10-04-2000, Dallas Texas - Maeven Eller, Betwixt & Between, Dallas, Texas, announces the successful and moving invocation of Pagan priest Bryan Lankford at the Dallas City Council meeting. We had some who tried to shout over Bryan, well one. The mayor silenced him though. We had several who signed up on the agenda to speak against it, one lady even brought a class room full of Baptist children in uniforms.

"With the Texas state star hanging over the chambers, resembling the pentacle hanging from our necks, we stood and listened to Bryan's invocation How appropriate that this happened here in Dallas."

"Then three who were on the agenda to express their indifference to our [Pagan] 'prayer' spoke..
When they were through the mayor said, and I paraphrase, he and the city council are not in the business of choosing religions. He [Mayor Kirk] said he hopes to see us back in the future and that he was very moved by the invocation."

With the Texas state star hanging over the chambers, resembling the pentacle hanging from our necks, we stood and listened to Bryan's invocation How appropriate that this happened here in Dallas.

During the Pledge of Allegiance many broke into tears of relief and realization of what we were experiencing first hand..

Then three who were on the agenda to express their indifference to our 'prayer' spoke.. When they were through the mayor said, and I paraphrase, he and the city council are not in the business of choosing religions.
He [Mayor Kirk] said he hopes to see us back in the future and that he was very moved by the invocation.

Everything feels changed today.  We [Pagans] claimed our rights to equal representation. We held our ground with dignity and justice for all. We were magick.

All major media was represented.

Here is the invocation that will be heard around the world again. What a blessing this day has been. Blessed be this harvest season.
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Invocation by HP Bryan Lankford

Mother Goddess, Father God: we thank you for life and the world we share. We ask that you bless this council and the mayor with the wisdom to lead this city into our tomorrow's, that it may flourish in harmony and prosperity.

We ask this city be transformed with the harmony and balance that faith in a greater power brings.
Just as the ancient alchemists felt the elements of life were air, fire, water and earth, the elements of spiritual alchemy are Honesty, Love, Compassion, and Faith.

We pray that our words and deeds be open and honest, without malice or deceit, so others will always be able to trust our actions, believe our words, and see that our motivations are pure. For honesty breeds trust, and without trust all our actions are suspect.

May our souls be lit with the light of love which shines into the dark corners of our being, removing the darkness of hatred, anger and prejudice, so no one ever need fear for their safety or be made to feel shame for their race, religion or lifestyle.  For where love shines, darkness cannot find hold.

Not in Harry's case. He and his friends go to school to learn witchcraft and have all kinds of magical adventures along the way. In his world, the non-witches are the weird ones -- a welcome change for witchcraft practitioners.

``If somebody wants to write about us as being fun, interesting, magical people, we don't mind that at all,'' said Jane Raeburn, 35, a writer in Wells, Maine, who has been practicing Wicca for 10 years.

The Potter books -- the fourth volume is scheduled for release July 8 -- don't actually deal with the philosophical precepts of Wicca or any specific religious tradition.

Instead, Harry and company fight the good fight against the forces of evil aided by the stereotypical pop culture notions of witchery -- flying brooms, magical instruments, spells.

That in itself has been enough to concern some Christian parents. Last year, the series topped the list of books that parents or certain groups tried to have taken off shelves, according to the American Library Association.
The books were removed in some schools after parents raised concerns that the series was promoting witchcraft.

Modern-day witches find that laughable.

``They don't have anything to do with Wicca,'' said Patricia Allgeier, 57, a witch in Springfield, Mo. ``It's this generation's version of 'The Wizard of Oz.'''

That's not to say witches don't have any concerns about the books. Anything that promotes stereotypes, even positively, can make it harder for Wiccans to deal with non-Wiccans.

``It portrays witches in positive ways ... but it does not portray my religious beliefs,'' said Chad Anctil of the Witches' League for Public Awareness. 

A big admirer of the Harry Potter books, Anctil loves the writing and the entertaining stories. But he said ``it is difficult for the religion to be taken seriously when books like this portray it as magic.''

The common thread that draws witches and non-witches to the book is its engaging storytelling, which explores the difficulties of growing up and has kids dealing with issues of right and wrong -- and standing up for what they believe.

``What you're talking about are the choices people make,'' said Christina Aubin, parenting coordinator for the Clearwater, Fla.-based Web site, The Witches' Voice. Her 10-year-old daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan.   ``It teaches her to think for herself,'' Aubin said. ``I don't think that's a bad idea.''

Contact The Witches Voice: http://www.witchvox.com   for more information.

Possible Earth Collision with Asteroid in 2022

6:11 a.m. EST  February 8, 2000

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- Astronomers have discovered an asteroid flying through space that could crash into the earth in 2022, The New York Times reported today.

Although astronomers say the chance of a collision is about 1 in 1 million, more observations are needed to better calculate the asteroid's orbit and rule out a collision, the Times said.

The asteroid, 2000 BF19, is the fifth one discovered in the last two years that might collide with the earth. It is about a half-mile wide and could do tremendous damage to part of the earth if it struck but probably would not cause planetwide destruction, the Times said.

The asteroid was first spotted by three astronomers led by Dr. James Scotti using the Spacewatch Telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona on Jan. 28. It was tracked until Feb. 3, when it disappeared. The same day, the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center of Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., announced its discovery without mentioning a possible collision.

The possibility of a collision was raised Monday by Dr. Benny Peiser, who runs an Internet letter on astronomy, the Cambridge-Conference Network. The current collision calculations were done by an astronomer at Pisa University in Italy, Peiser said.

Earth Spiral - Kennesaw University- Georgia.   This is a Campus Religious group which has been approved by the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee this semester. Contact ANN MARIE  (Marietta, Georgia)

Be Careful Out There on Halloween/Samhain!

The Below photo was taken after a rather severe accident involving a Witch, Broomstick and Tree.   Please Don't Drink and Fly!!!

The Castles of Wales
Welcome! Croeso! My name is Jeff Thomas and I'm pleased to be your host as we explore some of the world's most impressive ancient monuments - the medieval castles of Wales. Along the way we hope to educate and enlighten the student as well as the enthusiast about the unique history of the Welsh and their centuries-old struggle to preserve their culture and ancient language.  Click on the Flag to enter The Castles of Wales!