My BS (Belief System) – El’s View from the Crow’s Nest

Programming my next incarnation

MY BIRTH DAY, DAY ONE:

It is sometime between November 15 2053, and November 15, 2073. A few hours ago I fell asleep. I have awoken to a dream, a bright light like at the end of a tunnel is opening up before me. I can hear the muffled sound of machines, and people voices and alarms coming from the light, which I now see is a portal. I am being swept along, closer and closer to the light.

As I am discharged from my mother’s womb, I have to close my eyes. The light is too bright. I feel the slight pain as my umbilical cord is clipped and I am totally separated from my mother. I am being passed around from person to person, and finally my mother takes me in her arms, “what a beautiful boy you are,” she says to me and kisses me. She is SO HUGE! Everyone and everything is huge! It finally dawns on me what has happened: a few hours, days, weeks, ago I was a retired journalist living with my wife in Eureka California. Now I am a new born infant. The last thing I remember from my old life was Ceridwen, my wife and soul mate of many lifetimes, kissing me and saying good night. I have no memories of anything between then and now.

My mother presents her teat to me, and I greedily suck down her nourishing milk. There is nothing much I can do at this point. I don’t seem to have any control over my eliminatory system, not can I walk. I realize that I need to recover, to grow and evolve. I can do that. But right now I need to sleep.

I awake a few hours later. I look around the room I am in, but the high walls of the bassinette I am in don’t let me see too much. The only way I have to communicate is to cry as loud as I can, so that’s what I do. Also, my butt and genitals are wet and kind of mushy, and I am hungry.

A man comes to me and takes me from the bassinette. I’m trying to get a good look at him. I know this is not my mother. He strips the diaper from me, cleans me up with some cloths and puts a fresh diaper no me. Then he carries me into another room, where my mother awaits in her bed. He hands me over to her, and she once again presents her breast to me. I hungrily take in as much of her milk as I can, and I fall asleep in the process.

I have roughly figured out that about six days have passed since my birth. I have ascertained that from what I can remember from past lives, when I raised children of my own. Days seem to be twenty four hours long. The first few days after my birth, the breast was presented to me about every hour. After a few days this was cut down to every two hours. Now it happens every three. In between feedings I sleep, but I am starting to take time to think about what is happening to me, and also to calculate the passage of time, and I am starting to take note of my surroundings.

The man who comes to me sometimes when I cry I think must be my father. He’s a big guy (well, everyone is big except me). He has hair on his face which I can reach for with my hands and pull. This makes him laugh. He is also wearing some metal object that covers his eyes. I grab at that too. He picks me up and holds my chest against his shoulder. I can see what is behind him. I notice he wears something on his head. I grab at that, but it is attached somehow. He has lots of hair on his head. I have no hair. Not anywhere. He hands me off to mother.

DAY EIGHT:

After I drink her milk. She looks at me and says, “It has been eight days since you came into my life. Your father and I have something special planned. We’re going to Temple now. We’re going to see the mohel!”

My mother has dressed me up. I can’t really see how I look, but from the way she is looking at me I must look pretty good. They bundle me up and place me in a special chair, sitting upright and I am in the car and facing the back of the seat. I can’t tell where we are going.

I am taken into a building. There are lots of adults there, but also smaller versions of themselves, all milling around. I hear music for the first time in my life. I think I remember this first song from my past life: “Kol od balevav penimah…” I hear some men speaking, praying. Four men and my father now surround me. I am on my back looking up at them. I see my mothers face peering lovingly at me, from just behind my father, so I have no fear. The men all have beards (hair on their faces) and are all wearing the little hat like my father wears They are also wearing a kind of white and blue cape like thing. As the men pray they take my diaper off, and then …..OUCH! I cry. That really, really hurt! Then a mass celebration happens. There is singing and dancing and I am paraded about on my fathers shoulders, and I forget about the pain I have just endured. Then my mother comes and gets me, and presents her breast. I drink and fall asleep.

SIX MONTHS:

Mom withheld her breast today, at least at first. She gave something fruity and somewhat solid. It was pretty good. After that she gave me her breast and I then I fell asleep.

1 YEAR, 4 MONTHS:

Mom has been withholding her breast more and more, and feeding me other food from a spoon more and more. Today, after breakfast she took my diaper off, but she didn’t replace it. Instead she sat me on the toilet. It was big! And kinda scary. She told me to let her or dad know if I had to pee or poop. To not go in my pants.

I started speaking about five months ago, to wear I am now pretty proficient at telling my parents what I need. My dad has started to teach me how to read english, and my communication skills have vastly improved because of that.

1 YEAR, 6 MONTHS:

Today was the last day my mother breastfed me. I am pretty proficient at using a spoon and a sippy cup. I have not worn a diaper over night for the past three months and I rarely have an accident. Also, I have started to dress myself. I haven’t quite mastered tying my shoes yet. But I’m getting better.

2 YEARS:

My father has started to speak in another language to me, and has shown me some books in that language. It is called French. I am also learning a third language when we go to Temple on Saturday mornings. This one is harder. It has a whole different alphabet. But many of the songs and prayers I am learning are in this language so I am really putting a lot of effort into it.

My father is a Rabbi. My mother is a gynecologist. We live in the new city of Jerusalem in Israel. In addition to being a medical doctor my mother is also the department head of the gynecology dept at Hebrew University Medical School.

