Date: Tue Jan 28 23:50:09 EST 1986
From: "New Age Moderator"
      

               New Age Digest #36
               Moderator:
               Tim.Maroney@k.cs.cmu.edu
               uucp: {decwrl,seismo,ucb-vax,lll-crg}!k.cs.cmu.edu!tim)
               Tue Jan 28 23:50:12 EST 1986
               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Tonight:
        Vonnegut query
        Tarot and Holy Days
        New Member
        Religious Persecution in Atlanta

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Date: Mon, 27 Jan 86 11:16:31 PST
From: arnold@ucsf-cgl.arpa (Ken Arnold)
Subject: Re:  New Age Digest # 35

Is anyone writing (finished with, maybe?) the Book of Bokonon?  The snippets
given in "Cat's Cradle" (Kurt Vonnegut) sound like they'd make an
interesting basis for a world view, and I've attempted to add more snippets
on occasi n, but building the whole book is a bit more than I wish to
attempt, so I thought I'd ask if someone else had done it (or was doing it)
already.

               Ken Arnold

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Date: Mon, 27 Jan 86 13:07:08 pst
From: ihnp4!pegasus!lzla!tek@decwrl.DEC.COM

Re: Jody Patilla (Tarot inquiries), New Age Digest #
I'm interested in the Tarot also. I've studied it for a while with
BOTA. I would recommend their books... They work off of a derivative
of the Waite-Rider deck. I believe the Waite-Rider deck has the
best symbolism and may be the most popular. I own some of the more
modern decks which are attractive but less meaningful to me in
symbolism. My experience has been very good regarding the one card
draw. I only use card layouts when I have a real tough situation to
handle and I'm at a loss. The layouts are sometimes confusing to
me but I think it may be a matter of IO (information overload).
I'd like to hear more from others also.

New subject:
Holy days of the world religions...
I've been trying to collect information on the holy days of the
various world religions. Of course the Jewish and Christian holidays
are not difficult to find. I'd like to find out about other
holy days (i.e. Druid, Hindu, Oriental, ...). If you know of any
of these please contact me. I'd really appreciate it, thanks.

                             ihnp4!pegasus!lzla!tek (Tom Kenny)

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Date: Thu, 2 Jan 86 07:15:02 est
From: ihnp4!encore!vaxine!spark!100!523!Brad_Hicks
Subject: New Age Digest

Tim, I got a copy of New Age Digest # 10 (Mar 12, 1985) from CompuServe, 
a while back.  Now that my own BBS is tied into the FidoNet, and the 
FidoNet is tied into uucp, I hope that I can get it through more direct 
channels - I'd like to apply for membership in the Digest.

I was especially delighted to see the lengthy discussion of Robert Anton
Wilson in # 10 (yes, I know, this is old news), as I sometimes get the
impression that almost nobody has ever heard of him. Publishers certainly
don't give him star treatment - he was promised that The Widow's Son would
be out in March, and it didn't make it until very late in November.  I
haven't heard from him if they've even given him a schedule date for Nature
and Nature's God.  One thing obscure enough that I can add to that
discussion:  most people haven't seen it, but his first book of non-fiction
is still my favorite: Sex and Drugs, a Journey Beyond Limits. It's a study
of psychotropic and non-psychotropic drugs that are or have been alleged to
be aphrodisiacs, and their effect on history (especially religious history).
It's the sort of thing you have to get through the Inter-Library Loan
network, but it's definitely worth the trouble.

A little bit of background on myself:  My name is Brad Hicks, my craft name
(and Discordian holy name) is Talespinner.  I've been a practicing Neopagan
Witch for about 2 years now, and I had a couple of years'-worth of
experience in magick of one kind or another over the years before that.  If
any of you are into natal horological astrology, I was born a little after
midnight (00:04, it says here) on 11 July 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri -
which gives me Sun, Mercury, and Venus in conjunction in Cancer, Ascendent
also in Cancer, Mars in Taurus, and I think (I forget, strangely enough)
Moon in Sagitarius.  I run St. Louis's only Neopagan BBS, WeirdBase
(314-232-1780, 300/1200 baud, 7pm-4am weeknights, 24hrs weekdays), FidoNet
node 100/523; I'm also teaching a small class out of my living room in
Neopagan Witchcraft and working with Selena Fox as the St. Louis contact for
the Pagan Strength Web (it all keeps me busy and out of trouble!).  I also
do tarot, to my own satisfaction and about anybody else's for whom I've done
readings.

What does anybody know about Astrological Theater? There's a group somewhere
on the west coast that has sent me a couple of well-produced but somewhat
cryptic newsletters called "Pleides", and I'm still trying to figure out
what they're all about.

                           Blessed Be!
                             Brad (Talespinner) Hicks
 
P.S. If anybody wants to respond directly to me, my uucp address is 
"ihnp4!encore!vaxine!spark!100!523!Brad_Hicks".
 * Via Fido 100/10

----------------------------------------

From: Tim Maroney
Date: Tue Jan 28 23:35:13 EST 1986
Subject: Persecution in Atlanta, part 1

Here is a file I just discovered in the New Age databases on CompuServe.  It
details persecution of pagans in Atlanta Georgia last year.  There is a
follow-up, which I will include in the next digest.

