Greetings to all Full Circle friends and members,
In this September edition of our newsletter, we have:
The Satisfactions of September
Oh my, it has decided to become summer. All of a sudden, it’s hot, the plants are thirsty, and it’s a race to see if they can bring their fruit to full growth before they shrivel up completely.
Mercury is in retrograde (what, again?) until September 2, after which we all go around apologizing for a week or so. Or, we could simply listen to the rhythm of the planets and SLOW DOWN for a few weeks, take a moment to think before we speak, reconsider, and relax. Worth a try … (1)
Autumnal Equinox is upon us: the official moment is September 22nd at 12:30 PM EDT, which makes it about 9:30 AM on the Pacific Coast. Some people stop in their day for a few minutes to note the moment of balance. A friend of mine used to try to lie down on the ground for 10 minutes at the exact moment of the equinoxes and the solstices (luckily, she didn’t live in a snowbound climate!).
September is a time of Harvest Fairs (there are several listed on our events page) and the Jewish harvest celebration of Sukkot. This is a time to drowse in the dog days of summer and to celebrate the Celtic festival Mabon with feasts and songs.
This is also the month for national Pagan Pride Events. Check the FCE calendar for a Pagan Pride festival in your area.
In September we also celebrate our right to read. Go to the Banned Books Week website for more information on ways to support this project, read the list of challenged and banned books, and peruse the “reasons” given for censoring these works. Strike a note for freedom this month and read a banned book.
It's time to give thanks for the harvest, to feast, and dance, yet it is also time to prepare ourselves for the waning light: time to bid Persephone adieu as she leaves her mother’s house for the embrace of her husband in the underworld; (2) time to give libations to the Green Man who, in the form of wheat and gourd, sacrifices himself so that we might live; and time to look at all we’ve harvested so far this year from our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies, and put away our spiritual provisions for the winter months ahead.
Care for your spirit. Take time out from your busy schedule for a drive or a quiet walk, and enjoy the changing of the seasons.
(1) But wait, there’s more! … and just in time for the holidays too: Mercury goes Retrograde right after Thanksgiving on Nov. 30 and only goes direct for Winter Solstice on Dec. 20. Saturn is in retro from beginning of November. Go easy on one another and work on active listening. The best way to avoid problems is to hone our communication skills.
(2) In Nordic practice, the Goddess of the underworld is Hel.
Snakemoon & Sia
Further Reading:
The Long Journey Home: Revisioning the Myth of Demeter & Persephone for Our Time. Publisher’s notes: Among the issues debated are Demeter's true character and motivations (nurturing, selfless mother vs. obsessed neurotic); the "necessity" of Persephone's rape (a commonplace cruelty vs. her own desires of womanhood); maidenhood vs. menopause; homosexual vs. heterosexual love; the secrets of the Eleusinian mysteries and the Thesmophoria; and life vs. death/renewal. Despite centuries of gender bias in the myth's retelling and translations, Downing and her contributors reclaim the myth as their own. "We hoped that the discovery of a pre-patriarchal world," the editor posits, "might help us imagine forward to a post patriarchal one.” Standout contributions include "Learning from My Mother Dying" by Carol P. Christ, poetry by Alma Luz Villanueva and Herta Rosenblatt, and John Daughters's wickedly funny "Hades Speaks."
Wiccan Warrior: Walking a Spiritual Path in a Sometimes Hostile World: Editor’s Notes: Much as the martial arts incorporate Buddhism and Confucianism, Cuhulain strives to incorporate various Wiccan philosophies into the "Warrior tradition.” Cuhulain, a police officer, former Air Force officer, and influential Wiccan practitioner, explores everything from the historical warrior tradition discussed by Sun Tzu to the philosophical musings of Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan Matus. Although the book is written for the practicing Pagan, much of it is bound to make more traditional Wiccan readers uncomfortable. Cuhulain makes it quite clear that "Wiccan Warriors think for themselves. They eliminate useless habits and routines. They are not fettered by dogma.” Dogma, according to Cuhulain, includes following practices based on Judeo-Christian roots or following "traditional" rituals from popular Wiccan books. Cuhulain painstakingly documents the origins and histories of several oft-used rituals in an effort to encourage creativity and imagination among Covens. He encourages the use of chi (the energy force of tai chi), meditation, and music. Non-Pagan readers will find the Warrior qualities Cuhulain discusses throughout the book fairly interesting, but the real story for them will be the glimpse into the struggles and differing philosophies of a very private community.