4 YEARS:

I start preschool this year. My parents have relocated to a Kibbutz that is mostly made up of people in the professions and the tech industries. I’ve been in pre-school for six weeks. My teachers don’t think I belong there. I am so much more advanced than the other kids. In January the decision was made to advance me to Second Grade, as my reading proficiency is far beyond what I’ve been exposed to in pre-school.

5 YEARS:

I’ve been reading books from our Kibbutiz library computer. The books I was given in Second Grade just weren’t challenging to me. I stated to read some classic Science Fiction, like Heinlein, Asimov and some fantasy like Tolkein.

5 YEARS 2 MONTHS:

When I arrived at school today I was ushered into the headmasters office. My test results came back, and it has been decided to advance me into the Eighth Grade.

The thing that has been happening, over and over again, is that when new material is presented to me I already know it. It’s like it’s been lying dormant in a corner of my mind, waiting to be coxed out. They tell me that my reading level is at Ninth Grade level, and my mathematics skills are bordering on calculous. History has been a breeze, since, as mentioned before, I know historical information before it is presented. It is almost as if I had learned all this stuff in a past life, and retained it all as memory.

7 YEARS, 6 MONTHS:

I have a baby sister! Her name is Ruth. I plan on teaching her all that I know. Just as soon as she quits using diapers.

12 YEARS, 6 MONTHS:

I graduated from High School today. Next week is my Junior College graduation. I’ve already started on my Junior Year at Hebrew University.

13 YEARS:

I was Bar Mitsvah today. My dad was the presiding Rabbi.

14 YEARS:

Received my Bachelors Degree in Applied Science from Hebrew University.

15 YEARS:

Received my Masters Degree in Astrophysics.

15 YEARS, 3 MONTHS:

Awarded a PHD in Astrophysics. At this rate I should get a Nobel Prize by the time I reach 21. Maybe.

Started my job at Hebrew University. I’ll be a teaching professor in Astronomy. In the meantime I am studying exoplanets in the Andromeda Galaxy. I’ve been granted access to the newly deployed Tyson (Named after the late Neil Degrasse Tyson) Space Telescope.

18 YEARS:

I’ve been dating a girl from our kibbutz for about a year now. Her mother is from Korea (and has converted to Judaism) and her father is a close friend of my mothers who is a neurosurgeon. Her name is Zelda and we have many of the same interests, including Science Fiction and roll playing games. She’s studying to be an astrophysicist too. She’s about two years older that I am, but that’s not something I am worried about.

18 YEARS, 7 MONTHS:

Zelda just informed me that she is pregnant. We will meet with all four of our parents at Shabbat dinner tonight. This does not promise to be a very pleasant evening.

19 YEARS, 10 MONTHS:

Zelda and I were married today. The wedding was held in the Kibbutz park, and the entire community attended, as well as most of the staff from Hebrew University. My father presided, my best friend Jacob, was best man, and my sister Ruth was the flower girl.

19 YEARS, 11 MONTHS:

My sister Ruth had her Bat-Mitzvah today. She did really well reading the Torah portion.

20 YEARS, 3 MONTHS:

Zelda gave birth to twins. I am a dad.

21 YEARS:

On a lark Zelda and I took a night off from the kids and drove into Sefad, the Kabbalistic “capital” of Israel. We visited a psychic medium named Deva who told Zelda some things that I immediately concurred with. In her immediate past life, Zelda’s name was Ceridwen. We were married at that time, and in fact have spent many, many lifetimes together. In our immediate past life, she had grown up in Upper Michigan and I in Chicago. We met each other at age 46 in California, circa 1998. Zelda and Ceridwen apparently had more in common than just, well, me: Both were fascinated by the ancient Celts and specifically Wales and Scotland. Both were enamoured of Highland “coos.” Both of them were astrologers.

Now I know what “on the nose” means.

“Uhm El: When did you become so Jewy anyway?

I was born that way. As stated elsewhere, my mother was Jewish and my father a Roman Catholic. We attended shul in Chicago at Congregation Agudas Achim. I was Bar Mitzvah there on November 19, 1966. I grew up in Kankakee IL, and there was a synagogue there (just a few blocks from my parents home actually), but my mom’s parents had a phobia about being Jewish that to this day I do not fully understand, but Jewish practice was always on the downlow. When mom died I was going through the dumpster (where my dad had tossed all of her memorabilia) and I found lots of her stuff, including: my brother Dan’s bris certificate, my bris certificate, my bar mitzvah certificate, a newspaper clipping of a celebration for my grand parents 50th anniversary. What was funny (interesting? frightening? dumbfounding?) was that a year of so ago I had compiled a family tree mostly form notes my aunts Vernette and Rita had gathered but I mostly used ancestry.com. I made up a packet for my sons, Joshua, Jordan and Jesse, and included the ancestry.com tree and the original long from one my aunts had provided (upgraded to include my sons and their children). I also included copies of aforementioned bris and bar mitzvah certificates, and a copy of the 50th anniversary newspaper article about my grandparents 50th.

