury is a powerful toxin that can cause serious damage to the nervous system. And you don’t have to ingest it –just breathing the fumes over time can result in damage. Unfortunately, some Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santeria, Voodoo and Palo continue use mercury in their rituals—and in their ritual supplies. A 1995 survey of 41 Bronx botanicas found 38 of them sold mercury or, as it is more commonly referred to by religious practitioners who use it, azogue. If you frequent botanicas for ritual supplies, it’s critical to ask questions about the ritual powders you are buying.
· Mercury and Sir Isaac: Apparently, mercury poisoning also played a role in Sir Isaac Newton’s later years, lending credence to a story about him going “mad” as a result of his experiments in alchemy.
Books, movies, television, and popular culture
· Pratchett Power: Sia sends us Pratchett news from Discworld Monthly: “Hat Full of Sky” will be published in May, and “Going Postal” will be out in October/November. “Going Postal” has been described as "A splendid send-up of government, the postal system, and everything that lies in between.” Here’s a taste: "Convicted con-man and forger Moist van Lipwig is given a choice. Face the hangman's noose, or get Ankh-Morpork's ancient post office up and running efficiently! It was a tough decision … Now, the former criminal is facing really big problems. There's tons of undelivered mail. Ghosts are talking to him. One of the postmen is 18,000 years old. And you really wouldn't want to know what his new girlfriend can do with a shoe.”
· What is BookCrossing? It's a global book club that knows no geographical boundaries. Do you like free books? Well, BookCrossing members “free” books into the wild with the goal of making connections and turning the whole world into a library. (Our thanks go out to Howard for this information)
· Dreamer’s manual: One of those freed books might be “The Alchemist,” a touching and delightful fable about following your dreams, wherever they may lead you.
· Mooning over the moon: Examine the history and myths that surround our loveliest satellite and learn about its influence on mythology, religion, and consciousness in The Moon: Myth and Image.
· Modern Socrates: Chris Phillips, who has been likened to the “Johnny Appleseed of philosophy” has written two books (“Socrates Café” and Six Questions of Socrates”) that get people asking interesting philosophical questions. There are now 150 Socrates cafés worldwide, most in the United States; Phillips also runs the non-profit Society for Philosophical Inquiry to explore the great questions, such as What is virtue? What is courage? Justice? Piety? Moderation and Good?
· The love of letters: Writing is a solitary life. Late nights spend hunched over the keyboard, staring at the screen, hoping inspiration will strike before unconsciousness does. (Okay, enough about me … ) But now I’ve found Writers Write, an online monthly magazine for writers, and the people who read them (you know, bookish types). Which means that instead of staring at the screen, I can distract myself for hours reading interviews and articles and book reviews and …
· The Once and Future Box Office: King Arthur is coming to a theatre near you (what, again?), courtesy of Jerry Bruckheimer, the man behind Pirates of the Caribbean and Bad Boys (as well as my favorite television distraction, CSI). According to Bruckheimer, this version—the latest in more than 30 treatments of this beloved legend—will be based on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, the earliest of the written Arthurian legends.
· Done Deal: If you are currently writing what you think is the ultimate King Arthur script—or any script, for that matter—Done Deal is the place for news about screenplays, pitches, treatments, and books sales in the film industry.
· Here! TV: This supplier of gay- and lesbian-themed television announced plans to produce more than 200 hours of original programming a year. The company has given the nod to 12 original movies and 4 series, including "Dante's Cove," a gay and lesbian Gothic thriller currently filming in the Caribbean, and "Weapons of Mass Destruction," a spy thriller with a lesbian action hero.
History, archaeology, and the sciences
· Infatuated with the Angry Red Planet? Mars Today is a chance to slake your thirst for information about Mars. This site offers (as Sia so succinctly put it) “All Mars, all the time.” Who could ask for anything more?
· Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and … Sedna: (Okay, yeah, that was a long header but see, there was a payoff!) Our reader Rowan sends us news of a new, tenth planet in the solar system. The object -- about 10 billion kilometers from Earth—has been given the provisional name of Sedna after the Inuit goddess of the sea.
