From: Tony Navarra 
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 21:10:45 -0800 (PST)
Subject: FogHorn #44
To: FogHorn Distribution List

Dear Friends,

The electronic FogHorn has returned!  As some of you may know, it 
got to be a problem when the number of people receiving the 
FogHorn got over twenty - I had to type in everyone's address 
every month.  Got to be a major drag.  But this problem has been 
solved and now the eFog makes its return.

The eFog is just the text of the FogHorn.  If you want to see it 
in all its graphic glory, you need to subscribe.  Prices are 
$12/year for US delivery (US funds).

Fax delivery to subscribers may soon be available to subscribers.  
Watch this space for details.

If you have found yourself the recipient of this newsletter and 
have no desire to be on the distribution list, I apologize.  
Please drop me a note and I will remove you from the list.

Feel free to share this or post it anywhere you wish.

Never Thirst,

Tony

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                     The Electronic Foghorn

Issue #  44                         January 1994 
****************************************************************

The purposes of the Fog City Nest are to provide members with a 
sense of community, to cultivate the growth of the larger Pagan 
community, to foster personal and spiritual growth on the Pagan 
path and to offer members opportunities for education and direct 
experience in Pagan topics.

****************************************************************

What's Happening ?

January 19, Wednesday       7:00p.m.
Pagans and Money
Workshop
Gifts of the Goddess
973 Valencia Street, San Francisco
Call Toni for more information:
415-282-1872

January 13,  Thursday            7:00p.m.
Business Meeting
Patricia's house
1041 Page Street, San Francisco
Call Patricia for more information:
415-252-8520


 February:
Fool's Journey : A Tarot Initiation

March:
Belly Dancing Through the Elements

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                     Important Legal Action
                    Park Tries to Evict Shiva
                               by
                        Patricia Croteau

This month, the United States District Court in the Northern 
California will hear a case that has important implications for 
all non-Christians. It is of particular interest to all who 
prefer outdoor meditation and worship sites to church buildings. 
Case number  C93-4089-DLJ  involves a Hindu shrine which has 
evolved in Golden Gate Park. Citing concerns over the separation 
of church and state and the nuisance value, the Department of 
Parks and Recreation and the City of San Francisco wish to remove
it. 
 
The cause of all the furor is a four foot high rounded pillar of
granite.  Once a parking barrier, it was dumped about four years
ago in an obscure area of the park behind the Japanese Tea
Garden, that the gardeners use for odds and ends. Set down in a
grove of fir and eucalyptus trees, the stone is at the
intersection of three small paths. As a frequent walker in the
park, artist and third generation Hindu Baba Kali Das was struck
by the sudden appearance of this object resembling the Shiva
Lingas he had seen on his travels in India.  He left a leaf as an
offering.

Usually found as a naturally occurring stone formation at a place 
where three paths meet, the Shiva Linga represents the union of 
God and Goddess.  The stone is the phallus of Shiva joined to the 
earth which is the yoni of Shakti.  Without the power and energy 
of Shakti, Shiva can accomplish nothing.  

From these small beginnings, much has grown.  Kali Das' daughter, 
Meitraya became involved in creating and maintaining the site, 
leaving small offerings and decorations, and organizing the 
remaining rubble into a circle surrounding the pillar.  She was 
forced to rebuild the circle many times because vandals would 
frequently toss the stones around at night.  

Others began to join them in using the site for meditation and 
chanting.  Often crystals, flowers and incense are left by the 
stone.  People come from as far away as India to visit the site.  
On Monday, the moon's day, milk is poured over the stone in a 
puja or Hindu prayer action .

The Shiva Linga has acquired a care taker.  Affected by the 
concern of Kali Das, a homeless man living in the park, allegedly 
a follower of Mithra, decided that cleaning and caring  for the 
Shiva Linga was his task.  He has moved the remaining pieces of 
stone into an elaborate double circle and keeps the pillar clean 
and the paths raked. 

Although the Shiva Linga is tucked in an infrequently used area
not readily apparent to casual visitors and requires no
expenditure by the Park, Mary Burns, the manager of the
Department of Parks and Recreation of the City of San Francisco
initiated proceedings to have the stone removed.  Kali Das won an
restraining order on the state level and the City has chosen to
pursue this matter to the Federal level.

To carry the matter this far, Kali Das has spent about $12,500 of 
his own money. Beyond this one individual case, he is motivated  
by the opportunity for Goddess worshipers of East and West  and 
non-Christians of all sorts to bond together to demand respect 
for out door meditation and worship sites.  He would like to see 
a mutual support network grow out of this case.

