HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: lib1p@rosie.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino)
Subject: To: the Mellow Tigger
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 23:37:00 GMT

Boy does your story sound familiar.  I spent a lot of time
searching myself.  However I think you have stumbled upon a
fundamental truth.  (please forgive me guys for repeating this
*YET AGAIN*)  That is that all paths are but different paths to
the same end, that end being what the Christians refer to as god.
(Note: I don't mean the anthropomorphic Xtian god, but that 
creative force or Higher Power as someone once called it that is
the beginning and the end of all things.)

There is no *one* path that everyone can take.  You must find that
path that is the one for you.  If we can help you find it then
so mote it be. 

The best advice I can give you is to read alot of everything.  Don't
expect to find *IT* in any one place.  You will find it inside and
it will be a conglomeration of many things.  Diety is yourself.
That which is inside.  That which we call diety is nothing more
than ourselves, the world around us, and our connection to it.
That we give it form is out of our own needs.  

You have a very good start.  And by the way, from what you say in
your post I would think that you would find yourself best in a 
pagan way, but that is for you to decide.  Remember that no matter
what religion you ultimately decide to follow you will find your
share of crackpot and assh*les.  EVERY religion has them, including
us.

You claim to be in Austin, but your post is comming out of
Texas A&M.  Are you in College Station or Austin?  I am in Houston.
Here in Texas and the surrounding states we have an organization
called the Council of the Magickal Arts.  The next big get together
will be Samhain up in the hill country around Austin.  I should
put that address into a file considering how many times this
subject comes up.  E-mail me if you want it and I will see about
getting it to you.

I would be interested in seeing how your "adventure" turns out.
If I can be of any assistance, even if it is just as a sounding
board, please do not hesitant to give me a "ring".  I think you
will find that most of us are like that.  We are always willing to
help, but *NEVER* push.

Blessed Be and Happy Hunting,
Tammy
lib1p@jetson.uh.edu
University of Houston, Houston, TX

P.S. !!!Primitive Baptist!!!!! E-Gads, and I thought I had it
bad with my Missionary Baptist upbringing.  For those not from
the "Bible Belt" you will never truly understand what 
"Baptist" means until you've lived here.

Xref: sparky alt.pagan:9224 rec.martial-arts:12116 talk.politics.guns:20882
From: st923058@pip.cc.brandeis.edu (Rosaleen Dhu)
Subject: hazeleyes
Reply-To: st923058@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 18:43:21 GMT

Is there or is there not anything special about hazel eyes? Mine have been
green-brown-gold for sixteen of my eighteen years, and they've never been
much interesting except that they clash with themselves. I'm REAL curious
about this.
Also someone asked about green eyes meaning anything. I can offer two
literary examples ("Emerald Eyes" and "The Long Run", by Daniel Keys Moran,
and "Born To Run" by Mercedes Lackey--actually, some other Lackey books too)
but I've never heard anything magical of them. Let me know if you find
out.
					Rosaleen Dhu
From: cortese@skid.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria Cortese)
Subject: a poem from archy and mehitabel
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Date: 16 Sep 92 04:15:01 GMT

The book is by Don Marquis, and it's quite good so far.  Here's a
sample:


the lesson of the moth

i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires

why do you fellows 
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the unconventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense

plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up 
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself 


Sally introduced me to this, and I liked it a LOT.  I'm liking the rest
so far.