· Better-than-Blue Moon: Well, actually, March’s full moon (on the 24th) was a bit spectacular due to a little friendly competition from the planet Venus. Did your March moon ritual seem extra powerful? Now you know why …
· Anglo Saxon Tomb in Essex: Archaeologists have unearthed a “once in a lifetime” find in the English countryside. The 1400-year-old tomb includes beautifully preserved bronze cauldrons, gold foil crosses, and glass jars.
· Druid Shrine at Stonehenge? Druid leaders are calling for the creation of a sacred site at Stonehenge for the re-burial of human remains unearthed during a local road project. Rowan, who sent us this item, mentions that she finds it “interesting that UK Druids are taking the same tack as the Native Americans” with respect to ancestral remains.
· The Incredible Nebra Disk: Rowan writes again to tell us about this gorgeous bronze age artifact that figures in a National Geographic article (the full article isn’t available online but there are some marvelous pictures!) The Himmelsscheibe Museum site also has great photos and a FAQ in English.
· Rock Music in Ancient India? Well, yes, but with real rocks … Archaeologists have discovered a site in southern India where ancient peoples used boulders to make musical sounds during rituals. By the way, this isn’t the only place where rocks were used for ceremonial sound: I recently visited the Bell Stone on the island of Kauai. The stone, when struck sharply, produces a crisp note that would resonate across the Wailua Valley to announce the birth of a new king.
· Glue sniffing in ancient Greece? According to an article in Scientific American, the deep (and often profound) trance of the Oracle at Delphi may be the result of a combination of ethane and ethylene gases which emanated from the surrounding limestone, filled the sacred chambers, and caused the temple priestess to fall into voluble yet narcotic state. Now, I can accept that this may cover the “deep” part, but it does little to explain the “profound” part …
Creating community
· Who are the Changemakers? Changemakers is a foundation that models and supports community-based social change philanthropy, working within the philanthropic sector to shift WHERE money is directed and HOW it is given. Changemakers endeavors to make donors and philanthropic organizations more accountable, collaborative, democratic, and creative.
· Spiritual Survey: As part of her studies toward a degree in Modern Subculture Spirituality, RavenChilde is researching the relationship between the Neo-Pagan community and the Internet. Interested in helping her? Take an online survey to help her learn more about the ways EarthWise individuals use the web to connect.
All about spiritual things
· Yoga in Hawaii? (Warm beaches, balmy breezes, and trikonasana? Sign me up!) Tara Yoga Center is 40 acres of tropical beauty on the Big Island, where they teach Iyengar and Vinyasa yoga practices. For those who are interested in Viniyoga (an older and perhaps more forgiving form of asana practice), Gary and Mirka Kraftsow offer yoga retreats at the American Viniyoga Institute on Maui.
Caring for the planet and its creatures
· Good news is hard to come by: Sia notices that it’s very easy to get bad news about wildlife and environmental conservation (for example, the very disturbing information about “exotic food” animals that has been circulating every since SARS). But, in the spirit of the FCE’s annual Gaia's Guardians Award (given to honor those who rescue and protect animals) we’d like to acknowledge people who are trying to correct the damage. For instance, Traffic works to protect endangered animals and habitats from becoming victimized by illegal trade. Likewise, Wild Asia works to educate local people on the value of protecting animals and environments that may be endangered in their communities.
· Spring means babies: Every spring, small creatures are born. Some grow into adults with minimal ado. Some, however, need a little extra support. Because of this, ordinary people give their time to care for baby birds, infant raccoons, tiny squirrels, and other wildlife, and in the case of domestic animals like kittens, foster them until they can be adopted. There are pet and wildlife rescue organizations in every town and every one of them needs of volunteers. It’s quite demanding, bottle-feeding small, squeaky, hungry babies who no doubt wonder where mummy went … but it’s a task that brings great rewards as well. Here are a few rescue organizations that would love your help:
International Bird Rescue – San Pedro. These folks are helping the water birds harmed by the recent oil spill. If you would like to lend a hand rescuing birds, call the spill hotline at 1-800-228-4544.
