Volume III, Issue 39 December 20, 2002 In This Issue: Editor's Note Poem: Religion By Mari S. Adkins Cool Link(s) Article: Poor SHE's Almanac December 2002 By Rev. Shelli H. English Suggested Book of the week Skyward happenings: In the News: Pope Approves Mother Teresa Miracle British Scientists Debunk Mummy's Curse British Scientists Use Medical Research Techniques to Debunk Tutankhamun's Curse Announcements: None Writer's Biographies Submission guidelines and other stuff Current Subscriber Count: 945 ~*~*~*~ Hello All and greetings on this almost Yule day, I miss two things by not being able to access my old computer. One is all the poems articles and stories I have written over the years. Still I know they are safe on the hard drive and once I can access it again I will save them someplace where this won't happen again. Also there are enough copies of the stuff I have written floating around I can get them back. I thought I would miss all my links but you know, the real favorites are easy to get back and the ones that I thought looked interesting but never returned to are just as well gone. What I really miss is my address book. There are several people I can not write again, at least I can't until they write me. (Although admittedly I still have to write notes back from those who contacted Whispers last week. I have decided typing and balancing a baby on your lap requires more hands then the average person has. Add a attention demanding feline and I might as well just sit in the comfy chair.) This time of year is busy for me as we celebrate both Yule and Christmas. Yule is a religious holiday for our immediate family and Christmas is when we see Grandma and Grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles. We eat a big meal, exchange gifts and do all the things that people have done for centuries around this time of year. I don't think my family are very different from many Pagan families, A majority of Pagans at least in the United States, have come to our faith from other belief systems and have family members who have stayed in the religions we have left. Many of us have chosen not to throw out our family rituals but blend the old with the new. Anyway, may you and yours have a safe and happy holiday season, So until next time, Sheila K. Watkins Editor: Whispers of a Stone Circle See last page of this newsletter for submission guidelines, Forwarding guidelines, where you can subscribe to Whispers and copyright information. ~*~*~*~ Religion By Mari S. Adkins now there is a term to reckon with -- Religion -- what does it mean? who was Christ? who is god? -- Why? -- ever-expanding universe to her, a faceless god to him, a loving goddess to them, no god -- Religion -- just what does it mean? the sky is blue the sun rises in the east a baby is born -- is this religion? preacher shouts and points thumping his holy book -- is this religion? outside, breezes caress my skin -- is this religion? denying the inevitable in the fear of death what is on the other side? the ever-revolving Wheel never will it cease its round ~*~*~*~ Cool Link(s) of the week: Willow Firesong's Pagan Yule Carol Collection http://members.tripod.com/~Willow_Firesong/index.html ~*~*~*~ Poor SHE's Almanac December 2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The Sun brings forth the light The Moon holds it in the darkness As Above, So Below" -Unknown This month's Full Moon occurs on Thursday, December 19, 2002 at 2:10pm Eastern, 11:10am Pacific. Some of its corresponding lore name are: Cold Moon, Oak Moon, Moon Before Yule, Long Night's Moon, Christmas Moon, Her Winter Houses Moon, Giving Moon, Baby Bear Moon. ~~*~~*~~ "Antiphanes said merrily, that in a certain city the cold was so intense that words were congealed as soon as spoken, but that after some time they thawed and became audible; so that the words spoken in winter were articulated next summer." -Plutarch The Winter Solstice / Yule falls on December 21st. A festive feeling hangs in the air as we celebrate the longest night of the year and the return of the Sun. While Winter may still be growing long in the tooth with months to go before the Sun warms us into Spring, the days slowly grow longer from this day forward until Summer Solstice / Litha. The ancients gathered on this night to revel in this subtle but grand change, and to share their stores of food and goods with one another to ensure survival through the hardships of the Winter months, thus began our customs of gatherings and gift-giving. These traditions are present in many different cultures and spiritual paths and it is important that no matter what your individual beliefs may be, to join in the merry making and rejoice in the fellowship it brings to your homes and communities passing it along by sharing with others regardless of creed or ethnicity. As our beautiful Mother Earth rests in order to once again renew, may you all be blessed by the Spirit of the Season! "The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer. Minute by minute they lengthen out. It takes some weeks before we become aware of the change. It is imperceptible even as the growth of a child, as