From: Ace Lightning Area: Mundane To: Milamber 12 Jun 94 17:06:28 Subject: MEANWHILE, BACK AT TH UpdReq MI>As long as we're all comparing ourselves, MI>I'm a techno-witch as well...I don't know how I lived my previous lives >without a PC! I've never joined Mensa or any other organization, I only ha >my IQ tested once, when I was in the second grade, and I was rated as "abov >the accuracy range of the administered test"...all I know is that mathemati >always loved me, and I have been told I have a gift for language. A >computer programmer once told me that I was the only person he knew who wou >stand a chance of learning C without studying Pascal first. >I don't know if I have a near-photographic memory or not...if near-perfect >spelling and a good head for phone numbers qualifies, I guess I'm it... >And the only "music" which I can't abide overlong is rap, although I'm also >a metal/classical/rock fan. > I'm also slightly overweight, according to my doctor, but honestly >don't know where all the weight is...maybe I'm just too damn tall and broad >shouldered? and I'm a Gemini, and I have no idea what my moon was doing. MI>(Incidentally, I'm 20 years old and happily engaged...and I *can too* have >everything! At least, everything I want...) How wonderful that there should be so many of us technoWitches! (Of course, a Wiccan/Pagan BBS network more or less *sorts for* technoWitches, doesn't it?) I envy you your mathematical talent. I'm math-impaired; I failed basic calculus three times before I gave up permanently. I have trouble remembering numbers. But I also have near-perfect spelling (I tell people that my head has a factory-installed grammar and spelling checker!), and a moderate skill with languages (languages fascinate me, too). I didn't have *ANYTHING* I wanted when I was 20. Of course, the Craft hadn't found me yet, we were in the middle of the Vietnam War, I was still a virgin, and I was probably using drugs too much... I still don't have more than a small percentage of what I want. Even though "what I want" had changed a lot... --- SLMR 2.0 Upgrade your wetware! 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Ace Lightning Area: Mundane To: Farrell Mcgovern 12 Jun 94 17:06:30 Subject: CCfC UpdReq FM> AL> Campus Crusade for Cthulhu -- get it, before it gets you! FM> Good one...I wonder if Nancy still does the Button Catalog...it would b >there, or it would be a good candidate for it! I think that's where it came from. (That seems to be true for a lot of good taglines, doesn't it?) Apparently Nancy isn't the only one; when I was in Boston last year, I went to the Computer Museum, which pretty much sux as a museum, but has one of the most astounding gift shops in this hemisphere. They had a big bucket full of hand-calligraphy buttons, just like Nancy's. I spent about US$20 just on buttons! Samples: "The human brain normally only uses 10% of its capacity. The rest is overhead for the operating system." "You mean it doesn't have a self-contained nuclear power pack, 20mm arm cannons, onboard targeting computer, tracking laser, hydraulic boost, and weapons-proof armor plating? And you call that a POWER SUIT?" "Metal is for wearing. Flesh is for changing. You wouldn't understand; it's a CYBORG thing." "Dammit, Jim, you're a TV personality, not an actor!" (and a whole lot more I can't remember now.) --- SLMR 2.0 Who's the lifeguard in the gene pool? 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Ace Lightning Area: Mundane To: Fir 12 Jun 94 17:06:32 Subject: NY Chit Chat UpdReq FI>AL> Oh, BRETT! He went by a different Circle name the last time I >AL> checked. FI>If his memory needs jogging when you tell him I said hi, >remind him that he put me up after one Summer Solstice in >Queens before I drove back to Boston the next morning. About the only time I ever see Brett any more is at PanThea. But I'll try to remember to tell him. FI>That's what I heard from Meryll who I met after moving to Seattle. >No more 'charming barn.' I was only at the first and 2nd >MAPPCAF BTW. Still have that pendant about being a friend of the >earth. And the 2nd MAPPCAF I arrived too late Fri. night to see >Herman Slater's opening circle. Dang! One of my regrets from >NY, as well as never showing up for one of Margot's sabbats. I don't go that far back; I only started going to PanThea about five years ago. And the "charming barn" was apparently full of mold, causing all the allergy sufferers (about 90% of the crowd, I think) major problems. FI>AL> The facilities are very good (heated >AL> bunkhouses, plenty of showers, etc.) and the camp chef is a >AL> Culinary >AL> Institute graduate (if you can imagine Cordon Bleu health >AL> food!). FI>Sounds great! Everyone - even those who pine nostalgically for the "charming barn" - is very enthusiastic about the new