Blessings,
Janis
From: morgan@brewich.hou.tx.us (Morgan ap Rhys)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: Re: books for new pagans
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 92 09:07:48 CDT
Organization: The Brewer's Witch BBS, +1 713 272 7350, Brewich.Hou.TX.US

dhardin@bbn.com (Dawn Hardin) writes:

> In article <1992Sep4.233224.7745@news.cs.brandeis.edu>, st923058@pip.cc.brand
> 
> > My problem is that I am eighteen years old and have recently
> > informed my parents that I have been Wiccan for over a year. Now they want 
> > book about it to read so they can decide whether or not they are going to
> > disown me. (I HOPE I'm only joking...) Does anyone have any suggestions,
> > either for books of the parentally readable type or for a good explanation
> > I can give them?
> 
> I'm going to be thirty soon, but I'm in the same situation of trying to
> come out to my mother.  I gave her a copy of _The Mists of Avalon_ to
> try to warm her up a bit.  She loved the book and we had a lot of discussion
> about some of the ideas in it.  I feel more comfortable now that she won't
> just turn off to the idea.  For Christmas, I'll try a good non-fiction book,
> maybe _Spiral Dance_, to show her that some thoughtful people take this stuff
> seriously.  I figure I have two years -- my deadline is to get them used to
> the idea before my baby talks well enough to say "We had a neat ritual for
> Beltane, grammy."
> 
> Dawn
> "Oh, Time!  Of all the dwellers here below 
> You only elevate buffoons or fools,
> Or him whose anus as an inkstand serves."
> The Perfumed Garden of the Shaykh Nefzawl, translated by Sir Richard F. Burto

 
For both of you, I'd suggest "The Truth about Witchcraft Tod" by Scott 
Cunningham.  This book is written specifically for the non-practitioner.  
It contains information about Wicca and debunks some of the myths that 
permeate out society about Wicca and Witches.
 
Morgan


------------------
morgan@brewich.hou.tx.us (Morgan ap Rhys)
(Alternate) morgan%brewich@lobster.hou.tx.us
Origin: The Brewer's Witch BBS -- Houston, TX -- +1 713 272 7350
     "Silence is the voice of complicity" - Vote Early, Vote Often!
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
From: J024330@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM
Subject: To A.Lizard (Was Re:Official Compuserve Policy)
Organization: Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 14:35:09 GMT

In article: <gate.Lm72qB1w164w@pil.UUCP> A. Lizard writes:

>Chris Colvin, the Compuserve user who was using Berkeley mail to
>news to post one way messages to this newsgroup, and charging
>users who responded to his posts via E-mail with harassment, and
>as a result, zapping some of our fellow pagans out of cyberspace
>(his post says 5 of us) was using Compuserve to get himself
>backdoor Usenet access on a system that does not care what he
>does with it. If he were posting intelligent messages germane to
>the purpose of the newsgroup, even controversial ones, I'd would
>have no objections to his use of it, and I certainly wouldn't
>have spent several hours on trying (successfully, I think) to get
>him zapped off his Usenet access. His attitude is that "I'm
>witnessing for Christ, and if you don't like it, F*CK YOU, I can
>do whatever I want ANYWHERE I want"... I rather doubt he would
>defend my freedom of speech if I were to walk into the fundie
>church of his choice with a bullhorn and tell the congregation
>what I think of fundamentalists. Or for that matter, defend my
>freedom to post a message to that effect on the Xtian Usenet
>newsgroups.

Mr. Lizard, I don't recall using any explicatives with you or any-
one else.  Sorry, that's not my style.  I responded to you publical-
ly only.  Not only that, but I wrote a follow up last week, posted
to this group, from this ID.  No, you were not successful in having
me booted from Compuserve.  As a matter of fact, I sent copies of your
"hate" mail to 70006,101, and told them the only way they were going
to get me to stop using the gateway was to cancel my account.  Funny,
I just got E-Mail this morning on compuserve, and sent a post out over
the Berkeley gateway.

As I stated above, I've already responded publically about your ac-
cusation that I posted to several news groups.  I also clarified my
position with respect to the 5 individuals who lost accounts.  I
strongly suggest you read these because, as stated in those posts,
I won't be discussing the issue of Compuserve any further.

In addition, to end this Compuserve controversy, I used one of my other
news servers to post this.

>You are living proof that STUPIDITY is not limited to Xtians either.
>I wonder why you felt the need to remind us of this.