CompuServe messages have to be less than 2K long.  This restriction does not
apply to database files, which may contain more lengthy messages, program
source code, and so on.

[72477,1541]
ATLNTA.1                  04-Jan-86 11995              7
 
    Keywords: ATLANTA GROVE UNICORN DESECRATION PAGAN WICCA
 
    The initial letter from the Grove of the Unicorn in Atlanta describing the
    desecration of their ritual site by local rednecks in September.  The
    Grove's efforts to gain police and community support have led many of the
    group to go public, doing PR work, etc.  A warning and a message to all of
    us.
 
                        THE GROVE OF THE UNICORN
                             P.O. BOX 13384
                         ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30324
 
                     Lady Galadriel and Lord Athanor
 
                            September, 1985
 
           And what a tale we have to tell!  Only the beginning of it, for
    we are sure there will be much, much more to come.  We know there will
    be if we have anything to do with it, for we are furious and intend to
    pursue the matter as far as possible.
 
           A bit of background: In early Spring a friend of Lady Galadriel
    and Lord Athanor gave the group permission to use his land (a rural
    spot outside Atlanta) as our outdoor Temple.  The group spent many
    hours clearing the site, building a stone altar, ringing the circle
    with stones, erecting cornerstones, planting herbs, etc.  All were
    delightd with the spot and were willing to expend their time and energy
    in working to make the site as beautiful as possible.
 
           Sabbats and Esbats were celebrated there and we felt very
    fortunate to have such a spot.  At no time did we have any indication
    that anyone resented our being there.  There were never any "wild
    parties" or disturbances of any kind--this was our Temple, we certainly
    would not desecrate it! As the spot was completely surrounded by dense
    woods, we felt there was also a natural sound barrier.  Everyone would
    be gone shortly after midnight, or sooner, for most of the group are
    working folks who must be at work the next day.
 
           In late July, one of the group went out to the site and
    discovered that vandals had struck. Cornerstones had been overturned, a
    number of items had been stolen (statuary, cauldron, candles, etc.).
    Everyone was heartsick, to say the least.  But, we got busy, rebuilt
    the Altar, replaced the cornerstones, cleaned up the mess, put things
    back in order and felt we had learned a lesson--don't leave removable
    items unattended--especially in a place that is infested with red-neck
    teenagers!
 
           Now to the gist of the tale:  On Wednesday, September 18, two of
    our members went out to the site to do a bit of "housekeeping."  To
    their horror they found that someone else had been there and much
    damage had been done to the circle.  A cross had been erected in the
    center of the firepit, the place was in shambles, and the words "Jesus
    Saves" and "In God we trust" were scratched in the earth in front of
    the altar.  They rushed back to inform Lady Galadriel of what had
    happened. Oddly enough, at that time the gentlemen who owns the land
    was visiting with Lady Galadriel.  He, too, was outraged.  He left,
    stating that as soon as he reached home he would file a complaint with
    the police.  Shortly after he left, the phone rang...it was a
    Lieutenant from the county police, informing Lady Galadriel that the
    police had been notified that the neighbors at the site had formed a
    coalition "to stop the witches" and had called a press conference to
    complain about the witches and the fact that the police would not do
    anything to stop them!  A bit more conversation which boiled down to
    "stay away from out there or someone may get hurt."
 
           An emergency meeting of the Grove was called for that evening to
    discuss the situation.  All were outraged, but common sense prevailed
    and all agreed that the best thing to do is to refrain from going out
    there again.  We're sure everyone can understand our sense of violation
    and frustration in such a situation.  In the middle of the meeting the
    phone rang.  It was a reporter from the local paper who had been at the
    meeting of the neighbors and wanted to hear our side of it. Lady
    Galadriel spoke with her at length and two somewhat sympathetic
    articles appeared in Thursday's papers.
 
           THEN--the next evening (Thursday, September 19) we were even
    more outraged by local TV coverage of the matter.  On one station, we
    were treated to full views of the site with police, reporters and
    "curious spectators" (as quoted by the media) crawling all over the
    circle.  Some of the comments made were less than flattering, to say
    the least, and many were out and out falsehoods.  Then we turned to
    another station and were even more shocked--they showed basically the
    same scenes, but with shots of people desecrating the circle site!  One
    man was shown in the act of dismantling the Altar, stone by stone, "to
    find out what is in there..." while everyone stood by, watching, and
    allowed him to do so! Another was picking up stones from the circle
    ring "as a keepsake."
 
           We were outraged not only by the actions of these people, but by
    the fact that others stood by and watched as they desecrated our place
    of worship.  We can't help but wonder what would have happened if such
    a thing had occurred at the "litle white church in the wildwood!"
    Shock waves would have raced across the city and the uproar would have
    been felt nationwide.
 