site. FI>Don't think so. Meryll and I were comparing names to see who >we knew in common and I think she asked me if I knew you. >I left NY the fall of '81 shortly after Tzipora's daughter was >born. I'm not even sure I know Meryll. But I think Judy does. FI>AL> I don't recognize you by your BBS name, and neither does Judy. FI>Perhaps I was just a face in the crowd to Judy. Never really >had any personal interactions with her to speak of. FI>I am in the wedding party in the pictures from Tina and Carl's >wedding. Now that was a beautiful altar and a beautiful ceremony! A very, very dear friend of mine is currently a "dedicant" with Carl and Tina, and living across the street from them. We were both involved in radio; he was a very young man who wanted to learn, and I was teaching him, because that's the way I am. One day I was using the studio facilities to produce a pathworking tape for a Circle I was going to do; he asked what I was doing, so I explained a little bit about the Craft. A few years later, he was exposed to a Pagan group at college, and it clicked into place. He called me and asked if he could be invited to a Circle. It turned out that he wanted a more structured learning environment than Proteus generally provides, so Judy directed him to Tina. He's very happy working with her. (If you talk to them, his name is Dave.) FI>I've always wondered what happened to a blind lady I saw at a few >circles. I remember a pottery plate she had made that >was used as the pentagram on the altar once. Think she lived >near Columbia univ. at the time. I think she was in Proteus, but it was way before "my time". I remember Judy talking about a blind woman, and how she used different scents of incense (instead of different colors of candles) to mark the Quarters. I liked that idea. --- SLMR 2.0 Procrastinate? I'll do that later! 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Ace Lightning Area: Mundane To: Cyberpuck 12 Jun 94 17:06:34 Subject: Cognitive Dissonance UpdReq CY> Yeah, aint it great? I think I'll settle down into a nice, straig >old-fashioned monogamous relationship for a while and completely blow the >minds (or at least noses) of those around me. To quote Arifel: "Oh, hullo, Cyberpuck..." ;-) CY> Alternately, I could start smoking.... Smoking *WHAT?* CY>... "True story - They made a saga about it" - Loki Skytraveller I think I like that name even better than Cyberpuck. --- SLMR 2.0 You nonconformists are all alike! 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Ace Lightning Area: Mundane To: Urhla 12 Jun 94 17:06:36 Subject: Kitchen Witch UpdReq UR>Id love to hear about your more high energy states. I also tend to fly off >maybe thats why my name is Robin. I don't really know what to say; I've described a few trances and so forth...what else do you want to know about? UR>As for tranced rabbits....you can apparently, by stroking their noses, indu >them into a trance. Ive seen it with cats. I've stroked the noses of both rabbits and the cat...none of them have gone into trance from it (but *I* almost did!). I like rabbit noses...to a rabbit, life is a nosewiggle... >Saul Meister does love to chew!!!!GRRRRRR!!!! He has developed a liking for >the flavour of our carpet. GRRR!!!!!! Our place is now scattered with stick >and toys and you name it hoping to distract him from the carpet. But like m >animals and humans he loves what he cant have. Make sure there are **NO** dangling electrical wires he can chew! (Ditto phones, speaker wire, etc., but those aren't as life-threatening to an inquisitive and nibble-prone rabbit as a regular electrical cord.) They especially like dangly things. --- SLMR 2.0 My taglines multiply like rabbits! 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Ace Lightning Area: Mundane To: Urhla 12 Jun 94 17:06:38 Subject: giggling UpdReq UR>I like that about a giggling being a gift of the Goddess and God. Ive never >heard about Proteus, is it a large trad. I don't exactly know what you mean by "large". I can't even give you an exact number, although I could probably call my High Priestess and ask her (she's the "founder" of the Proteus Tradition). UR>Ive only recently joined a new coven. We are also free flowing and VERY >eclectic in practice and personality. Ive been a solitary for most of my pa >life, so the coven experience is quite new for me. I really enjoy it and kn >that I'm getting the structure and support that I lacked as a solitary. There are things that you can do with group energy that you just can't do alone. (Of course, there are things that are better done solo, too.) And if/when you achieve a "group mind", you find a lot of very special things can happen among you. Also, the interchange of ideas and points of view is always very educational. I'm glad you've found yourself a group. UR>If you