you watch it day-by-day, until the moment comes when with a start of delighted surprise the moment comes we realize that we can stay out of doors in a twilight lasting for another quarter of a precious hour." -Vita Sackville-West ~~*~~*~~ "We ring, we chime, we toll, Lend ye the silent part Some answer in the heart, Some echo in the soul." -Dr. Isaac Flagg "Keeping time, time, time In a sort of Runic rhyme To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells >From the bells, bells, bells." -Edgar Allan Poe One of the items that seem most common during this season is bells. I love bells, and they have been around me my whole life. In the town where I grew up there was an old church bell that peeled its greeting each weekday and Saturday at noon and several times on Sundays. There were bells that called me to classes and released me from them. As a child, I once tried learning to play handbells and found out quite quickly that they were much harder to master than I had imagined and gave up those lessons after some frustration. We always had belled toys for our cats and windchimes on our front porch. A few years ago I traveled to the campus of UC Berkeley and thoroughly enjoyed hearing the carillon in Sather Tower. But all of these examples are more modern versions of bells and I wondered at their origins, so curiosity won out and I once again did a bit of research. Obviously, bells are quite ancient, and while their exact beginning has not, to my knowledge, been completely established, it appears that bells were first made by mankind during the Bronze Age, and the debate on their uses and purposes also seem to vary from scholar to scholar and region to region. There is their use in sacred ritual to dispel evil spirits and enhance good energies with their clear, singular voices and of course their application as early musical instruments with bells of differing sizes combining to create a chorus, though it wasn't until the 15th century that Flemish bell founders discovered the method of actually tuning them. In their use relating to sacred rituals they have many forms, to ward off evil from weddings, funerals and births to declaring a wide variety of holy celebrations and applications in healing work alongside secular daily rituals such as mealtimes and the onset of dawn and darkness. All cultures make use of bells for these any many other diverse reasons and they can be found in burial chambers of ancient peoples as items most treasured as well as in museums and private collections all over the world. Bells have been made of metals, clays and some have even been made of wood (semantrons), and are generally classified as a percussion instrument. They have been worn on clothing and as jewelry. They assist people in creating sacred space and getting the mind into an altered state for meditations and contemplative moods. Some have been written about as having spirits of their own and myths and legends have been woven about them down through history. They have been used as decorations, both simple and lavish, as a means of keeping track of precious livestock and pets and as warnings and heralds throughout time. But even so, no matter how ancient bells may be, hearing the ring of a bell is always a pure, fresh and invigorating experience. "Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true." -Alfred, Lord Tennyson "When the merry bells ring round, And the jocund rebecks sound To many a youth and many a maid, Dancing in the chequered shade; And young and old come forth to play On a sunshine holiday" -John Milton ~~*~~*~~ "Deck the halls with plastic sheeting; First it rains and now it's sleeting. Southern breezes, warm but fleeting; Showers soak our Season's Greetings" -Old Farmer's Almanac "There seems to be so much more Winter than we need this year." -Kathleen Norris I suppose I should not complain too vociferously about Winter. I live in Southern California where the perception from the rest of the world seems to be that it is gloriously mild and warm consistently here. Most people tune into watch the Rose Parade on television New Year's Day and the sunny weather and parade participants and entertainers in skimpy outfits tell everyone that this must be true. Not so, it does get cold here - or relatively cold. I'm not trying to take anything away from my friends in the more frigid climes. And it rains, and I don't mean light, sprinkling rain, but downpours that flood vast areas and cause landslides and other disasters. On top of that, we have had very little rain for quite a long time, so when it does descend upon us this Winter, it will be both welcomed by some and cursed by others. While I can already see the snow on the tops of the mountain ranges that surround our area, I must admit that's about as close as I like to get to the stuff. Truly beautiful from a distance and charming to visit infrequently, but I cannot imagine how people actually live surrounded by it for a full season. I have enough trouble driving around in rain let alone the fiasco of me behind the wheel of a car in snow! Fodder for a "Funniest Videos" episode at the very least! Then there's the whole