Marine Mammal Center: This non-profit organization rescues, cares for and then releases injured, ill or orphaned marine mammals back into the wild. They can always use donations and/or volunteers.
Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley -- A rehabilitation and release center that cares for injured, sick or orphaned wild animals. They located in San Jose. They can always use donations and/or volunteers. They are a non-profit organization.
ROAR Foundation – Shambala Preserve for Big Cats – A non-profit foundation dedicated to saving big cats and other wild animals.
Wildlife Rescue Effort -- A nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of injured and orphaned wildlife. Classes for new volunteers are held every spring. Their shelter is located in Palo Alto.
The California Raptor Center: The center receives over 250 injured or ill raptors each year and is able to release over 60 of these birds.
Here is a List of Wildcare Facilities by Region offered by the state of California – To view this you will need Acrobat Reader.
Everything else
· Oh, my stars and garters! When was the last time you heard that phrase? (Isn’t it the cat’s pajamas?) Ever wondered what it means? Well, Worldwidewords knows—and they’re willing to tell you!
· Truth in Advertising: So far (and holding), no one is required to make their political, religious, or personal beliefs public—which is a good thing. However, this means that you can sometimes be surprised to discover that your favorite store (online site, author, whatever) supports causes you don’t agree with, and supports them with money earned from you. In that spirit, SF Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll informed readers: “Gary Heavin, founder of the chain of exercise studios called Curves, is a heavy contributor to several organizations allied with Operation Save America, the rather more muscular successor to Operation Rescue.” According to Carroll, Heavin donates 10% of Curves profits to these groups. Just so you know.
· WE GET LETTERS: Last month we had a short segment about hedgehogs. One reader, Evangeline, wrote:
“Hedgehogs are wild animals that I don't think have any right to be bred just because they are cute and for our human entertainment. … Please give this some thought and consciousness for future newsletters where animals are unfortunately bred for our enjoyment.” (Excerpted from a longer and very thoughtful email)
Currently, hedgehogs are in the process of being intentionally domesticated as small companion animals in the same category as hamsters, rats, and mice. Evangeline’s letter reminds us that there is some question about the appropriateness of that endeavor. (And truthfully, that question could be applied to any domesticated animal, from dogs to cows.) We know from puppy mills and feedlots that the breeding and marketing of any animal opens the door to abuses.
As I later wrote Evangeline, “For me, the larger issue here is ‘personhood.’ Do we view the other creatures on this planet (or even those we live with) as ‘people’ or do we think of them as ‘things?’ Although I've lived with hamsters and rats (as well as cats and a snake) I do not think of small furry critters as ‘pocket pets’ but some people do…". The truth is, many people do not view living with animals as a two-way process of adapting and learning from one another. Instead they expect the animal to accommodate human needs, an attitude of self-absorption that is likewise reflected in many people’s parenting practices.
At Full Circle, we have a great respect for the other creatures on this planet. Through the newsletter, we will continue to explore and evolve our relationship—personal, political, philosophical—with the wild and very wonderful world. Thank you, Evangeline, for contributing to that dialog.
Sia adds: This brings up some very interesting questions for me, since my husband and I are wildlife rescue volunteers. For example:
Q: Is it always wrong to keep a wild animal as a pet? Is there a difference between keeping a large cat like a lion and keeping, say, a ferret or a hedgehog? Granted, it’s easier to care for a small animal but does that make it right?
Q: Do we draw the line at turtles or snakes? How about wild birds? Those of us who work in wildlife rescue spend a lot of time trying to make people see that baby raccoons and possums, while cute, do not make good pets. In fact, it’s illegal to keep them as such. Don’t get me started on people who steal bobcat or coyotes pups from their mothers, and try and keep them as pets.
Q: What about people who breed wolves with dogs and keep these as pets? Are these safe around children? If not, should they be destroyed?
One thing we always ask people is this: Is this the right thing to do for the animal? Then we also have to ask: Is this the right thing to do for the species?
As we develop Pagan philosophy and ethics, we will need to address these questions and others like them. We might never speak on one voice on this issue, but it certainly gives us something to think about. Note to self: Suggest this as the next panel topic at PantheaCon. Thanks Evangeline!