can, Id love to learn more about your trad, if its not oath bound. Ummmm....well... "How many Proteans does it take to change a light bulb?" "I dunno...we've never done it the same way twice!" We work within a very loosely Gardnerian structure. We have an extra "degree" - before initiation, we have Dedication, which is a ritual that formalizes a person's intent to *learn* about the Craft (in order to make an informed decision later about initiation.) We celebrate the eight Sabbats, with the addition of a few of our own "Sabbats" (well, they happen around the same time every year): on the weekend nearest Valentine's Day, we do a Circle dedicated to Aphrodite; on the weekend nearest April Fool's Day, we have "Wombat Wiccca", a parody of standard Wiccan ritual; and on the weekend nearest to July 25, we often celebrate "Landing Day", the anniversary of the first human footsteps on the Moon. We schedule other Circles roughly every two weeks throughout the year; if one of those happens to fall on a New or Full Moon, then we'll celebrate that, but we don't really do much with the Lunar cycle. We cast a Circle in a general sort of way: the element consecrations might be silent, or made up on the spot; one person might call the Quarters, or whoever's standing in that direction, or we might ask for volunteers. Then we do whatever it is we came to do (which can involve pathworking, dancing, passing the "talking stick" to tell our own experiences regarding something, or just about anything else). Then juice and cookies (again, possibly improvised blessings), have "Sacred Bullsh!t" (general discussions and news), and any magickal workings we might want to do; then try to remember how we opened the Circle so we can close it the same way. Any questions? ;-) --- SLMR 2.0 Never pinch a wizard on the butt... >RIBBIT!< 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Ace Lightning Area: Mundane To: Cyberpuck 12 Jun 94 17:06:46 Subject: A Quibble UpdReq CY> I'm Bi, and he knows that, and he also knows how little I care for >ANY form of discrimination. I don't think that being members of "an >oppressed minority" gives gays, blacks, whites, men, women, insects or anyo >else the right to discriminate against others. (And if I did, well, we Bi >folks are arguably more of an oppressed minority than the Homofolks, since >we cop it from them AND the straights.) I was deeply committed to the concept of IDIC ("Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations") long before Gene Roddenberry popularized it. I think *EVERYONE* ought to be proud of what he, she, or it is...and also fascinated by what everyone else is. There are so many things to learn from people! CY> I agree, mainstream culture DOES flaunt heterosexuality. However, >I don't think that flaunting is necessarily a bad thing (see tagline). I >just wanna see the day when we all, gay, straight, bi, lesbian, trannie - >and a-sexuals, and homo-erotics - can strut our stuff with equal freedom, >and equal lack of fear that some creep will beat up on us, physically or >verbally, for doing so. Sometimes, in things like the Gay Pride Parade, you will see the true "rainbow" of people, all proudly flaunting themselves; women loving women, men loving men, men and women loving each other, old loving young loving skinny loving fat loving black loving white loving Asian loving Native American loving wheelchair-riding loving leather-clad loving cross-dressing loving surgically modified loving pierced and tattooed and shaved loving purple-mohawked loving completely indescribable... It never lasts for long, but it really moves me to tears. --- SLMR 2.0 Typical bisexuals are like typical thunderstorms. 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Julian Area: Mundane To: Eric Anderson 18 Jun 94 21:25:00 Subject: Christianity & Wicca UpdReq EA->The Bible also states that Christ is the only, repeat only, name by which m EA->can be saved. This would seem to preclude any other God or Goddess. John, i EA->his first epistle, also states that no one overcomes the world, except thos EA->who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We must overcome to be saved as EA->well. All well and good if one believes that the Bible has meaning. EA->Do these conditions apply to wiccans? Look these scriptures up with EA->your Strongs concordance. They don't apply to this pagan. If all you came to do is preach, hit the highway. Many of us converts to paganism left Christianity because we didn't buy it, and I don't expect anyone's too receptive to it here. Christians who sermonize are only inspiring their would-be proselytes to dislike them--and their Christ--even more. -- Julian (Inertnet: flint@eskimo.com) * OLX 2.1 TD * I could care less if you accuse me of apathy. 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718