WITCHES BALL 2004: THE SILK ROAD - THE WEBSITE IS UP!
The 2004 Witches’ Ball Website is up! – Travel here to see what awaits you along the Silk Road.
Pages Include: Theme * Tickets * Location * FAQ * Costume * Award * Music * Vendors * Volunteers * Carpool * and more
Congratulations to our 2004 WB Website Team:
Mystic Hawk * Laurel * Captain Lightening * Howard S. * Magpyre * Sia
Further Links to Inspire You: Click on these Silk Road links to read about Chinese Kites, the Cats of Venice, Jade carving, Venetian glass, Chinese Dragons, and the famous Venetian carnival.
WB UPDATES – CHANGE IN TICKET PRICES FOR 2004:
*** ANNOUNCEMENT – WB TICKET PRICES ***
Times are still very hard for many of our members. At their request, the FCE Council recently voted to change the final ticket prices for this year, so that more people could afford to come.
Therefore:
· The ticket price will stay at $20.00 until the night of the ball and not go up to $25.00 in September as planned.
· Tickets at the door will be $25.00, not $30.00 (1)
That’s the cost of a new CD, dinner out, or a night at the movies.
The Witches’ Ball is an evening of time travel, luscious delights and an opportunity to contribute the good works of the Humane Society — such a great deal! We hope to see you there.
Ticketsare on sale now via our website. They will also be available at the door on the night of the ball. Please Note: In order to save printing costs, tickets will not be sold in stores this year (2).
Please email the URL for the WB website to your friends and encourage them to come.
Thank you all,
Sia & the folks at Full Circle
(1) Prices in other years:In boom times (2000 – 2002) tickets for the Witches Ball started at $20.00 in January and cost $35.00 at the door. We raised over $2,000 for the Humane Society every year. The hall we took for 2004 only holds 300 people, so we hope that lowering the ticket prices does not greatly affect how much money we raise for our charity.
(2) Ticket Prices Are Always Cheaper Early in the Year: We offered tickets at our site for $15.00 early this year, and some members got a great price. We now hope that keeping the price at $20 for much longer, and by offering tickets for less cost at door, as well, we can see many more of our friends at this year’s ball. We need your support to keep this event going strong – please buy a ticket to the Witches’ Ball.
Whether we attend the Witches’ Ball, dress up for Samhain, or attend a Halloween party, when fall comes we’ll all have costumes on our minds. Here are some links of interest for those who want to plan ahead and look their best during the Season of the Witch.
Ancient and Modern China: Here are some gorgeous images from artist Jai Lu to inspire your Silk Road fashions. You can meet the artist in person and see more of her art during her soon-to-be show at the Phillips Gallery of Fine Arts in San Jose (Santana Row): Call 408-246-8035 for the date and time.
Also, if you’re thinking corsets (and who isn’t?), our Gold Sponsor for the Ball, Xcentricities Corsets, will be at the Folsom Street Fair, so you can fondle the fabric and try on something really, really sexy …
Xcentricities will also have a double booth at this year’s ball. If you’ve always wanted that special corset, this is a good time to find the perfect one for you. (Hint.) These also make great Yule gifts, and our vendors will have gift certificates available for those of you who want to surprise your partner with something special. Look splendid at your next Yule Feast in a corset made just for you!
Shiny Things! Xcentricities also has the most wondrous jewelry. Check out their fantasy jewelry selection at DragonSpawn Crafthall. Sia adds: They cater to all sizes. Kudos to them for showing how lovely a curvy figure can be and for using plus sized models in their catalog.
More Costumes! Our Silver Sponsor
We are delighted to announce that Magic Wardrobe Designs is once again sponsoring the Witches Ball. Visit their website and browse their Gallery to see some pictures of their wonderful work.
