From: navarra@well.sf.ca.us (Tony Navarra)
Subject: Fog City Nest Newsletter
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 05:04:26 GMT

 
                              January 7, 1993
 
                              Tony Navarra
                              692 San Jose Avenue #6
                              San Francisco, CA  94110
                              415-282-1872
                              navarra@well.sf.ca.us
 
 
 
 
Fellow Members of Electronic CAW,
 
I  want  to  welcome you to the second issue  of  the  Electronic 
Foghorn.   It is the monthly publication of the Fog City Nest  in 
San Francisco under the able editorship of Toni Spizman.  The  e-
version  is identical in all ways to the print version except  in 
layout.   Subscriptions are free for the e-version, all you  need 
is an email address.
 
If you would like to submit articles, please send them to me  via 
email.
 
Feel  free to share this newsletter with your friends,  nest  and 
circle mates.
 
Never Thirst,
 
Tony
 
 
----------------------------CUT HERE----------------------------
                           The Foghorn
 
Issue #32                                         January 1993
 
                          NEXT MEETING
                          ************
The  next meeting will be a Rain Ritual.  Originally it  was  de
signed  to  "pray"  for rain.  If the  current  weather  patterns 
continue,  we can change it into a ritual of thanks for the  rain 
we  have  received.  It will be a rather unstructured  ritual  of 
music and dance.  Bring offerings to whichever Rain or Water God
dess  you  wish  to celebrate (the ritual will take  place  by  a 
statue of Diana, so you might want to bring a small gift for  Her 
as well)
Date:     Sunday January 17
Time:     7:30 pm
Place     Sutro  Heights, meet at the stone lions on Point  Lobos 
Ave (Geary) just west of El Camino del Mar.
Bring:    Offerings, instruments, rain music, drums, etc.
 
We have a planning meeting on January 26, 1993 at 7:30 pm at  the 
Owl and the Monkey Cafe (1336 9th Ave).  Please come to help plan 
future meetings and to bring up any issues.  This is your  chance 
to have input into how the nest works. 
     The  February  meeting is tentatively scheduled  as  a  Fire 
Ritual to celebrate Bridgid on February 7.  For further  details, 
contact Tony Navarra (415) 282-1872. 
                      Richard Ely Interview
                               by
                          Tony Navarra
 
Richard  Ely  is  a big man with a head of silver  hair.   He  is 
naturally  quiet and at the same time you get a feeling of  great 
inner strength from him.  One of the first things I noticed about 
him was his intensity.
 
Richard  is about to become the next Clergy-member of the  Church 
of  all Worlds.  In the first half of 1993 he will have his  con
firmation.   Since  the Church is growing so fast  I  decided  to 
interview  Richard  so that more people could meet him,  even  if 
through print.
 
We  spoke a few days before Winter Solstice 1992.  Here are  some 
of the highlights of our conversation.
 
Tony Navarra:  Richard, one of the first things  I learned  about 
you when I met you was your love of the earth and the dark places 
within her.  
 
Richard  Ely:  I was fried by the light when I was a  kid,  there 
was  too much of it in my upbringing.  I fled the light and  went 
into  the  darkness for protection.  I stayed there  for  a  long 
time.   Since then I have worked at having a reconciliation  with 
the light.
 
Also  I think there is a need for balance; I see evil  as  unbal
ance.  Too much light or too much darkness causes problems.   Our 
culture values light too much.
 
TN:  Caves are part of the dark places of the earth and I  under
stand you enjoy caves.  
 
RE:   I love them.  There is incredible mystery under the  earth.  
It is possible to find places where no human has ever been; it is 
a wonderful adventure.  The mid-west, where there is nothing  but 
corn  fields on the surface, can hold incredible mysteries  under 
the ground.
 
My interest in caves went back to before the fourth grade when  I 
begged  my parents to take me into a cave.  Finally,  during  one 
vacation  they  took me to visit a commercial cave.   Every  year 
after that when we went on vacation I went to visit a cave.
 