           Now it was our turn to act/react.  And act we did.  Lady Galadriel
    immediately contacted the TV stations to register her protest.  One
    station sent an interviewer out the same evening and small segment of
    her response was presented on the eleven o'clock news that night.  The
    other TV station responded the next day (Friday), did an interview, and
    presented another small segment that evening.
 
 
           Several radio stations touched on the matter briefly.  One,
    however, may be named in our law suits...announcers on the station made
    many derogatory remarks about our religion in general and about our
    group.  One can understand that uncomplimentary statements may be made
    by participants on a "call-in-talk-show," but you would expect
    announcers to be more professional than to air their own personal
    opinion.  Unfortunately, no one was able to tape the programs at the
    time, but we are requesting tape transcripts from the station under
    F.C.C. Regulation 73:234. (Thanks to Pat of the Georgians for passing
    out information on that subject many years ago--even our attorney was
    not familiar with the regulation and was delighted to learn about it).
    (F.C.C. Regulation 73:34 -- Attack Against a Person or Group.)
 
           Lady Galadriel has had several radio interviews and one
    interviewer plans on putting together a taped program which will go
    across the  nation via satellite.  No date for this as yet.  The
    program is "Southwind", so if you hear of it in your area, tune us in!
    Also, a live TV interview is scheduled for Wednesday, October 2, on the
    local NBC station noonday news.
 
           Monday, September 23, we "got in OUR licks," so to speak,
    through a local radio talk show: WSB AM--750--"Sound-off," 9 p.m. week
    nights.  It is a four-hour program which covers two-thirds of the
    States--a 75,000 watt station.  Reference was made to the news about
    the witches, then WE started calling in.  Not all of us were able to
    get through--the phone lines were jammed--but many of us did manage to
    "speak our piece."  The program began with the talk show host being a
    bit snide and tongue-in-cheek, ended with him being defensive of us and
    our rights.  AND an invitation to Lady Galadriel to appear on his
    program as a guest interviewee.  Needless to say, she accepted,
    although a date has not been set.  (We'll try to let as many know as
    possible when a definite date has been established.)  Lady Galadriel is
    a very good speaker, mentally quick on her feet, armed with a vast
    amount of knowledge, and able to express herself clearly and concisely,
    even under adverse conditions.  We look forward to the program--it
    should be a good one. (Note: Lady Galadriel is not typing this,
    folks...so we can say these things.)
 
           There were calls from Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee,
    Kentucky, the Carolinas, and many other states.  Of course, there were
    those of opposing views who called in to voice their opinion, and the
    usual garbage one expects to hear when the subject of witchcraft is
    brought up.  But it was very rewarding to note how many people
    expressed a positive, tolerant attitude.  We look forward to the
    upcoming program--it should be just as interesting and informative.
    And perhaps educational for some of the listening audience-- at least
    those who open their ears just a little and HEAR what is being said.
 
           Since this report was begun, there has been another development.
    The plot begins to thicken (or should we spell that "sicken?")  One of
    the group members who had let his religion be known, and had been
    overheard on the radio talk how, was dismissed from his job.  The
    supervisor who gave him the news almost told him the true reason he was
    being dismissed, but caught himself just in time, then made the lame
    excuse that the fellow "just wasn't a team player."  Which is
    ludicrous, as the man had received several commendations from
    management for the great job he was doing.  What will we do?  We don't
    know at this point--no one else was present when the supervisor was
    speaking with him, so he has no witnesses to what the man said.
    Without proof, there is little one can do.  It makes us even more
    determined to follow through.
 
           We, personally, feel that it is past time that the Wiccan
    community stood up for their beliefs.  We are all sick and tired of the
    derogatory remarks, being run out of places, and being generally
    classed as "low-life" because of our beliefs. And if we have to "get
    out our soap-boxes and go stand on a corner of the public square," we
    will do so.  The group members are in complete agreement, and so far
    most of them have said they are willing to go public, if necessary.
    All of us have something to lose by exposure, but we all feel that we
    have much more to gain!  We intend to take every opportunity to present
    our viewpoint and to stand up, publicly, for what we believe in.  We
    realize that many people don't believe they can take the chance of
    going public, realizing the possible repercussions. None of us look
    forward to what could happen...but until someone stands up to the
    bigots of the world, they will continue to push us, and all other
    people with a different belief system than their own around.  And,
    frankly, we are tired of being pushed!  Non-Craft people in the area
    have suggested that it would be best for us to "go back underground,"
    back into the basements and living rooms (with the blinds pulled down,
    of course), then there would be no more furor. WHY SHOULD WE?
 
           So, there is our tale.  We'll try to keep everyone updated as to
    what happens next.  We would appreciate any positive energy which
    anyone out there would care to send.  We've got a feeling we are going
    to need all the help we can get!
 
       Blessed be!
 
              Lady Galadriel, High Priestess
              Lord Athanor, High Priest
 
              Lady Rhea, Elder
              and everyone from the Grove of the Unicorn.

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End of New Age Digest
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