Jordan and Jesse are video-journalists. Especially Jordan (and he has won a boat load of Emmy Awards for his television work in Chicago). Jordan, for whatever reason, took that clipping and researched it at the original publishers (The Daily Journal, then The Kankakee Daily Journal). In the microfiche records he found the original published clipping, It did not match my clipping. Except for the picture of my grandparents, it was almost completely different. Instead of showing that they had been married at Congregation Agudas Achim by a Rabbi, it said they were married at the 1st Baptist Church by a Reverend. This contradiction was what I meant above when I said (interesting? frightening? dumbfounding?). But I think I know how this happened. The Stewarts were very secretive about their Jewishness. They didn’t want people in Kankakee to know what they were. It probably has something to do with the events of WW2 and the Holocaust. I am guessing that the article posted in the local Kankakee paper was the one folks in Kankakee were intended to see, and the copy I had was the one distributed to the synagogue in Chicago.

Personally, I have never been all that demonstrative about being a Jew. It was never an issue, and in fact after my Bar Mitzvah I pretty much forgot about it all. Then I spent some time in Israel (1974) and I reconnected with my Jewish side. Well kinda. For awhile. I started wearing my Mogan David while in Israel. I also started wearing a beard, and I purchased a mezuzah in Jerusalem and attached it to the doorframe of every house that the boys mother and I lived in. But other than that, and the Jewish elements that happened at our wedding, there wasn’t much Jewy stuff in my life at all.

By the time I left the boys Mom, I was for all intents and purposes, an atheist (a pantheistic one, but nonetheless..). Qadisha, who was wife number two, was a Wiccan. I played around with that for a few years. Then I met my true sole mate, Ceridwen and we founded the Reformed Druids of Gaia (RDG) It’s an international organization. At one time, we had almost 5,000 members in 17 countries an almost all of the states of the USA. Covid 19 sucker punched us, and people stopped practicing. We never really recovered, although we still hang on. Due to Ceridwen and I attending Kirtan sessions in Arcata monthly since 2019, we’ve introduced some Hindu philosophical an practical elements into the RDG. We continue to evolve.

On October 7th 2023. I awoke to the news that the terrorist group, Hamas, had invaded southern Israel. and committed genocidal atrocities on Kibbutzim, private homes, villages and a music festival. In total, 1,195 people were killed by the attacks: 736 Israeli civilians (including 38 children) 79 foreign nationals, and 379 members of the security forces. While attending the Nova music festival, 364 civilians were killed and many more wounded. About 250 Israeli and non-Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. Dozens of cases of rape and sexual assault reportedly occurred.

In the aftermath of that I started reading reports from various sources on the Internet, and Facebook and Progressive Facebook Groups. What really shocked me was the lies. I’ve written about and debunked these elsewhere on this blog, so I wont go into more here, but I found myself defending Israel on these pages, and getting my ass reamed out, but I have stood my ground.

Because of 10/07/2023 I am more Jewish now then I have ever been in my 72 years of life on this planet. I was born a Jew, and I will more than likely die a Jew, and I will defend Israel, at least with the pen, for the rest of my life.

And if you don’t like it you can’t have any!

The best part? Ceridwen supports me and she will continue to do so no matter what. That’s what love is all about.

Many paths lead up the mountain

“Many paths lead up the mountain,
but at the top we all look at the same bright moon.”

~~ Ikkyu ~~

I believe that all belief systems, even some of the monotheistic ones, have some truths to offer, even if the whole package leaves something to be desired. We can treat these systems as “buffets of belief,” picking the items we find palatable, and discarding those we find distasteful, and thus add new flavors to our own smorgasbord of belief.

There are numerous examples within Reformed Druidism of this. We embrace Robert A. Heinlein, yet eschew his ultra-libertarian leanings. He was a great writer, who told us our favorite stories, but his politics were just plain wrong. Another one is Leslie Fish, whose filk songs are genius, and gave us our orders official hymn, but like Heinlein, her politics are anathema.

We admire the Dalai Lama, as his teachings for the most part are very compatible with Druidic thought. On the other hand, he is a monarchist, and would probably return Tibet to religious feudalism.

I myself am particularly informed by Kabbalah. I even wear a red string! But Jewish monotheism has really only attracted me since October 7th, 2023.

We believe in, and promote, naturism. Some fundy christians do too. Should we reject naturism then? How about polyamory? Some mormons practice a form of that. Shall we reject the idea because of it’s associations? We embrace the idea of intentional community, and we even have a plan to implement that someday. But many christians like the idea too. Shall we toss that idea in the trash as well?

About the Kotel

There are many misconceptions about the Temple Mount, the Kotel (the Western Wall), and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Confusion and even much conflict can be dispelled when the facts are made clear. Here are eight things you need to know about these sites:

1) What is the holiest site on earth for Jews? Did you answer, “the Western Wall”? If you did, that’s a mistake many people sadly make! Kotel literally means “wall” in Hebrew. This wall is so important that it became unnecessary to designate which wall it is, it’s the wall. At the same time, its importance is not in itself but in its proximity to what is really important: the Temple Mount. The holiest site on earth for the Jewish People is the Temple Mount, in the heart of Jerusalem.