It is a high for me to find a new cave.  It is a sublime  experi
ence  to  walk along galleries where no one has been  before  and 
find a light dusting of bats bones and snake bones, to see  where 
stalactites have crashed from the ceiling to stick into the  cave 
floor.   When I was in grad school in the mid-west I spent  about 
10 years as a fanatical cave explorer.  It helped me stay sane in 
grad school.
 
TN:  What brought you to be interested in Paganism?
 
RE:   I have always enjoyed the wild places in nature.   My  best 
side  comes out in these places and they make me feel  whole  and 
complete.   After awhile I begin to believe there was more  going 
on in the world then what I could see in the here-and-now.
 
When  I was in college one of the fellows who was a member of  my 
fraternity and a devote Christian invited me to a church service.  
I  told him that religious service for me was sitting in a  gorge 
and  enjoying nature.  He was outraged.  I remember  thinking  to 
myself that there were some major differences between us.
 
Also I would go to Dead shows and there I would meet  archetypes; 
gods, goddesses, devils, animal spirits.  There were people there 
who did not have bodies.  At that point I began to re-think  what 
reality was to me.
 
In  the  late '70s I had a a vision of the devil, much  like  the 
devil in the Tarot card.  He was hanging over me and I looked  at 
him  and said, "Well I had a good life up to now, I guess I  give 
myself  up  to you."  At that point the devil turned  around  and 
what was his horns became hoops of hair and he transformed into a 
Goddess dressed in black.  She smiled at me.
 
In  the following years many dreams and visions came to  me.   By 
the time I met Anodea in '86 I had been praying to the Goddess to 
send me to people of a like mind.
 
TN:  What has drawn you to become a priest?
 
RE:   I discovered that I have a gift for creating  sacred  space 
and  ritual.  I am shy by nature, but when I do ritual  something 
comes out of me that I enjoy.
 
Also I am a scientist and a Pagan and I know the earth from  both 
perspectives.   The two views compliment each other and by  using 
both I keep myself from getting skewed.
 
One  of my strengths is that I will entertain almost  any  theory 
and  test it against what I know.  I love anomalous  data.   They 
are jewels.  They describe where the next breakthrough will  take 
place.
 
TN:  Do you have an example of that?
 
RE:  Plate tectonics was a build up of anomalous data.  Data just 
kept  stacking  up and it did not fit the theories of  the  time.  
Then  it  all came together.  The theory came out.  It  was  just 
like  the  pieces  of a puzzle coming together.  I  was  in  grad 
school at the time and it was exciting.
 
It was also a seed time for American Paganism. (1967, ed.)
 
TN:  Do you think plate tectonics and paganism are related?
 
RE:   Absolutely.   It was Goddess stuff coming awake and  a  new 
awareness  of the earth.  A new awareness of the earth, body  and 
sensuality.
 
TN:   I  would  like to change the subject and  talk  about  your 
experiences  with  the  Progressive  Involvement  Program  (PIP).  
Since you are about to become a Priest, what has it been like for 
you to go through the PIP?
 
RE:   I am 52 years old and I have read a lot, almost  too  much.  
So  the reading part was no problem for me.  My magical  training 
came from Dead shows and CAW circles.  I got my training  working 
with  Anodea and others.  For me, my best studying is what I  did 
in my circle.
 
I  am not sure how we as a church can transmit our style  without 
close  contact.  I am not sure how we can bring people  who  live 
far away into the church without that contact.  That contact  has 
the most value for me and that is how I did most of my learning.
 
TN:   Do  you have some ideas how the church can get  around  the 
distance problem?
 
RE:   The  only thing I can think of is  having  our  experienced 
people  travel  and get out and meet the new people.   A  lot  of 
people  who come to us are attracted by the values we share,  but 
there  is no substitution for personal contact.  Maybe one of  us 
will win the lottery and help set up a travel fund!
 