These folks are very versatile and they will make outfits to order. As their web site states, they offer: “Custom costumes: period, sci-fi and fantasy, including movie, cosplay, anime, comics, pet, re-enactment, horror, manga, character, and mascot costumes… We specialize in creating custom costume designs, custom-fitted costumes, costume reproductions, fashion design and custom-made props with the highest quality materials to your exact specification and measurements.”
Those who attended the Bohemian Ball in 2002 may remember one of our costume contest winners, the fabulous Vampire Princess. Her outfit was created especially for her by the folks working at the Magic Wardrobe.
“When I look out my window,Many sights to see.And when I look in my window,So many different people to beThat it's strange, so strange.You've got to pick up every stitch,You've got to pick up every stitch,Must be the season of the witch, yeah,Must be the season of the witch.”
Season of the Witch, Donovan
The care and tending of the mother
California Coastal Cleanup Day is the premier volunteer event focused on the marine environment in the country. Each year, more than 40,000 volunteers turn out to over 400 cleanup sites statewide to conduct what has been hailed by the Guinness Book of Records as "the largest garbage collection" (1993). Since the program started in 1985, over 552,000 Californians have removed almost 8.5 million pounds of debris from our state's shorelines and coast. Readers from outside of CA should visit the International Coastal Cleanup site for information about cleanup opportunities in their areas.
Why clean California: If you need a visual reminder of why it’s important to be good stewards of this lovely place, visit the California Environment page at Geo-Images. The Geo-Images Project attempts to make images (mostly photographs) that are useful in teaching geography more widely available using computers and the internet.
Priest/Priestess of Place:Samantha Morg Anna teaches a yearlongclass in becoming a Priest or Priestess of Place for the San Jose Valley. In her announcement on the Witches’ Voice she says, “There are features in the landscape of the San Jose Valley that are very akin to the sacred landscape of Avalon … This course will give you the ability to deepen your connection to the land as sacred and to tap into its powerful energy with respect and with knowledge.”
Sleep on it: And how better to get to know the land beneath your feet and learn how best to honor it than to spend some intimate time together … camping. Now, if (like me) you’re “not good” at camping, here’s a site for you: Camp.Clueless.
It’s September. Back to school, the light is dimming, there suddenly seems to be more time to read and study and ruminate …
The Rule of Four: Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason's intriguing intellectual suspense novel stars four brainy roommates at Princeton, two of whom have links to a mysterious 15th-century manuscript called the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. This rare text (a real book) contains embedded codes revealing the location of a buried Roman treasure. Comparisons to The Da Vinci Code are inevitable, but Caldwell and Thomason's book is the more cerebral -and better written- of the two (think Dan Brown by way of Donna Tartt and Umberto Eco). There are murders, romances, dangers and detection, and by the end the heroes are in a race, not only to solve the puzzle, but to stay alive.
Pagans on TV: Britain’s innovative Channel 4 is doing a four-part series on the origins, history, and beliefs of Europe's ancient religions called Pagans. (Catchy title.) A review in the Scotsman suggests that the program (which may be available on PBS or the History channel here in the states) might provide a more balanced view than that on the SciFi channel. (Oh, look, another Mad, Mad House reference!)
Books to come: As part of his research for a new book, Sons of the Goddess: Pagan Men Today, to be published by Kensington-Citadel Books in fall of 2005, Issac Bonewits has posted a questionnaire on his website. The book is about what it means to be a boy or a man in a faith community that worships both gods and goddesses and that honors strong women.
Speaking of strong women … in Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet, author Mineke Schipper examines notions of ‘ideal’ and ‘deviant’ Womanhood from the more than 15,000 proverbs she has collected over 15 years of world travel. Relying on both oral and written sources in 278 languages, she compares and contrasts global attitudes toward women and discovers that the vast majority of world cultures (or the men in them, anyway) think alike. Pick any stereotype about women and one is bound to find a proverb in the book to confirm it, from the talkative nature of women ("A fish doesn’t need to learn how to swim, a woman doesn’t need to learn how to talk" - Ladino, Morroco) to the problems of mothers-in-law ("Who counts on his mother-in-law’s soup, will go to sleep without dinner" - Creole, Dominican Republic). The author reminds us that proverbs do not always reflect reality, of course, but instead reveal "ideals, as well as regretted deviations from such ideals, as imagined by those whose interest they defend."