fashion element. What to wear? Some of my Winter "warm & comfy" ensembles are a true fashion tragedy, but the operative word here is: warm. I get so cold in the Winter that it's quite possible I'm actually dead and no one bothered to notify me. The original Ice Queen. Of course the subject of Winter sports occasionally pops up. Skiing, snowboarding. I have a different name for these activities: Falling. And none too gracefully mind you. My favorite Winter sports are very fulfilling: reading, eating, napping - much more my speed and no bruising involved, plus the added attraction of not needing to update my well- worn, albeit tragic, Winter fashion style. Needless to say Winter is my least favorite of the seasons. I try to have a deeper appreciation, really I do, but alas, I will be forever one of those people yearning for the return of Spring. "And Winter slumbering in the open air, Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring! -Samuel Taylor Coleridge "Rain from the East Rain three days at least." -American Rhyme ~~*~~*~~ Warm blessings for a wonder-filled holiday season! ~ Rev. Shelli H. English ~*~*~*~ Suggested book/item of the week: This is my favorite divination card set. They are out of print so supplies are limited. It comes in a set of 44 beautiful cards that any stone sucker would love (My hands physically trembled the first time I held the deck.) plus a book which gives the author's method of reading the cards. Personally I tossed the book aside and just read the cards. They have a wonderful energy and if you are into crystals, these are a must have in my opinion. Crystal Deva Cards: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0965298000/whispeofaston-20 ~*~*~*~ Skyward Happenings: SW/1411181 On December 17th Japanese amateur Tetuo Kudo discovered a new comet that has been named Comet Kudo-Fujikawa. The comet is in the constellation of Hercules and can currently be seen through binoculars or a small telescope. Comet Kudo-Fujikawa will brighten during for the next two weeks although it is not currently expected to become a naked eye object. For more information see: http://skyandtelescope.com/news/current/article_816_1.asp ~*~*~*~ In the News: Pope Approves Mother Teresa Miracle VATICAN CITY, Dec. 20, 2002 (AP) Pope John Paul II brought Mother Teresa closer to sainthood Friday when he approved a miracle attributed to the nun who dedicated her life to the poor. The miracle attributed to her involves a young Indian woman with a stomach tumor who recovered after a picture of Mother Teresa was placed on her abdomen. Her recovery was judged to be without any medical explanation by a panel of doctors consulted by the Vatican. (Rest of the story) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/19/world/main533735.shtml British Scientists Debunk Mummy's Curse British Scientists Use Medical Research Techniques to Debunk Tutankhamun's Curse The Associated Press LONDON Dec. 19 Don't sweat the curse of the mummy. Those who disturbed Tutankhamun's tomb died all right, but no sooner than those who kept their distance, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. "It doesn't need to be scientifically debunked because it's rubbish really, but it's the first time I've seen it treated in this medical or scientific way," Neal Spencer, an Egyptologist at the British Museum said of the study. When people associated with British archaeologist Howard Carter's 1922 expedition that unearthed the tomb began to die prematurely, their demise was widely attributed to the mummy's curse. (Rest of the story) http://abcnews.go.com/wire/SciTech/ap20021219_2086.html ~*~*~*~ Announcement(s): This space is to hold announcements, If you have an event of regional, national or international interest to announce, please drop me a note. ~*~*~*~ Writer's Biographies: Mari Adkins is a Gwyddon Elder and Pagan author. She lives in Central Kentucky with her husband and cat. Rev. Shelli H. English is a long term Pagan and writer from California. Sheila K. Watkins founded and became editor of Whispers of a Stone Circle in October of 2000. She is past editor of The American Witch and Pagan Weekly Newsletter, A long time Wiccan/Pagan/Witch as well as being a Wife and Mother. ~*~*~*~ Submissions are always welcomed and can be made to: zeliziw@jbinc.com Submission guidelines can be found here: http://www.jbinc.com/whispers/submissions.txt Forwarding information: If you chose to forward this newsletter, Please do so in its entirety, including copyright and contact information. People may subscribe to Whispers Of A Stone Circle by mailing: Whispers-subscribe@jbinc.com or unsubscribe by mailing: Whispers-unsubscribe@jbinc.com Any other commentary may be sent to: Whispers-owner@jbinc.com Back issues may be found at: http://www.jbinc.com/whispers/ All articles, poems, etc, except where noted are copyrighted by the writers and are used with permission. They are not to be republished without the express permission of the writers. Contact information may be obtained by contacting the editor of Whispers of A Stone Circle at: zeliziw@jbinc.com Copyright (c) 2002 Sheila K. Watkins All Rights Reserved.