Our people have  a wealth of experience.  To teach people  magick 
you  have to be with them in person.  When Otter,  Morning  Glory 
and Anodea travel, they try to meet with as many people as possi
ble and to circle with them.
 
TN:   You have done Pagan men weekends.  What do you see our  job 
as Pagan men to be?
 
RE:   One of our jobs is to make sure that the  Goddess  religion 
doesn't  fall into dualism.  Dualism where we  divide  everything 
into "good" and "evil".  Pagan men have a duty to create a sacred 
masculine presence to support the sacred feminine.   Christianity 
is  too  male, too dry, too heady, too light.  It  devalues  emo
tions, darkness, the flesh.  Pagan men have a duty to be there in 
fullness  so  that the Pagans don't fall into the  trap  of  only 
having one-half of life as sacred.
 
It  is a lot of fun to be a Pagan man and to be with other  Pagan 
men.   When I grew up the only role models were the greaser,  the 
nerd,  the jock, the student government type.  There  wasn't  any 
role  model for what I was.  The men's gathering provided a  good 
time to be with other men, without the bullshit that usually goes 
on when men get together.
 
I  read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle a few days  ago 
about women who can't find men who like to dance.  Men are afraid 
that  they  will look foolish or be stupid.  I learned  to  dance 
after  I got over my self-consciousness.  I just did it.  It  was 
liberating.   It was wonderful.  Most Pagan men know how  to  get 
down  and dance.  Getting down and getting high are  both  great; 
and important for balance.
 
TN:  Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?
 
RE:  Yes.  We are all in this together on the earth.  We are  all 
part of the sacred pattern and we need to stop demonizing  others 
- blacks, men, women.
 
I think that the politics of our times are breaking down into two 
camps - people who look at the world holistically and people  who 
look at the world dualistically.
 
Holistic  people  are  willing to look at a  situation  from  all 
sides.   Dualistic people break a situation down into  black  and 
white and label people.  As I have gone through life I have found 
myself on many sides of any question.  There is a place for  both 
tradition and innovation.  I am willing to go in any direction as 
far as I need to go to get what I need to heal the earth.  
 
                                
                         Editor's Corner
 
     I have been working with a discussion group on Pagan  commu
nity.  One of the things that came up is the difficulty of  doing 
deep work in a group where the membership is fluid.  It is diffi
cult  to do develop the trust needed to make yourself  vulnerable 
when  people are coming and going all the time.  What  frequently 
happens  is  that people use the nest to meet  other  like-minded 
people  and chose to work with them in separate,  more  committed 
groups.   I  have done this myself.  I think this is a  good  and 
personally  would like to encourage people to use the nest  as  a 
resource  to meet like-minded people to work with.  I am  putting 
this in my editorial because I would like this aspect of the nest 
to  come out of the closet (so to speak) and even to  be  encour
aged.   What do people think?  Any ideas on how to encourage  and 
help people to find each other?
 
 
 
Ever go to a ritual and wonder what in the world those people are 
chanting.   Maxine Grodjinsky has been collecting some  of  these 
chants and provides the words for them here.
  
                               (1)
Isis, Astarte
     Ishtar, Inanna
Hecate, Kali, 
     Demeter, Diana
 
                               (2)
We are a Circle, 
     within a Circle
With no beginning
     and never ending
 
                               (3)
She changes everything
     she touches
And everything she
     touches changes
 
                               (4)
We cast a Circle
Again and Again and Again
 
                               (5)
The Earth, The Air,
     The Fire, The Water
Returns, returns, returns
     returns
 
                               (6)
I circle around, I circle
around, I circle around, 
The boundaries of the Earth
Wearing my long-winged
     feathers as I fly
Wearing my long-winged 
     feathers as I fly
 
                               (7)
Cauldron of Changes
     Arc of Eternity
Flower in the Bone
     Hole in the Stone
 
                               (8)
We are the Old People
     We are the Young People
We are the Same People
     Different that before
                               (9)
The White, the Red,
     the Yellow, the Blue
You are me and I am you
And we are all together
     (by Maxine)
 