Our friend, Rowan, writes, “I trust you know about the Witchcraft Collection online?” (We do now … Thanks, Rowan!)
SPIRAL STEPS CELEBRATES 3RD ANNIVERSARY
Spiral Steps Support Groups recently celebrated their 3rd anniversary. The group was founded by Djin 2001, and the original group meets once a week in the Santa Clara/San Jose area.
Spiral Steps groups are for people who are working on issues such as chemical and process addictions, codependency, dysfunctional family issues, etc. They also act as support groups for those of us trying to be healthy people in an unhealthy culture. The emphasis is on recovery, health, balance, and taking our power back. These meetings are open to everyone who is Pagan or Pagan friendly. These are anonymous, non-cross talk meetings and they are for adults only.
Spiral Steps was founded to help Pagans and others start similar meetings around the country. If you would like to attend and/or start a meeting in your area, write to Dj at info@spiralsteps.org
Healthy eating at Harvest time: VisitDr. Andrew Weil’s website for some delicious—and healthy—recipes. Dr. Weil notes that he likes “dishes that are quick and easy to make and call for ingredients I have on hand. Of course, they must be healthful and delicious, too.”
Mushroom season: Wild Harvest has delectable recipes for wild mushrooms, leeks, fiddleheads, and ramps, including Morel Mushroom Soup and Bricked Chicken with Chanterelle and Asparagus. Wild Harvest is operated by Earthy Delights, where you can purchase all manner of interesting wild (and domestic) delicacies.
Tea, Anyone? Tea has been referred to as "One of the most important ingredients in the elixir of eternal life," by Zen Monks. It is also implicated in the creation of the modern principal of a corporation, and even in the establishing of a worldwide drug trade. Tea has a long and surprising history, and you can learn more about it at Noble Harbor. (Check out the essay on the Appreciation of Tea.)
Herbs and gardening
Busy Bees: Beekeeping is more popular than you may think (my last neighborhood boasted not one but two apiarists). Metroactive sends writer Sara Phelan into the heart of the hive to learn more about this interesting hobby. If you are considering starting a bee community, you might want to consider planting foliage that bees find attractive (and take a few tips on plant shopping from the Santa Cruz Sentinal). Finally, here is a bit of bee humor for you punsters out there:
“Why do bees hum?
Because they don't know the words.”
Gardening scents: Let Rowan Fairgove be your guide to the pleasures of botanical incense, plants that give off an attractive and evocative aroma when burned.
Herbs, herbs, herbs: To learn more about herbs and herbology, visit the Herb Society of American which was founded in 1933 to further the knowledge and use of herbs. The motto of The Society is taken from herbalist John Parkinson, "For Use and For Delight."
THE PAGAN VOTING PROJECT—IT’S YOUR SUCCESS!
As I write this, the Pagan Voting Project has sent over 2,200 Pagans to registration sites on-line, and over 3,000 people have visited our PVP site for news and information about voting. More Pagan authors and national Pagan groups have since come forward to act as supporters and many grass roots groups and Pagan Pride organizers have written in asking for help in setting up Voter Registration Tables at their events. We have provided that help.
The Witches Voice continues to aid this effort by proximately displaying our Lady Liberty graphic with a link to our site on their front page and by offering Pagan Voting Polls as well.
You too, can help.
The Pagan Voting Project is only a few weeks old and already it is a huge success. It is your success. We would like to thank our newsletter readers for helping us get the word out about the PVP. We are grateful for your constant and kind support and we could not do this work without you.
Blessed Be the Vote,
Sia
P.S. If you would like to Sponsor the FCE newsletter and/or the Pagan Voting project, click on the link above.
Everything else
Smart as a goose? By watching geese fly in formation, Angeles Arrien has deduced a few lessons for humans about flocking together and creating community.
Cal train bikers: Kaye writes to us about a petition to “help cyclists and public transit get connected so that we can reduce the pollution and the traffic.” Many bicyclists commuting by Cal train to work find themselves not allowed on board due to very limited bike capacity on the new Baby Bullet train, but Cal train has additional bike cars that could be utilized.