Remember A., when you point the finger, there are three pointing back at
you.
From: ailsa%ailanth.uucp@wang.com (Ailsa N.T. Murphy)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: Re: yet another weensy question from you-know-who
Date: Sun, 06 Sep 92 13:13:10 EDT
Organization: Ailanthus Project

kathy@xn.ll.mit.edu writes:

> I don't know the what the range of the sand dollar is, but they can
> certainly be found on the east coast.  I remember picking them up on the
> beaches of Maine as a child.  At that point (roughly 20 years ago), they
> were moderately difficult to find, and much more likely to be in pieces
> than whole, due to the rocky Maine coast, I suppose.  My mother used to
> say that they were far more common when she was a child, some 30 years
> before that.  She attributed the difference to the fact that the beaches
> were far more crowded, and thus the odds of any particular person finding
> large numbers of interesting shells were smaller.  I suspect also that
> in her case they were improved by the fact that her days at the beach
> were part of week-long stretches at a rented cottage, with virtually
> private beach in front, while mine were day trips to public beaches.
>
me too!  i'm glad you posted, because after hearing that there wern't any, i
thought i might have been hallucinating!  neat things, sand dollars...

                                           -ailsa

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                    ailsa%ailanth.uucp@wang.com
 I wish her insight to battle love's blindness            ________
 Strength from the milk of human kindness         Silence \      / Action
 A safe place for all the pieces that scattered      =     \    /    =
 Learn to pretend there's more than love           Death    \  /    Life
                                  that matters               \/
Xref: sparky alt.pagan:9295 alt.atheism:17202 alt.mythology:1788
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 22:39:49 EDT
From: John A. Johnson <J5J@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.pagan,alt.atheism,alt.mythology
Subject: Metaphorical paganism

Anyone else out there in paganland consider themselves a "metaphorical
pagan?"  I don't believe in supernatural deities, but I'm in love with
nature and mythology.  I've been "worshipping" nature gods through
rituals for some 20 years now--not because I believe in the magickal
efficacy of the rituals, but rather for the feeling of connectedness
to nature and to human prehistory.
----------------
John A. Johnson  (j5j@psuvm.psu.edu)
Metaphorical Pagan
Penn State is not responsible for my behavior.
Neither do I take the blame for Penn State.
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
From: lib1p@rosie.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino)
Subject: ?New? store in Houston: Celtic Dreams
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 23:40:00 GMT


I discovered a new (to me) store here in Houston.  It is called
Celtic Dreams.  It is in a strip mall on 290 at Mangum (where
Future Visions Books is located).  The store was closed when I
was in the area, but it looked from the window to be a 
"New Age" store.

Has anybody been there or know anything about it?

Tammy
From: evc@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Edward Van Cura)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: re: Cernunnos a War God? (was: Celtic)
Date: 8 Sep 92 03:36:13 GMT

[If this is double-posted, it is not intentional. ---Thorfinn]

From *The Encyclopedia of Religion* edited by Mircea Eliade:

                        Cernunnos

A Celtic god with the horns of a stag, is attested in Gaul by about 
10 figurative images and one sole inscription from the Roman era,
currently preserved in the Musee de Cluny (Corpus inscriptionum
Latinarium, Berlin, 1863, vol. 13, no. 302c). A plaque from the
Gundestrup Caldron bears the image of the stag-horned god seated in a
buddha-like posture, holding a torque in one hand and a serpent in the
other, and surrounded by animals that include a stag. This image
suggests that Cernunnos is the Gaulish Jupiter in the latter's aspect
as lord of animals.

But there is no certain correspondence from among the insular Celtic
cultures, either in name or in personage, if Cernunnos is understood
as "horned god" and the classical associations with the "horn of
plenty" are adopted. However, given that the Celtic words for "horn"
(Welsh, "carn"; Breton, "korn"; Irish, "adharc") are words with
different etymologies, it is not clear that this approach is entirely
fitting. It is possible that in this context "horn" means something
else. If the suffix is treated abstractly, the Gaulish theonym in fact
recalls that the Irish surname for Conall is "Cernach", which means
not "horned one" but "victorious one", and if there is a horn in this
case it is a symbol not of plenty but of military victory, a symbol
for a bold and renowned warrior. 