                              (10)
Three times around
     Three times about
A world within,
     And a world without
 
                              (11)
(Males)
     Queen of the Stars
     Queen of the Moon
     Queen of the Horns
     and Queen of the Fire
 
(Females)
     Lord of Life
     Seed of Light
     Flame that Warms
     The Coldest Night
 
Chorus:
     The Gift of Light
     The Gift of Love
     Return, return, return,
          return
 
                              (12)
We all come from the Goddess
And to Her we shall return
Like a drop of rain
Flowing to the Ocean
 
Hoof and Horn
Hoof and Horn
All that dies
Shall be reborn
 
Vine and Grain
Vine and Grain
All that Falls
Shall rise again
 
                              (13)
May the sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within
Guide you all the day long
 
 
 
                        CHARGING WITH THE 
                          MAORI DEITIES 
                       By Don Eigenhauser
 
     A  couple  living in the Bay Area desire  to  relocate  with 
their children to New Zealand this year.  Aware of my involvement 
in witchcraft and Pagan-sympathetic, themselves, the couple asked 
for  my  help  in facilitating their  transcontinental  move.   I 
agreed to do a ritual charging of the documents to be reviewed by 
the New Zealand embassy.
     My  usual procedure for a charging or binding  ritual  comes 
straight  out  of Spiral Dance, and this exercise was also  a  la 
Starhawk  -- but with a twist!  For this ritual charging, I  used 
the  myths  and invoked the gods and goddesses of  New  Zealand's 
indigenous folk; the Maori.
     Based on Maori oral tradition, most historians feel that the 
Maori people began to migrate to the North Island of what is  now 
New  Zealand about one thousand years ago.  They  certainly  were 
present in great numbers by 1350 C.E.  New Zealand was not  known 
to  Europeans  until  1642, when spotted by  the  navigator  Abel 
Tasman  of the Dutch East India Co.  After four voyages by  Brit
ain's Capt. James Cook (1769-79), the islands were circumnavigat
ed, mapped, and soon inhabited by Europeans.
     In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi allowed the Maori territori
al  rights  for pledging allegiance to Queen Vicky.   There  were 
some  problems, but since the Maori Wars (1860-70), these  native 
Polynesians  have  co-existed  quite well  with  their  non-Maori 
neighbors.  (In fact, Maoris serve in the N.Z. House of Represen
tatives  and, in 1985, a clergyman of Maori descent got the  top-
spot of Governor-General!)
     Maori  mythology  has its roots in the cosmology  shared  by 
most ancient peoples of Polynesia and Micronesia, but some varia
tions are particular to it.  The Maori believed that most of  the 
gods  were  ancestors living in another plane of  existence,  but 
paying  frequent  intercessional  visits to  our  Earthly  plane.  
Maori "wizards" were supposed to manipulate the will of the  gods 
and to ritually conjure them.  Human affairs were often dependent 
on these deities.
     In  charging my friends' migration applications, I found  it 
easy  to use Maori deities and creation myths to correspond  with 
directional/elemental  correspondences of a "traditional"  ritual 
charging.  Therefore, I'll explain the Maori system as we journey 
through the charging East to North.
     (Note: Grounding/Centering/Salt-Water Purification/  Casting 
Circle/Calling  Directions/Invocations  all in  regular  fashion, 
with some Maori invocational & directional imagery)
     The  Eastern Charge: The charging by the Powers of  Air  was 
used to define the objective at hand.  The couple was  questioned 
about their intentions in the presence of the Deities invoked.
     The legendary Maori hero, Maui, was the focus of the Eastern 
charge, because this mortal raised by the Sky gods brought  defi
nition to the sky by raising it to its appropriate height in  the 
Heavens.  Maui defined the geography of the Maori by creating the 
islands through fishing for them.
     Like a Polynesian Prometheus, Maui brought fire to  mankind.  
He even tried to make mortal man immortal by penetrating the body 
of  the  'Great  Goddess of Darkness',  HINE-NUI-TE-PO,  but  was 
unsuccessful at that one.  Obviously!
     The couple fed the thurible with two types of incense, while 
petitioning  Maui  and the gods to "blow the staleness  away  and 
bring freshness and relocation to our lives."
     (Documents  charged by me in the Wiccan way, i.e.  over  in
cense smoke, etc.)
     The  Southern  Charge: The charging by the  Powers  of  Fire 
dealt  with obstacles to overcome.  The Separation of  RANGI  and 
EARTH MOTHER PAPA Myth was used to charge the documents by Fire.
     The  Maori  Sky  god RANGI coupled with  EARTH  MOTHER  PAPA 
during the primeval Darkness.  Their crushing embrace encompassed 
all  living things, including the gods who they bore.  There  was 
no Light and nothing could bear fruit!  So the gods summoned  all 
their  Willpower  and  separated them, that  Light  would  spread 
across the world and creation could continue.
     The  New-Zealand-bound couple re-enacted this separation  by 
embracing tightly.  The candle was passed around them.   Finally, 
while  petitioning "the fiery Will of the gods to separate  RANGI 
and  PAPA, that light will overcome the darkest  obstacle,"  they 
slowly  separated so, arm to arm, the candle could  pass  through 
them.   The couple then sent their resolve into the base  of  the 
candle, and I did my thing.
   The Western Charge:  The charging by the Powers of Water dealt 
with impregnating the documents with purpose.  The Moon  goddess, 
SINA, was petitioned in the West.
    Any  graduate of Wicca Junior High knows that the  Moon  con
trols the tides and emotions!  Well, the Maori believed the Moon, 
not the man, was the true impregnator of women.  A guy's function 
was  simply to rupture the hymen and dilate the vagina to open  a 
pathway for SINA to fertilize the woman.
     The re-enactment of this process was dome in the traditional 
way with the feminine receptor of the chalice and the male  prin
ciple of the athame.
     The  Northern  Charge:  The charging by the  Powers  of  the 
Earth  dealt with strengthening the documents.  The  Creation  of 
the Polynesian Eve, HINE-AHU-ONE, by the god TANE, was enacted to 
finish the directional charges.
     TANE created his Eve out of the red clay.  He breathed  life 
into her and mated with her.  The couple called upon TANE to "use 
his  creative,  life-giving  energies in resolve  to  charge  the 
documents.  A dirt figure was "formed" upon the copper pentacle.
     The Maori deities were interesting to use in ritual, and the 
Maori  culture is still strongly preserved in Urewera, N.Z.,  and 
the crafts-making villages of the Rotorua area.  Blessed Be!
 