Another Good Cause: Operation Hero Miles lets you donate your frequent flyer miles to help our troops get home for emergency leave, something the Pentagon does not pay for. Read all about it at their website.
Greek God Found in Crockett Bar: Deputies paid a late-night visit to the bar and instantly recognized the wayward Greek messenger god of thieves who once stole a herd of cows from his brother Apollo as a prank. "Oh, it was definitely him -- no mistake about it," Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Simpkins said of the naked god.
Dogs Spared – Given Shots: Thanks to international pressure, the dogs in Athens were spared. Our thanks go out to all who signed the petition in last month’s newsletter.
The Pagan Olympics: Sia Notes: Here at our house, we’ve just finished up two solid weeks of Olympics obsession. I just loved the opening and closing ceremonies as the symbolism at both events was very Pagan.
While the opening ceremony at the same venue was a re-creation of ancient Greece's connection to the sea, the main theme of the closing ceremony was the fertility of the Earth and the marriage between the Earth and the sun as symbolized by a spiral-shaped wheat field.
We were treated to fire dancers, giant wheat spirals (made from 45,000 stocks!), lines of drummers, green men doing harvest dances, two spiral dances (one with candles, one with wheat), fire circles (and people jumping the flames), mythical creatures galore, a full moon rising and lots more. Oh, if only Pagan rituals could look like the pictures we have at the links of the Opening and Closing ceremonies. When I win the lottery, they will!
You can find more mythic imagery if you click on the Olympic Slide Show at MSNBC.
Pro and Con: As we assemble this newsletter, many Pagan activists are protesting in New York. Click here to see what Starhawk and others are up to. You can read more about liberal Pagan activism at the Pagan Cluster and the Rant Collective web sites. This also begs a question: Do Conservative Pagans exist? The Conservative Pagan Forum says that they do. Oh look! Here are some more. Whatever our political differences, Rhiannon Eleri reminds us to “Play Nice!” in her article titled “The Closet within the Broom Closet”.
We have hundreds of events listed on our California Community Calendar.
Here is just a handful:
· A quilt and needle arts show in Marin
· Lots of Mabon celebrations throughout the Bay Area
· A begonia festival in Capitola
· The Scottish Highland Games
· The Jousting Championship and two different Celtic Music Festivals
· The Monterey Bay Master Gardener’s Tour
· The Extreme Tarot workshop
· American Indian Arts Show
· California Coastal Clean-up Day
· Bark in the Park
· A weekend intensive on Ritual with Purpose
· Pagan Pride Celebrations throughout California
· A reptile bazaar in Petaluma
· The Folsom Street Fair
· A class in the traditional harvest craft of wheat weaving
There are lots more, and 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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Essay: Pick a Card, any card …
The trick with tarot
My company took advantage of the recent Friday the 13th to celebrate “Halloween in August” which meant costumes and candy and general tomfoolery for an afternoon. I chose to come to work dressed as a “fortune teller” primarily because I was on short notice for the event; therefore, I leaned heavily on my supply of ritual gear and donned a flowing gown, lots of scarves, and Pagan “bling-bling” jewelry. Plus, I carried a small crystal ball and a deck of Tarot cards. This, of course, produced the standard reaction:
“Do you know how to use those things?” (Oh, yeah, and not only that, I’m licensed to carry ‘em concealed.)
I find that people are fascinated by tarot cards - fascinated and a little wary. Most muggles, er, novices vacillate between dismissing them as “superstitious mumbo-jumbo” and wondering what the cards might “say” to them. This push-pull provides an opening for me, and I often step into the breach to offer a reading—I always enjoy introducing newcomers to one of my favorite psychological tools.
“Psychological?” you ask, “But isn’t the tarot a magical tool?” Well, why can’t it be both? Magic is the act of changing consciousness at will which not only refers to the practice of trancing, but the transformative paradigm shifts that people can make while trancing. For me, magic is the tool to achieve the modification of assumptions, the suspension of fears, and a sudden ability to move forward, and the release and recognition of wild intuitive knowledge. All this is magic—and all of it changes our very psyches.