2) Why is the Temple Mount holy to the Jewish People? It is written in the Roman-era Midrash Tanchuma¹: “As the navel is set in the center of the human body, so is the land of Israel the navel of the world…situated in the center of the world, and Jerusalem in the center of the land of Israel, and the sanctuary in the center of Jerusalem, and the holy place in the center of the sanctuary, and the ark in the center of the holy place, and the Foundation Stone before the holy place, because from it the world was founded.” It is believed that the Foundation Stone is the foundation G-d used to create the world. Around this stone, the Temple was built, and within the Temple, on the Foundation Stone, the Ark of the Covenant was placed. This is the source of the holiness of the Temple and its importance to Judaism. Jewish sources also identify this rock as the place of the Binding of Isaac mentioned in the Bible, where Abraham fulfilled G-d’s test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son. It was at that point where human sacrifice to G-d ceased to exist as a legitimate practice and, even before the 10 Commandments, Judaism took moral leadership in the world.

3) Does one say Kotel, Wailing Wall, or Western Wall? “Wailing Wall” is a commonly used, highly offensive term that is an ancient form of delegitimizing Jewish history by diminishing Jewish anguish at the loss of the ancient Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. This is the term of non-Jews who occupied Israel, ridiculing the pain of the Jews who stood weeping at the Kotel, the Western Wall, which is the only wall left standing of the ancient Temple in the heart of Jerusalem. (It’s not even a wall of the Temple structure itself; it is a retaining wall of the compound). During the period of Christian Roman rule over Jerusalem (circa 324 to 638), Jews were completely barred from Jerusalem except to attend Tisha B’Av, the day of national mourning for the first and second Temples; and on this day, the Jews would weep at the holy site. The term “Wailing Wall” was thus almost exclusively used by Christians, revived in the period of non-Jewish control between the establishment of British Rule in 1920 and the Six-Day War in 1967. This derogatory term mocks the pain of the Jewish people, as in: “There go those Jews, weeping again.” Kotel is the word used in Hebrew which simply means “wall.” The choice of this term is indicative of the importance of the structure in the Jewish mind: This one remaining wall is so significant that it is not necessary to detail which wall is being mentioned, it is the wall. It is not the wall itself that is holy; it was the Temple and what stood on the Mount that was holy. Two-thousand years, exile, and many terrible experiences along the way have not been enough to make the Jewish People forget the importance of the Temple. The wall has grown in significance because it is all that remains of the Temple, and because Jews were (and still are) denied the right to pray on the Temple Mount. The Kotel became precious because it was the closest Jews could get to the holiest site on earth for the Jewish People. “Western Wall” is a factual description of the Wall. The Kotel is the western retaining wall of the Temple and it is perfectly reasonable to describe it as such.

4) Did you know there is an egalitarian prayer section of the Kotel? Eratz Yisrael was opened to balance the needs of different Jews who want to pray differently, enabling all freedom to worship as they please without bothering those who are offended by different prayer choices. The egalitarian section is open all hours of the day and night, just like the better known traditional section. Men and women are free to pray together. Women are free to sing as loudly as they wish and read from the Torah should they choose to do so. Unlike in the traditional section of the Kotel, in Eratz Yisrael there are tables with sunshades so people can read from the Torah without having to stand in the sweltering sun. An added bonus is that Eratz Yisrael is in the middle of an archeological site where you can see Temple-era remnants, making it easier to imagine yourself back in the time when the Temple was still standing!

5) Did you know that most of the Kotel is underground and accessible only through the Kotel tunnels? Over the centuries, natural buildup of archaeological layers buried much of the Kotel. Excavations have given insight into the splendor of the building project of the ancient Jewish Temple. Inside the tunnels you can walk alongside the Kotel, marvel at the size of the stones from which the wall is built and even enter what was once an open-air street market that is now completely underground! At one point in the tunnels you will probably see women praying at the place which is directly across from the Foundation Stone – one would only have to walk through the wall to get to it. Excavations are ongoing and the more work that is done the more of our ancient past is uncovered. If you are in Jerusalem, don’t miss a tour of the tunnels!

6) When did the Temple Mount become holy to Islam? Interestingly, Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran at all! Jerusalem became important in Islam not for religious reasons, but to serve a political need. Early Islamic sources state that the “Al-Aqsa Mosque” (literal meaning: “the farther mosque”), mentioned only once in the Koran, was one of two mosques located near Ji’irrana, a village located between Mecca and Taaf in the Arabian Peninsula (now Saudi Arabia). One of the mosques was called “al-Masjid al-Adna,” meaning the “closer mosque” and the other “al-Masjid al-Aqsa” (the “farther mosque”). When the Koran refers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque while telling the myth of the Prophet Muhammad’s night time journey from the “holy mosque” of Mecca to al Aqsa, that is, the “farther mosque,” it is referring to the mosque in Ji’irrana.

7) What is the Al-Aqsa Mosque? Most people believe that the golden domed mosque is Al-Aqsa, the mosque Muslims discuss in regards to the importance of the Temple Mount. This is not true. The golden domed mosque is called the Dome of the Rock because it was built on top of the Foundation Stone which, according to Jewish tradition, is the holiest place in the world. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a low, grey-roofed mosque also located on the Temple Mount, across from the Dome of the Rock. While Jews, wherever they are in the world, pray facing the Foundation Stone, Muslims pray facing Mecca. This means that Muslims praying on the Temple Mount pray with their back to the Foundation Stone.