 
We  are invited to the Ides Nest meeting Friday, January 15,  8th 
Street  Studio  in  Berkeley.  Call  (510)  849-3345.   It  is  a 
dance/movement ritual!
                        December Meeting
 
     The  December  meeting was a business  meeting  and  potluck 
dinner.   We talked about a mission statement.  We had a  lot  of 
discussion  about what we wanted.  Some of the  things  mentioned 
were  rituals,  workshops, personal growth  and  celebrating  the 
Wheel of the Year.  Although we did not identify a mission state
ment, we began to think about why we come to Fog City Nest  meet
ings and what we hope to get out of them.
     The CAW has a mission statement as follows:  The mission  of 
the  Church of All Worlds is to evolve a network of  information, 
mythology,  and experience that provides a context  and  stimulus 
for reawakening Gaea, and reuniting Her children through 
tribal community dedicated to responsible stewardship  
     I feel that this is a good place to start but a bit much for 
one  little nest.  I would like us to clarify what we would  like 
and how we will achieve it within this framework.  
     By the way, Don Eigenhauser now has a home phone number with 
an  answering machine.  Please call him at (415) 751-4009 in  the 
future.  Welcome to the 20th century Don.
 
Please send articles, donations, letters to the editor, etc. to:
 
     Toni Spizman
     692 San Jose Ave. #6
     San Francisco, CA  94110