Now, this may not be your interpretation of the tarot; frankly, there are as many ideas about the how and why of reading cards as there are people reading them (same for other divination tools such as runes, I Ching, etc.). I use divination like a phone line between the ego and the unconscious. The symbol systems represented on the cards resonate with most people because they tap into and trigger the universal language of the unconscious mind- the same language we often encounter in dreams. The cards help me slip past the watchdog of the conscious mind (good boy) and into the library stacks for new information, new possibilities, and sometimes, for the truth of a situation I’ve been seeing through a veil. It helps me find the second right answer, or even the third.
Hey, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been built from childhood to look for the right answer. The one that’s in the book; the one the teacher is looking for. A situation comes up that I need to ponder, and the conscious mind skims through the files, remembers what I’ve learned, puts it all together, and presents the right answer on a silver platter wrapped in ribbon. The end.
Except that sometimes it’s not the end. Sometimes the obvious solution doesn’t work or, worse, doesn’t feel right. Trouble is, the human socialization process does not train us to look beyond that first solution, or to (as the cliché goes) think outside the box. In fact, our training makes it very difficult to do anything of the sort. The conscious mind is wiggling in its seat, waving its hand, chanting “Teacher, teacher! Call on me! Call on me!” That quiet little Einstein in the back of the room seldom gets heard.
That’s where cards come in. They give the wise self a toe in the door- creating a chance to get my attention. This is how I introduce the tarot to others: by explaining that the cards are an opportunity to hear their inner wisdom. Before I start a reading, I love to tell a story from Roger Von Oech’s book, A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You can Be More Creative:
“Traditionally, the purpose of using…oracles was not so much to foretell the future, as it was to enable the user to delve deeper into his own intuition when dealing with a problem.
Probably the most famous source of ambiguous pronouncements was the oracle at Delphi in the ancient world. One of the oracle’s best known prophecies came in the year 480 B.C. The Persians under Xerxes had invaded the Greek mainland and had successfully conquered two-thirds of the country. Naturally, the Athenian city fathers were concerned as to the course of action they should take against the oncoming Persians. The realized, however, that before any decision could be made, they should send some suppliants to Delphi to get a reading from the oracle. The suppliants made the journey and received the following prophecy:
The wooden wall will save you and your children.
The suppliants took these words back to Athens. At first, the city fathers were unsure what the prophecy meant. Then one person suggested that they should build a wooden wall up on the acropolis and take a defensive stand behind it. That’s what the “wooden wall” meant—a barricade on the Acropolis.
But the city fathers knew that the oracle was intentionally ambiguous to force them to go beyond the first right answer. They tried to think of all of the contexts—both literal and metaphorical—in which the words “the wooden wall will save you and your children” would make some sense. After some thought, they came up with another idea. Could the “wooden wall” to which the oracle was referring be the result of all the Athenian wooden-hulled ships lined up next to one another? From a distance, the ships would indeed look like a wooden wall. The city fathers decided, therefore, that the battle should be a naval one rather than a land one.
In 479 B.C., the Athenians went on to rout the Persians in the Battle of Salamis. The oracle’s ambiguity forced the Athenian’s to consult the deeper wisdom of their own intuition, and consider alternatives.”
As I turn over the cards, my first questions to the person for whom I am reading is, “what do you see? What do you notice about this card? What comes into your mind right now, before you think too much?” After we treasure hunt through those images and ideas—which usually prove very rich and valuable for the person—we take a look at some of the things that came to me. My responses are of course informed by years of working with the cards, but that doesn’t necessarily make them more valid for someone else. Indeed, I often have to guard against slanting the reading with my biases. Finally, if there are still questions about the card, I may return to the source materials to learn what the originators of that deck intended when they created that card.
As we progress, the important stuff rises to the surface, like cream on milk, and most of the time it comes from the recipients, not from me, the reader. I love the moment when they make a connection, when they say, “Oh, my goodness, this makes me think of …” and they suddenly have an unexpected insight about a situation in their life. I love knowing that a palm-sized deck of brightly colored cards helped the Sacred speak clearly enough to be heard.
You see, that’s the real trick with tarot: not giving a reading, but receiving a message from the soul.
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.
Arianna G. is our new Copyeditor. Thank you, Arianna!
Scoutghost is the Networking Coordinator for Full Circle Events. She can be reached at scoutghst@sbcglobal.net.