We have hundreds of events listed on our California Community Calendar.
Here is just a handful:
· Lots of Beltane and May Day celebrations (including Maypole dancing!)
· A puppet festival
· Anna Halprin’s annual Planetary Dance
· Classes on creating rituals, Taoism and the occult, the Mayan calendar
· A retreat on “Clearing a Path to Who You Are”
· The Firedance Sacred Sun Circle
· Lots of plant sales, a rose show, and the Filoli Flower Show
· The 3rd Annual Interfaith Pagan Pride Parade
· The Highland Games
· Thoth-a-Palooza
· A storytelling festival
· A Himalayan Fair
· Food festivals focusing on chocolate and on mushrooms.
And there are lots more, with new events are added every day. Click on the Full Circle California Community Calendar to access the list. If you want your event listed, please go to our calendar page and click on the link that says “Submit Event.” The on-line form is simple and very easy to use. Questions? Please contact our Networking Coordinator ScoutGhost at scoutghst@sbcglobal.net
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It’s nearly Beltane and I’m recovering from a slight shock: my lover’s charming niece was visiting, accompanied by her boyfriend (now fiancé), with whom she has a very sweet, very chaste relationship. (Very, very chaste.) Surrounded by the lusty woo of budding flowers and nesting birds, I found myself both saddened—and appalled.
Appalled, because I feel that these people—who are moving into their 5th decade of life—are entitled to canoodle all they want, having survived childhood, adolescence, and the many horrors of the 20s and 30s. Unfortunately, the woman’s religion prohibits desire, passion, sensuality, and lovemaking, replacing these elements with purity and a “higher love.” (Unless, of course, you are married and then it replaces them with duty and surrender.)
Saddened, because denying oneself the physical plane in deference to the spiritual one is like saying you prefer your left side to your right one: you need both to be a whole person. Western culture is built on a highly binary, dualistic approach to life: good/bad, light/dark, masculine/feminine, mind/body, spiritual/carnal. We’re told to pick sides—and make sure you pick the “right” one, or you’ll pay for it later. Within this philosophical system, the physical, the sensual, and especially the sexual, have always been reviled and dismissed, regarded as base and unworthy behaviors that we must transcend. Mind you, I’m not advocating sexual recklessness or stupidity (I lived through the 70s) and I am truly disheartened when people typify the “Great Rite” as some sort of “group grope” left over from the 60s. But the sensual impulse within us craves tending and merits our respect.
I feel truly blessed that my practice as a Pagan encourages me to examine the narrow, barren poles of our “traditional” belief systems and find that generous, expansive space in between. This is where the real world actually resides, where joy, compassion, delight, love, pleasure, and security make their home, where all that is holy can be found. It is the place where human nature is accepted while people are encouraged to move from fragmentation into wholeness.
In this place, desire can be as sacred as celibacy. Now, honey, I know from celibacy: I spent 10 years as a single woman. Every Beltane, I felt wistful over all the folks that I imagined running around in the fields, lit by the full moon, um, “helping the crops grow.” Damn it, I wanted to help the crops grow! (Hell, I’d settle for just keeping my gardenia in bloom.) But, as a single mother, I wasn’t going to waste my son’s young life sorting through a cadre of weird suitors. So, until I found a man I could comfortably bring into my son’s life as well as my own, I chose a single path.
Those days are over now, and I am older. Time grows short, too short to miss the succulent pleasures life holds out before me. The moon waxes, the nights grow warm, and wildlife courts wilder life in the grounds around my home. Trees hang heavy with the evidence of airborne trysts and there are sweet, fresh sheets on my bed.
Beltane night is coming. Time to help the plants grow.
SnakeMoon
Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, Create the Future
FCE Newsletter Staff:
SnakeMoon is the Editor-in-Chief of the Full Circle Newsletter. She can be reached for comment at snakemoon@comcast.net.
Sia is the Publisher of the Full Circle Newsletter and the Council Leader for Full Circle Events. She can be reached at info@fullcircleevents.org.
Scoutghost is the Networking Coordinator for Full Circle Events. She can be reached at scoutghst@sbcglobal.net.