8) ‘Apartheid’ on the Temple Mount: Although the State of Israel was established in 1948 and Jews reunited Jerusalem in 1967, to this day Jews (and Christians) are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Visiting hours for Jews are highly restricted: Sunday through Thursday (notice that Jews are not allowed to visit on Shabbat!) Summer: April through September: 8:30 – 10:30 am and 1:30 – 2:30 pm Winter: October through March: 7:30 – 10:30 am and 12:30 – 1:30 pm Non-Muslims enter the Temple Mount through only through the Mughrabi Gate (over the traditional Kotel women’s section). On entry, non-Muslims are subject to search by Israeli police and are warned not to use any religious objects or take any actions that might be seen as praying. You cannot take out a bible, close your eyes and pray in your heart, bow to the Dome of the Rock, or show any ritual signs of mourning. In contrast, the Temple Mount is open to Muslims at all hours of the day and night via gates only Muslims are allowed to use. At entry they are not searched. The definition of apartheid is two separate sets of laws for the same people. The Temple Mount is the only place in Israel where Israelis are subject to different laws based on being Muslim or Jewish.

“WE THE PEOPLE…”

These aren’t just empty words without meaning. They are magick. They were written by magicians. Yes, the founding fathers were magicians. They were Freemasons, and back then (not so much today) those words were a magick spell, a spell that proclaimed to the whole world that WE THE PEOPLE — WE THE COLLECTIVE OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES –we would be in control of OUR (not “my”, not any one individuals) OWN DESTINY.

What happens in Washington, WE make that happen. Yes, we’ve lost track of things, and yes, and few very rich guys have taken over a few things, but WE THE PEOPLE are still in control, and those of us who use magick can take it all back.

Capitalism is an imperfect system if allowed to just run on it’s own, will allow countless people to starve to death. WE THE PEOPLE — WE THE COLLECTIVE THAT GOVERNS THESE UNITED STATES — we know that if one man is homeless, if one child is hungry, if one person lacks an income WE ALL SUFFER for that. Individualism is a LIE. It’s a very temporary condition, that lasts from the day you are born until the day you die. And then it ends, and you merge back into the collective. THOU ART G-D. That’s what it means. We are here, in this temporary condition, to learn to take care of each other. To overcome the illusion of our individuality. In the deeper reality, the collective is all that there is, and all that has meaning. WE ARE OUR BROTHERS KEEPER. We use government to protect those who through no fault of their own, have fallen victim to capitalistic excess. We use government to put restraints on businesses so that they don’t clearcut the forests; or do what ever the hell they want just for profit because they feel they are “free” to do so.

It’s simple: when my mitral valve failed and had to be replaced, so did yours. So did everyones. Everyone is connected — no one is separate, and that is why we have welfare and food stamps, and why most of the world enjoys free healthcare, and free public education, and much much more (and yes we here should too).

WE THE PEOPLE can take it back, and make this country what it was destined to be — not the United States of (North) America — the United States of the World. Yes, ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT — by the people, for the people, for (WE) THE PEOPLE. Do you honestly believe that the Constitution was written for just 13 states? It was written for the whole world!

Am I a hypocrite?

Maybe. There are lifestyle modalities that I have promoted and taught to people over the years that, for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to practice myself. But I don’t believe that it is totally my own fault. Is it?

Back in High School, my best friend, Louis Dolmon gifted me with a copy of Robert Heinlein’s Stranger In A Strange Land (SiaSL). This book had a major impact on me, and in fact still does to this day. There were a few other novels of Heinlein’s that I enjoyed and which shared some of the same themes. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, The Door Into Summer, and Friday, to name just a few. The particular themes that I most responded to were those of Polyfidelity (group marriage), naturism, (social nudity) and intentional community. I have taught the merits of all of these over my “Pagan” career, and encouraged people to practice them. However, personally, I have only partaken of one of these myself, and even then not for a very long time. I live in Israel for the better part of 1974 in an intentional community; a kibbutz.

The rest? Not so much. Well, not at all. But we (Ceridwen and I) tried to make things manifest.

NATURISM (AKA, Nudism, AKA, social nudity):

Prior to Ceridwen, I was “married” to Qadisha, and lived in Santa Cruz County, CA. She knew of my interest in naturism, but oddly, never allowed me to be exposed to it, even though there was plenty of opportunity in Santa Cruz. There were five clothing optional beaches, two hot tub “spas” with community tubs, and there was Lupin Lodge up in the Santa Cruz mountains. I went to a clothing optional beach exactly once, by myself. I also went to Kiva a couple times, by myself. I also enjoyed a free pass to Lupin Lodge once. I loved all of it, but I hated being by myself. Also, as I discovered at Lupin, single males are discouraged from this lifestyle. I like people. I wanted friends who had shared interests, but Qadisha, I guess, was “protecting” me. I remember going to Well Within once with Qadisha, who did not know that I knew the nature of the business. She asked me to stay in the car while she went in to conduct some business (was she scoring some weed?).

While living in Santa Cruz, I joined the Church of All Worlds (CAW), and attended a meeting at the home of Tom and Joy Williams, who were leaders in CAW. CAW (as it was inspired by SiaSL) held a reputation for promoting polyfidelity and naturism. The meeting was intended to organize a “nest” (congregation) of CAW. Nothing really jelled with that, but I did meet the man who would become my Santa Cruz “best friend,” Duane Adam Rostoker (aka: “Adam Walks Between Worlds”).

In 1998 we moved from Santa Cruz to Ashland OR, and that was the end of opportunities for naturist adventures.