In fact, almost nothing is known about Cernunnos, except that the root
of his name, *kern-, refers specifically in Celtic to the crown of the
head. It is on the Indo-European level that it is a cognate to words
denoting horned beasts in general and the stag in particular.

In the absence of all discursive commentary by Celts themselves, no
conclusion can be drawn based solely on iconography. It is not known
what the Cernunnos "provider" seated between Apollo and Mercury on a
votive stela from Reims really means; nor is the meaning known of the
tricephalic Cernunnos accompanied by two horned serpents on a bronze
statuette from Autun. In any case Cernunnos is not exactly a stag god,
since he is anthropomorphic.

                       Bibliography

Bober, Phyllis P. "Cernunnos: Origin and Transformation of a Celtic
   Divinity". *American Journal of Archaeology* 55 (1951): 13-51.

Holder, Alfred. *Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz*, vol. 1, Leizig, 1896.

Le Roux, Francoise. "Cernunnos". *Ogham* 5 (1953): 324-329.
             '
Article written by:

Francoise Le Roux and Christian J. Guyonvarc'h
    '
Translated from French by Erica Meltzer

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This article typed into the computer by Thorfinn Einarsson.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Newsgroups: alt.pagan
From: adams@mari.acc-admin.stolaf.edu (Brynach ap Adda)
Subject: Re: New pagans and reading
Organization: St. Olaf College; Northfield, MN
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 20:33:11 GMT

In article <2AA452E8.11235@orion.oac.uci.edu> cortese@skid.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria Cortese) writes:
>
>Basically, don't make the mistake of taking Aradia et al as a valid work of
>archaeological research on its own.  You can't approach something like
>this from only one point of view.  Take heed in the fact that many
>modern books written by archaeologists (especially about Minoans :-))
>are written by people who are just as fascinated by the spirituality as
>you are; that's why they're studying it.
>
>Blessings,
>Janis
> 

For those interested in British and Irish traditions, a definite must-read
is Ronald Hutton's _Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles_. This is
a survey, scantier on footnotes than it could be but abundant in references.
I would warn anyone reading it, though; be certain you're secure enough in
your spirituality that you don't have to rely on pagan-pop assumptions 
about stone circles, Celts and Druids. Hutton is merciless in his examination
of what really is *known* about ancient British religion - which, not to
give away his summary of the Celtic period in particular - isn't much.

What's really interesting is that this book is largely the product of 
Hutton's participation in the Oak Dragon Society, which is a London study
group and sort of debating society for pagans, nature mystics and archies/
anthros. It was set up in order to bring the academic world and the 
"alternative" researchers in touch with each other's views, and Hutton was,
as he says in the book, asked to join precisely because he didn't agree
with anyone else in the group. He is, he says, quite sympathetic to the
aims of modern pagans, and hopes that his work will "satisfy the skeptics
while leaving others free to dream."

Check it out. As one reviewer said, you'll know a lot less after you've
finished it, and that's a compliment.
 
- Brynach
From: alisonjw@spider.co.uk (Alison J Wyld)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: Re: Favorite Bible Verses
Date: 9 Sep 92 14:28:01 GMT
Organization: Spider Systems Limited, Edinburgh, UK.

In article <8SEP199221092286@jane.uh.edu> lib1p@jane.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino) writes:
>>Paul a deciple of Christ said
>
>I think it is important to note that Paul was a roman.  Romans

Paul was Jewish.  He was from the city Tarsus, and may have been pretty
Hellenized, but nonetheless he was Jewish, as he was a pains to point
out in several of his letters.  He did have Roman citizenship, but
that didn't stop him being Jewish by culture and self-identification.