Kali Das also sees this as an opportunity for non-Christians to
become more familiar and less frightening to the general public.
Local media coverage in San Francisco has had slightly amused but
benevolent tone.  Since the suit began the story has attracted
increasing amounts of media attention.  Among others, DVM
magazine has sent a writer from France to cover the story and the
New York Times has interviewed Kali Das.

The suit itself, a request for a restraining order preventing the 
Parks Department from removing  the stone is based on several 
cases involving Christians asking for access to public resources 
for specifically Christian oriented activities or displays.

The case mentions the Christian cross on top of Mount Davidson, 
that is occasionally used for services.  Not mentioned in the 
suit is the Celtic cross on top of Rainbow Falls in the park 
itself.  Like the Shiva Linga, the cross is in an inconspicuous 
place.  The cross however is indicated on park maps and does have 
a sign near it.

The suit also mentions that the Shiva Linga is in an
inconspicuous place, has no signs pointing it out and does not
appear on the park maps. The site is also used as a quiet place
for secular meditation.  In a new development, it has been used
by witches as a place for a circle.

 Although similar cases involving Native American sites have come 
up, Native American tribes are treated as separate nations within 
the borders of the United States and the court's findings apply 
only to that particular nation.

The Parks department has not offered any explanation of why they
are choosing to use precious resources in this suit.  Allegations
have been made that fundamentalist Christians in the Parks
Department are pushing this.

Calls to Ms. Burns' office were not returned and the Parks
Department would only say "No comment."

****************************************************************

                          Tarot Musings

                             Justice
                        Patricia Croteau

Here the Fool begins to explore the principle embodied in the 
Sanskrit term "Karma" or the Witch's Law of Three-Fold Return.  
What goes round comes round.  Realizing she is part of Arachne's 
Web and her actions do have consequences, she understands that it 
is necessary to weigh and consider her actions more carefully.  
On the journey to maturity, this is an essential step.

Weighing the costs and benefits of each situation in her scales,
Justice uses the sword of her intellect to cut to the heart of
the matter.  The sword also cuts away what she no longer needs.
Her primary tools are her intellect and her analytical abilities.
The green of money and the yellow of gold indicate that she is
involved in the distribution of resources.  She is the stern
mother who must allocate family resources so that all her
children are cared for.

Numerologically, eleven becomes one plus one or two.  Therefore, 
Justice is related to the High Priestess.  Both cards express the 
logical intellectual side of the female principle as opposed to 
the more traditional emotional relating side expressed by the 
Empress.

In the Builders of the Adytum deck, Paul Foster Case equates the 
green robe and blonde hair of Justice with those of the goddess 
Venus.  Venus is the female principle as creative imagination and 
equivalent to the Empress.  He sees the golden scales as repre
senting light used as a standard of measurement and thus the use 
of the speed of light as a constant in physics. 

****************************************************************
                                
                     The Oracle of the Dead
                        Maxine Grodjinsky

>From a lecture by Dr. Raymond Moody, October 15, 1993

"School was never like this" is the motto of the Learning Annex.  
It sure wasn't.  Dr. Moody's talk was what I had always wished 
school to be - listening to a learned professor lecture on occult 
topics in a well thought out manner and in a way that would keep 
the students so totally enthralled that I wouldn't want to miss a 
word.

Dr. Moody is a best-selling author and expert on the subject of
Near Death Experiences (NDE's).  His latest research tries to
bridge the worlds of the living and the dead through
experimentation with mirror-gazing.  Dr. Moody himself was
surprised at the results and their implications.

In addition to the actual experiments, Dr. Moody also did
extensive investigation into the historical background of the
practice, including its cultural and literary aspects.  Gazing on
reflective surfaces such as water, shiny metal, and mirrors has
been traditional in many cultures.  The "Oracle of the Dead" in
ancient Greece was one of the most elaborately developed
institutions devoted to this practice.

Herodotus, the first Western historian, mentions the "Oracle of 
the Dead" where ghosts gave information to the living.  In the 
Odyssey, Circe send Odysseus to the "mouldering House of Hades" - 
a place wrapped in mists and cloud whose underground inhabitants 
never see the sun.

Hidden for 2000 years, the Oracle was rediscovered in 1958 by
following ancient descriptions that placed it at the point where
the rivers meet in northewestern Greece.  When Dr Moody and his
wife visited the site a few years ago, it was still very
difficult to reach and little known among the Greeks.  The top of
the rock is so high up that it is "wrapped in mist and cloud"
just as the Odyssey describes.

There were dormitories for pilgrims and a huge bronze cauldron 
filled with water.  Skeptics thought the psychogogues concealed 
themselves in this cauldron.  Observation posts and bannisters 
around the site suggest that the experiences were meant to be 
shared by a community.

The tradition of the Oracle has largely disappeared in the last 
800 years.  The site was physically destroyed by the Romans and 
the custom of spirit gazing was forbidden by the Christianity.  
In 350 A.D., the Church made it a sin for Christians to use a 
mirror to see a spirit.  