It was in Ashland that my relationship with Qadisha ended, and my relationship with Ceridwen began. It should be noted that Ceridwen, prior to meeting me, had regularly engaged in naturist activities. She lived in Santa Cruz, and there was/is an abundance of opportunity there to be “clothing optional.”

Ceridwen was the driving force that instigated the evolution of Order of the Mithril Star (OMS) (which Adam and I conceived) into the Reformed Druids of Gaia (RDG), and in fact RDG was her vision.

In 2004 we moved from Grants Pass OR to Eureka CA (where we still live today). The main reason was that OMS’ (and later RDG’s) sacred tree is the Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirons). The thing is that there are no Redwoods in Oregon. Since OMS’ sacred tree is the Redwood, and we were the leaders of OMS, it seemed logical that we should live where the Redwood is indigenous. Eureka, in it’s heyday, was the center of the logging industry which reduced the Coast Redwood to 3.5% of what it once was. Happily, there hasn’t been any significant logging activity for about the past two decades.

RDG held yearly Reformed Druid gatherings at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. People were informed that these gatherings, owing to the privacy of the camp ground we retained, were clothing optional events. RDG’s course in how to be a Druid, The Druid Path includes text promoting nudity for ritual and social activities, since RDG is most definitely an SiaSL inspired “organism.” So one might expect that some would take the opportunity to shed their cloths.

No one ever took their clothes off.

POLYFIDELITY:

This means a group relationship involving any number of men and women (Gay and/or Straight) who make a commitment to one another to love, honor, and protect each other; possibly raise children, and to restrict sexual activity to only those in the contract. Group Marriage. One temporarily successful group marriage was the Kerista Commune. They lasted about twenty years, and it is said that a remnant of the group still exists on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

As an SiaSL inspired organization, we have promoted polyfidelity, and Ceridwen and I seriously sought after another wife or husband (or more). We actually had one really good shot at it. A woman from Southern California who was a member of OMS “courted” us for about three months, even visiting us when Ceridwen and I lived in King Salmon (just south of Eureka). As things developed, it turned out that she wasn’t so much interested in a relationship with Ceridwen and I as she was in one with me. Ceridwen and I are a package deal, so, no deal. After that we never again met anyone who was at all interested. We had a series of female house mates over from 2004 until 2019, and we hoped that at least one of them would evolved into the “third” that we desired. When it came time to replace our ageing queen size mattress, we opted for an Eastern King, to at least “prime the pump” for a polyamorous relationship to develop (an Eastern King will easily sleep three).

Prior to Ceridwen, Qadisha expressed interest in polyamory (polyfidelities’ poor cousin). In a simple ritual, we pledged we would pursue polyamory. As it turned out, what she really wanted was to sleep with her ex-boyfriend in Eugene OR. She wasn’t interested in my pursuing a poly relationship (with anyone) at all.

Ceridwen had over time participated in various polyfideletous relationships, both when she lived in Madison WI, and again in Santa Cruz.

One of our Archdruids actually had a poly relationship involving her boy friend and another woman. It was not so successful. After about nine months, our AD came home from work to find that her boy friend and her “sister wife” had left her. This also happened to another couple whom I stayed with in Santa Cruz.

Ceridwen and I will turn seventy-two very soon. Her in a few days from now, and myself in mid-November. We haven’t totally given up on acquiring a “sister wife” or “brother husband,” but we’re not going to hold our breathe either.

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY:
We’ve had a business plan and outline for a “Druid Monastery” for well over twenty years now (click here) but we’ve experienced nothing but tsuris for our efforts. When we first exposed OMS members to the idea, we were inundated with a lot of complaining from members, that we couldn’t possibly raise the kind of money for the infrastructure we would require, and “…anyway it’s just yours and Ceridwen’s selfish retirement plan.”

Over the last twenty-five years, we’ve raised $1,050 towards this plan. So, there’s still hope, right?

Progressive psychics / mediums

Do you believe in psychics or mediums? Do you believe that some people have ESP? There are a number of these folks currently on YouTube. What makes them interesting is that all of them are politically Progressive. Here are the ones I am currently aware of:

They all have many things in common. They dislike Duck L’Orange and the MAGAs. They are all concerned about climate change, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, economic equality, freedom of speech, and all the other popular Progressive causes. They also dislike Putin and Netanyahu.

But, like many Progressives, they have bought the whole BDS/Hamas propaganda line, and for the most part regularly blame Israel for the alleged woes of the “palestinians.” The worse one of all of these is Linda Grindel, who can’t seem to get through a single pod cast without some mention of children being starved in Gaza, and she is sure that it is all Israel’s fault. In a show tonight which she shared with Sterling, she asked “when will the genocide in Gaza stop.”

I like to give people the benefit of a doubt. I don’t think any of these people are consciously ant-semitic. I think they suffer from the bandwagon fallacy and also perhaps confirmation bias. They all claim to be hearing from “spirit guides” (also “Angels,” “ETs,” “deceased spirits,” “ancestors,” and in one case, “reptilians”).

My wife is a huge fan of these folks, so I have listened in on many of their pod casts. They are currently all predicting that our POTUS, Putin and Netanyahu are all going to pass away in the period between October 1st, 2025 and March 30th 2026. They are all also predicting that the Democrats will take control of both Houses of Congress in the midterms (coming November 2026), and the Supreme Court will be reformed and the current right wing justices will be ousted. Well, we can only hope.