Regards

Alison
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
From: lib1p@rosie.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino)
Subject: Re: Canada (was: Re: Freedom of Religion as well as everything else)
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 02:45:00 GMT

In article <1992Sep5.033230.10043@utdallas.edu>, karches@utdallas.edu (Tom Karches) writes...
>In article <2AA6F854.20712@news.service.uci.edu> cortese@skid.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria Cortese) writes:
>>In article <1992Sep4.041057.13459@sfu.ca> guay@fraser.sfu.ca (Tim Guay) writes:
>>>In article <3SEP199217294267@rosie.uh.edu> lib1p@rosie.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino) writes:
>>>>In article <1992Aug31.220149.8878@samba.oit.unc.edu>, shava@hermes.oit.unc.edu (Shava Nerad Averett) writes...
>>>>>Gee, I have a brother in Bellingham, WA...  I really like Vancouver.  Anyone
>>>>>wanna look into a pagan diaspora to BC if the elections go badly in November?
>>>>> 
>>>>>/* almost serious, but wish I weren't */
>>>
>>>As a Canuck I think so... While this place is not perfect it is better in
>>>some ways than the States.
>>
>>[a bunch of things that are making Canada sound better and better] 
>>
>>>I won't bore you any more. Like I guess I'm bit of a Canadian patriot. eh!
>>
>>With what you just said, you have every right to be. 
>>
>>>Peace be with you
>>>	Tim the Canadian
>>
>>Lucky bastard,
>>Janis the Dissatisfied
>>
> 
>I have had the fortune to visit Canada 5 times in the last 2 1/2 years.
>I found the people to be very friendly and willing to speak their mind.
> 
>And one of the best parts : their elections are only about 8 weeks long,
>start to finish, not the 2 year marathons we have here!
> 
>The cities are exceptionally clean and families bring their kids into
>the city at night. What a concept!
> 
>Vancouver was my favorite, with Calgary and Ottowa not far behind.
> 
>Lucky is right,
>Tom the Pissed Off
> 
>I wouldn't mind moving there at all.
So, do I go to Alaska, Canada, Iceland.  They all sound great!

Are there any other places to put on the list?

Tammy
From: mls@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (mike.siemon)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: Re: Favorite Bible Verses
Summary: _au contraire_
Date: 11 Sep 92 02:44:48 GMT
Organization: AT&T

In article <10SEP199220135953@rosie.uh.edu>, lib1p@rosie.uh.edu (Tammy Stark Blandino) writes:

> >Converting Constantine didn't hurt either :^).

> True.....

I suspect I am ripping this from context, but I must say (as a Christian,
and reporting a substantial body of opinion within modern Christianity)
that I believe Constantine's conversion hurt a very great amount, indeed.
-- 
Michael L. Siemon		   "Oh, stand, stand at the window,
					As the tears scald and start;
mls@usl.com			   You shall love your crooked neighbor
standard disclaimer			With your crooked heart."
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
From: pharvey@quack.sac.ca.us (Paul Harvey)
Subject: Re: To Murray et al (was re: Jesus did not claim.....)
Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: +1 408 249 9630, log in as 'guest'.
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 23:37:52 GMT

In article <92254.21435.J024330@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM> 
J024330@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM writes:
>The NAS is a word for word translation
>from the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.  They use the manuscripts closest
>to the autographed (original) manuscripts.  It only comes in a new and

Autographed originals? Interesting concept, by whom? I'm afraid in the
world of ancient manuscripts there is no such thing as you have
mentioned. There is a process called redacting (a type of editing) in
which scholars piece together fragments and decide as to which goes
where and which is the work of later writers and so on, it's all rather
complex. Remember that religious manuscripts represent putting into
writing a body of work that has been transmitted by oral form, in a
sense, freezing the oral traditions, but not for long. In our modern
world we make exact copies, but this is extremely rare in the old.

And word for word probably doesn't mean what most think. You
can't translate with a dictionary. To translate, one must first
understand the text in the context of the use of the language at that
time and then render that meaning into the second modern language.