Dr. Moody presents an intriguing question for us to ponder.  How 
would our society be different if the tradition had persisted 
into the present?  I'd like to add: What social changes might 
occur due to the revival of these ancient practices?

Resources:
The October, 1993 issue of Heart Dance magazine has an interview 
with Dr. Moody. (Heart Dance 473 Miller Ave. Mill Valley, CA 
94941; 415-383-2525

Dr. Moody may be reached in Alabama at 205-831-0199
If you want a copy of my easy-to-read notes on the lecture, send 
$1 (stamps ok) to Maxine Grodjinsky at P.O. Box 170305, San 
Francisco, CA 94117

****************************************************************

                        Drumming Workshop
                          Tony Navarra

The sound of the drums was ragged, each person seemed to be 
working against the others.  I stepped into the circle and the 
waves of sound seemed to pound me from all sides.  I desperately 
wanted to step out of the center, instead I stayed and drummed 
out my greeting to the others.  One by one we all stepped into 
the circle to introduce ourselves and thus began the drumming 
workshop taught by Rick Hamouris.


In two and a half hours we learned how to make our drumming more
effective in our rituals.  How to use sound and rhythm to bring a
group of people together and to maintain the energy of the
circle.  I learned to loosen up and let myself experiment and
"converse" with my fellow drummers.

The best part, however, were the hand and arm exercises that 
seemed to go on forever.  Rick brought a powerful new perspective 
to my drumming and I want to thank him for that.

Hopefully we will be able to have him back in '94!

****************************************************************

                       Who ya gonna call ?
                       Nest Resource List

The FogHorn is published by FogCity Nest, an independent
congregation of the Church of All Worlds.  All contents are
copyright 1994 by the authors.

The Fog Horn is published monthly and mailed by the seventh of 
each month.  Subscriptions are $12/year.

How to contact the FogHorn
Editrix	
Patricia Croteau
1041 Page Street
 San Francisco, CA  94117
 415-252-8520

Mailing List  
Tony Navarra
 692 San Jose Avenue #6
  San Francisco, CA  94110
  415-282-1872

How to Contact FogCity Nest
Coordinator
Toni Spizman
692 San Jose Avenue #6
San Francisco, CA  94110
415-282-1872

Treasurer
Jennifer Adams
779 Guerrero St
San Francisco, CA  94110
415-821-3821

Worship Circle
Katrina Matos
1880 Jackson Street #203
Oakland, CA  94612
510-268-1241

****************************************************************

                           Book Review
                 Megabrain by Michael Hutchison
(William Morrow 1986, hardback; Ballantine Books 1991, paperback)
                    reviewed by Dave Brubaker

It's a cold, rainy, icy day in New York City.  The harried editor
rushes in, looks at the strange contraption, and makes no effort
to conceal his skepticism as he asks, "This is it?"
Nevertheless, he dons the goggles and earphones and begins the
experiment.

People gather around, make jokes, and ask questions, and the
photographer's flashbulbs flash and film advance whirs.
Meanwhile the crusty editor drifts into a reverie.  Tiny lights
in the goggles flash rhythmically before his closed eyelids and
the earphones emit only an electronic hum, but he begins to hear
women's voices, chanting monks, a violin, and a piano.  Then he
experiences visual hallucinations, yellow amoebas and a black
insect flapping purple and yellow wings, and he discovers that he
can change the scenes with a mere thought.  He relaxes with a
blissful smile and claims to be in euphoria.

With this story, Michael Hutchison introduces us to the world of
"mind machines," machines that manipulate consciousness to induce
relaxation, promote healing, enhance creativity, reduce stress,
mimic dream states, and even, some say, create spiritual
experiences.

Megabrain is really two books in one.  The first part is a
general survey of recent research in neuroscience.  He describes
the research on the intelligence-enhancing effects of "enriched
environments," much of it done at U.C. Berkeley.  Scientists such
as Marian Diamond are discovering that much of what we
traditionally thought about the brain is not true, as they
explore intelligence, growth, aging, and even regeneration.  He
explains the work of Candace Pert and others on brain chemistry,
neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides.

A review in "The Psychiatric Times" claims that his coverage of 
endorphins and neuropeptides would help a candidate with most of 
the questions on those subjects in the medical Boards; but I, who 
never had a college-level course in either chemistry or biology, 
still found it clear and easily understandable.  I found his 
explanation of Ilya Prigogine's Nobel Prize-winning work on 
dissipative structures the most complete and cogent explanation 
for the lay person that I have read anywhere.
	