Typically, when one of them repeats some of the current popular lies about Israel, I will comment in their YouTube feed, attempting to correct them. I usually point them to the part of my blog where I have archived all my posts concerning Israel. I also attempt to say something along the lines of “I’m having doubts about the reliability of your (“guides,” “team,” “spirit advisors,””angels”). If they are real they couldn’t possibly have repeated such lies concerning Israel (Gaza).” Thus far I haven’t seen any reaction, but I have hope that I can persuade them eventually.

If they cannot, or will not, correct themselves then it is obvious to me that they are “false prophets.” A false prophet is a person who spreads false teachings or messages while claiming to speak the Word of Hashem. False prophets functioned in their prophetic role illegitimately or for the purpose of deception. The Nevi’im denounces false prophets for leading people astray.

In the Nevi’im, the actual term “false prophet}” does not occur, but references to false prophets are evident and abundant. In the book of Jeremiah, we encounter a clear description of false prophets: “Then the LORD said to me, ‘The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds’” (Jeremiah 14:14; see also 23:21–33; Zechariah 10:2).

A note of clarification for the gentile reader: The Jewish Bible, called the Tanakh, has three sections: the Torah (the five books of Moses), the Nevi’im (the books of the Prophets), and the Ketuvim (This is the Writings section, which includes a diverse collection of texts such as poetry, philosophy, and historical accounts). The word “Tanakh” is an acronym derived from these three sections.

Every tree is precious

The Redwood rain forest once covered an area starting just inside the Oregon/California border, running south to about San Luis Obisbo, and East-West from the Pacific to the Cascade Mountains. That was solid forest, 744 miles long, about 150 miles wide (111,600 square miles). A squirrel could travel from tree top to tree top and never have to hit the ground. This forest teemed with Grizzly, Deer, Elk, and Black Bear, and Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, Condor, Snowy Egrets, and many, many more. Salmon and Steelhead were abundant in our streams, and there was probably a sizeable population of banana slugs. Indigenous homo-sapien tribes lived and worked and grew old and thrived, without impacting the environment. Some of these tribes believed that the giant trees were gods. Then the white man came. Today, less than four percent of this forest is left, most of it in Humboldt, DelNorte, and Mendocino Counties. So, every tree is precious ,,,,,

A couple of years ago there was a tiny stand of Redwood that stood on two lots, off Harris between Sequoia Ave and Girard Court. There is some kind of PG&E station there, which could hardly be seen with the trees. They clear cut that little stand. The stumps are quite visible. The owner of the West part threw up a fence, and now has a travel trailer parked inside. I’m guessing he lives there and someday he’ll build a house. I don’t know what PG&Es excuse was. At the time it made me sick. I still drive past there and kind of mourn.

A few years back I published a petition on the Move On site, calling for a 200 year moratorium on the harvest, sale, and manufacturing of goods from the Redwood rain forest.

Save what remains. Sign this petition:

SAVE THE REDWOODS

MORE INFORMATION

John & Mary tell me about Donald

In Finding Inner Peace and Strength (Doubleday, 1982), Jerry Falwell claimed total inerrancy for the Bible:

The Bible is the inerrant . . . Word of God. It is absolutely
infallible, without error in all matters pertaining to faith and
practice, as well as in areas such as geography, science,
history, etc., (p 26).

This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple.

The man spoke first: “Hi! I’m John, and this is Mary.”

Mary: “Hi! We’re here to invite you to come kiss Donald’s ass with us.”

Me: “Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who’s Donald, and why would I want to kiss his ass?”

John: “If you kiss Donald’s ass, he’ll give you a million dollars; and if you don’t, he’ll kick the shit out of you.”

Me: “What? Is this some sort of bizarre mob shake-down?”

John: “Hank is a billionaire philanthropist. Donald built this country. Donald owns this town. He can do what ever wants, and what he wants is to give you a million dollars, but he can’t until you kiss his ass.”

Me: “That doesn’t make any sense. Why . . .”

Mary: “Who are you to question Donald’s gift? Don’t you want a million dollars? Isn’t it worth a little kiss on the ass?”

Me: “Well maybe, if it’s legit, but . . .”

John: “Then come kiss Donald’s ass with us.”

Me: “Do you kiss Donald’s ass often?”

Mary: “Oh yes, all the time . . .”

Me: “And has he given you a million dollars?”

John: “Well no, you don’t actually get the money until you leave town.”

Me: “So why don’t you just leave town now?”

Mary: “You can’t leave until Donald tells you to, or you don’t get the money, and he kicks the shit out of you.”

Me: “Do you know anyone who kissed Donald’s ass, left town, and got the million dollars?”

John: “My mother kissed Donald’s ass for years. She left town last year, and I’m sure she got the money.”

Me: “Haven’t you talked to her since then?”

John: “Of course not, Donald doesn’t allow it.”

Me: “So what makes you think he’ll actually give you the money if you’ve never talked to anyone who got the money?”

Mary: “Well, he gives you a little bit before you leave. Maybe you’ll get a raise, maybe you’ll win a small lotto, maybe you’ll just find a twenty dollar bill on the street.”

Me: “What’s that got to do with Donald?”

John: “Donald has certain ‘connections.'”

Me: “I’m sorry, but this sounds like some sort of bizarre con game.”

John: “But it’s a million dollars, can you really take the chance? And remember, if you don’t kiss Donald’s ass he’ll kick the shit of you.”

Me: “Maybe if I could see Donald’s, talk to him, get the details straight from him . . .”

Mary: “No one sees Donald, no one talks to Donald.”

Me: “Then how do you kiss his ass?”

John: “Sometimes we just blow him a kiss, and think of his ass. Other times we kiss Elon’s ass, and he passes it on.”

Me: “Who’s Elon?”

Mary: “A friend of ours. He’s the one who taught us all about kissing Donald’s ass. All we had to do was take him out to dinner a few times.”

Me: “And you just took his word for it when he said there was a Donald, that Donald wanted you to kiss his ass, and that Donald would reward you?”

John: “Oh no! Elon’s got a letter Donald sent him years ago explaining the whole thing. Here’s a copy; see for yourself.” John handed me a photocopy of a handwritten memo on “From the desk of Elon’ letterhead. There were eleven items listed:

Kiss Donald’s ass and he’ll give you a million dollars when you leave town.

Use alcohol in moderation.

Kick the shit out of people who aren’t like you.

Eat right.

Donald dictated this list himself.

The moon is made of green cheese.

Everything Donald says is right.

Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.

Don’t drink.

Eat your wieners on buns; no condiments.

Kiss Donald’s ass or he’ll kick the shit out of you.

Me: “This would appear to be written on Elon’s Letterhead.”

Mary: “Donald didn’t have any paper.”

Me: “I have a hunch that if we checked we’d find this is Elon’s handwriting.”

John: “Of course, Donald dictated it.”

Me: “I thought you said no one gets to see Donald?”

Mary: “Not now, but years ago he would talk to some people.”

Me: “I thought you said he was a philanthropist. What sort of philanthropist kicks the shit out of people just because they’re different?”

Mary: “It’s what Donald wants, and Donald’s always right.”

Me: “How do you figure that?”

Mary: “Item 7 says ‘Everything Donald says is right.’ That’s good enough for me!”

Me: “Maybe your friend Elon just made the whole thing up.”

John: “No way! Item 5 says ‘Donald dictated this list himself.’ Besides, item 2 says ‘Use alcohol in moderation,’ Item 4 says ‘Eat right,’ and item 8 says ‘Wash your hands after going to the bathroom.’ Everyone knows those things are right, so the rest must be true, too.”

Me: “But 9 says ‘Don’t Drink,’ which doesn’t quite go with item 2, and 6 says ‘The moon is made of green cheese,’ which is just plain wrong.”

John: “There’s no contradiction between 9 and 2, 9 just clarifies 2. As far as 6 goes, you’ve never been to the moon, so you can’t say for sure.”

Me: “Scientists have pretty firmly established that the moon is made of rock . . .”

Mary: “But they don’t know if the rock came from the Earth, or from out of space, so it could just as easily be green cheese.”

Me: “I’m not really an expert, but I think the theory that the Moon came from the Earth has been discounted. Besides, not knowing where the rock came from doesn’t make it cheese.”

John: “Aha! You just admitted that scientists make mistakes, but we know Donald is always right!”

Me: “We do?”

Mary: “Of course we do, Item 5 says so.”

Me: “You’re saying Donald’s always right because the list says so, the list is right because Donald dictated it, and we know that Donald dictated it because the list says so. That’s circular logic, no different than saying ‘Donald’s right because he says he’s right.'”

John: “Now you’re getting it! It’s so rewarding to see someone come around to Donald’s way of thinking.”

Me: “But . . . oh, never mind. What’s the deal with wieners?” Mary blushes.

John says: “Wieners, in buns; no condiments. It’s Donald’s way. Anything else is wrong.”

Me: “What if I don’t have a bun?”

John: “No bun, no wiener. A wiener without a bun is wrong.”

Me: “No relish? No Mustard?”

Mary looks positively stricken. John shouts: “There’s no need for such language! Condiments of any kind are wrong!”

Me: “So a big pile of sauerkraut with some wieners chopped up in it would be out of the question?”

Mary sticks her fingers in her ears: “I am not listening to this. La la la, la la, la la la.”

John: “That’s disgusting. Only some sort of evil deviant would eat that . . .”

Me: “It’s good! I eat it all the time.”

Mary faints. John catches her: “Well, if I’d known you where one of those I wouldn’t have wasted my time. When Donald kicks the shit out of you I’ll be there, counting my money and laughing. I’ll kiss Donald’s ass for you, you bunless cut-wienered kraut-eater.”

With this, John dragged Mary to their waiting car, and sped off.

Editor’s note: Donald has other names that he is known by: POTUS, 45 (or 47), “Duck L’Orange,” Yeti, COMPLETE (more or less) LIST

“Hin-Jew:” How I became one

My wife and I have been attending Kirtan sessions in Arcata monthly since 9/2019, led by the Skywater Kirtan Band. Shemaia Skywater, who leads the group is a very talented musician, yoga teacher, and she’s Jewish.

Here’s a sample from August, 2018:

Another sample, this one from before Ceridwen and I started attending:

Anyroad, I found the “Kirtan Rabbi” on Youtube of late and loved the way he blended cultural styles (Kirtan is a Hindu/Buddhist artform). Kind of the best of both worlds. Funny thing is that I have referred to myself as a “Hin-Jew” for a few years now.