Recent brain research is so intriguing that throughout part 1 I 
found myself thinking, "That's amazing!" or "I didn't know that!"  
But this first part of the book seems to exist only to justify 
and provide a theoretical basis for the rest.
	
The larger part of the book, and Hutchison's primary interest,
deals with a wide variety of the new mind machines that have
become available in recent years.  Most of these machines work by
either measuring or manipulating brainwave frequencies.
Brainwaves are the natural electrical activity of the brain.  The
electroencephalograph (EEG) measures their frequency and
amplitude.  Frequency ranges correspond roughly with various
states of consciousness: Beta waves (13 hertz, or cycles per
second, and up) correspond with everyday waking consciousness.
Alpha (8-13 Hz) is a comfortable relaxed state.  Theta (4-7 Hz)
is associated with hypnagogic imagery and, to some, mystical and
visionary states.  Delta (0.5-4 Hz) is sleep.
	
Hutchison begins Part 2 with TENS (Transcutaneous Electro-Neural 
Stimulation) and CES (Cranial Electro Stimulation) devices, which 
are medical devices available only by prescription.  They pass an 
electrical current through the body or over the cranium.  Their 
medical use is primarily in pain relief, but they have many other 
interesting potentials because of the brainwave-entraining effect 
of pulsed current.

Then he moves on to several EEG biofeedback devices which display
brainwave activity.  The CAP Scan (Computerized Automated
Psychophysiological scan) shows a real-time computer image of the
brain, using different colors to indicate the dominant brainwave
frequencies in various parts of the brain.  The Mind Mirror
displays the amount of activity over the whole range of
frequencies in each hemisphere, also in real-time.  Using either
device, a person can learn to create or suppress various
frequencies and thereby create the associated states of
consciousness.  One can also learn hemispheric synchronization,
getting the two hemispheres of the brain working together.

Numerous devices, such as the light/sound machine used by the 
harried editor in the introduction, use flashing lights and sound 
waves to entrain brainwaves to a desired frequency and to promote 
hemispheric synchronization.  Lights entrain to the frequency of 
the flashes.  Sound machines use the principle of binaural beats; 
if two slightly different tones are played through headphones 
into a person's ears, the brain mixes the two signals internally 
to create a beat frequency, just as two tones mixed in air create 
a beat frequency, and brainwaves tend to entrain to that beat 
frequency.  People use these devices to enhance meditation, to 
relieve stress, and simply to get "high" legally.  Some claim 
they improve intellectual and creative abilities.

Finally there are sensory deprivation devices, the familiar
flotation tank popularized by John Lilly and the Tranquilite.
The Tranquilite is a set of goggles and earphones that block out
external stimuli and provide a uniform, unchanging stimulus of
their own.  The earphones play a continuous monotonous sound, and
the goggles have a featureless colored field of unchanging hue
and intensity.  Psychologists call this sort of monotonous
stimulation a ganzfeld, and its effect is to block out the
perception of senses receiving the continuous stimulus.  After
wearing the Tranquilite for awhile, wearers lose awareness of
sight and don't even know if their eyes are open or closed.  The
description sounds alarming but the actual effect is calming and
relaxing, and many people use it as an aid to meditation.

**************************************************************** 

                         Scion's Corner
                          Tony Navarra


There are powerful forces for change within the CAW.  And it is 
refreshing to see happening.

Since becoming a Scion, all of a sudden I am on a lot of mailing
lists.  I am impressed with a new group that has made an
appearance on the scene - the Council of the Second Ring.  They
are working on such touchy issues as alcohol use and appropriate
sexual behavior at rituals, straight forward communication, and
conflict resolution.

Most of this work is being done by Scions who dedicated to
creating forms of human organization that reflect our values
rather then that of the dominator culture.  I applaud people who
are willing to work to make their dreams real.

If you want to get involved, call Marilee Lewis (Lifeways
voicemail number) @ 510-549-7777.

                      *************

I feel these efforts are much more important then attempts to
explain why gossip is the mechanism of the oppressed in striking
back at the oppressors.  Sure gossip is fun and I like to know
the "real story" as much as the next person, but at a certain
point it starts to become destructive.  If we are supposed to be
an extended family, doesn't that imply straight forward
communication instead of whispering behind a person's back?

                   *************

Some exciting things have been coming out of Australia.  Their 
beautiful newsletter "Dragonsong" is available at most Nest 
meetings.  All you have to do is ask to see them.

The last issue included an article on the history of CAW.  Get a 
down under perspective.

                  **********

This column, like all my writings, are my opinions alone.  They 
do not belong to Fog City Nest or Church of All Worlds.  If you 
agree or disagree, you can lodge your opinions in any of the 
following ways:
Mail:692 San Jose Ave #6
San Francisco, CA  94110
email:navarra@well.sf.ca.us
Phone:415-282-1872

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