NCN Group News #5, December 97

From: Flemming Funch (ffunch@newciv.org)
Date: Tue Dec 16 1997 - 11:37:36 PST


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                NCN GROUP NEWS

 a newsletter of the New Civilization Network

            Issue 5, December 1997

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Submissions encouraged
 contact Bob Ewing <cclash@web.net> for details.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DESERT LIGHT METAPHYSICAL SOCIETY

by Trudy Schuett <dsrtlite@primenet.com>

It's a cumbersome name for a small organization, but it was
what came to mind at the time.

In February or March of last year, I'd already held some group
events at our brand-new Barnes and Noble here in Yuma AZ. Using my
background in publicity for local charities, I'd taken advantage of all
the free PSA's I could get. It wasn't until Joyce Christie of the
Yuma Daily Sun, our local newspaper, needed an "official" name for the
group that I came up with "Desert Light Metaphysical Society". I didn't
like the term,"NewAge", because of its connotations of silliness and
irresponsibility.

The people that attended my presentations were not brain-dead
yuppieswith more money than good sense. They were more often serious
people who were dedicated to finding answers. Their questions were
beyond the conventional; the convenient. They weren't looking for a
guru to solve their problems for them; rather, they were looking for new
ways to begin to correct some things in their own lives-- on their own.

Since December '95, we've been meeting on a regular basis.
Right now, we're meeting twice a month at B&N. We've had formal
presentations (with speakers) on everything from local anthropology to
herbology to homeopathy to earth-change predictions. These are
interspersed with salons. I got the idea for the salons from the
NewCiv, and though theyaren't as elaborate as those I've heard about in
Washington DC or LA, people still get to meet and talk-really talk with
others on all kinds of subjects.

Attendance varies wildly, depending on the subject or the
theme. We've approached 100 in mid-winter, and last June Val and I (the
only attendees) decided to go to our respective homes and read
instead!

Yuma is a seasonal sort of place-our population doubles in the
winter with migrant farm workers and retirees from all over North
America, and many local groups suspend activities for the summer. We
haven't done that. After all, there are still 126,000 people here
year-round. This year I discovered a group of women who really only
wanted to connect with other women. It's a sad commentary on current
American sociology thatmost women (and probably men, too) are working
so long and so hard allthe time that we just don't have time to build
what the social workers call a "support system". Most of us consider
ourselves lucky to have one person we can count on, and for many that
person is not a spouse or significant other.

Americans have become lonely people. I really understood, after
those meetings, what a blessing it is to be able to speak freely and
know that those hearing will not criticize or condemn. These are
lovely, brilliant women. I sometimes wonder how much courage-or maybe
it's desperation (?) it takes to be able to sit in a Barnes&Noble
and bare your deepest pain. The good thing is that each of us who
attendsknows we're no longer alone.

Desert Light has become the first widely-recognized
metaphysical group in Yuma County, and that's saying something in a
place that used to be LDS O&O. (There are many areas of Arizona that
are considered to be 'owned and operated' by the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons.) But since WWII,
when this became a major training ground for Patton, and the
establishment of our Marine Corps Air Station and the (Army) Yuma
Proving Ground, Yuma has gradually become more cosmopolitan. (You
should see Wal-Mart when the Yakult Swallows [baseball team] come from
Japan to do their spring training!)

I'm proud of my non-organization. I call it that, because
there is no membership. No dues, no fees. Just show up and learn. Or
maybe find a nemesis or a friend. Until recently, we didn't even have a
mailing list.

I told everybody to watch TV and their paper for PSA's. Then
my son offered to donate paper and printing costs if I wanted to have
a mailing list, provided the group would donate the postage. They will,
I think.

Many of the orgs in the NewCiv Network are far more ambitious,
their work far more dramatic than Desert Light's. But, one person at
a time, we're enlightening and giving aid and comfort. It's a
worthwhile pursuit, and everybody wins.

Happy Trails
Trudy in Yuma!.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    THE WAY TO NEUTOPIA

  by Doctress Neutopia <neutopia@genesis.nred.ma.us>

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM OF A WICKED HISTORY,
  THE PROSPECT OF AN EVEN MORE WICKED FUTURE?
  Not when we embrace pacifism
  and eliminate totalitarianism.
  We teach as we learn how consciousness
  is evolving towards a new vista.
  A new historic era commences each day
  with every act of love and wisdom.
  Love and wisdom is the way to Neutopia.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH LEADERSHIP?
  Not when our leaders are thinkers
  contemplating benevolent power,
  hour after hour, guiding us
  to a world where justice rules.
  Leaders are respected, loved, and
  selected for their words and deeds.
  In Neutopia, integrity rules.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH RELIGION?
  Not when we live by the religion
  of universal love, our creative power
  re-organizing the war-torn
  world into a Neutopian Order.
  Love and wisdom are recognized by all
  as one-in-the-same universal principle.
  All faiths unite in darkness and light.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH INEQUALITY?
  Not when we abolish discrimination
  and establish equality.
  All individual difference
  is seen for its uniqueness.
  Everyone is satisfied knowing that
  they have done their best in
  contributing to the change from
  selfishness to universal consciousness.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE NUCLEAR FAMILY?
  PROBLEMS WITH DIVORCE AND MARRIAGE?
  Not when the nucleus of the human family
  is love and not financial advantage,
  when lovers devote their life together
  to pursuing a better society.
  The role of woman has changed:
  no longer are women merely the
  mothers of leaders, but are leaders.
  The entire community raises the children,
  equality begins at birth and never ends.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH NUCLEAR WAR
  AND WITH ALL VARIETIES OF WAR?
  Not when there is an artitics of peace
  and all former enmities cease.
  We conduct all of life
  like a symphony orchestra
  composing a score for Neutopia
  which delights the mind and the ear.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE UNITED NATIONS?
  Not when we have a true general assembly
  without vested self-interest.
  Visionaries lead us into the 21st Century
  when spiritual and scientific minds
  work together to benefit humankind.
  Nationalism is replaced with world governance.
  Ignorance gives way to planetary enlightenment.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ETHICS?
  Not when there is love between the
  sexes, for what would be our humanity
  if love were not the nexus
  from generation to generation,
  from the act of conception
  until our bodies do we part:
  life is an ethical outgrowth
  rooted in everyone's heart.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH POVERTY?
  Not when we lose our delusions
  of grandeur and live in a reality
  which is real for everybody.
  All people all over the world
  share food and natural resources
  and work for the common good.
  Support is given wherever needed;
  every human need is heeded.
  All land is public; all goods are free.
  Love, not profit, is the motive
  for an intercontinental economy.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ECONOMICS?
  Not when we emancipate the workers
  from a life-sentence of drudgery,
  the chains of money and wages.
  All material need is a human right
  which can be guaranteed only when materialism
  is forsaken for love and spiritualism.
  When the individual works from the heart
  society is a living work of art.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH UNEMPLOYMENT?
  Not when everyone works for peace,
  reconstructing society with alternative energy.
  The problem of meaningless work solved creatively.
  The challenge to the intellect makes
  life worth living, enriching us.
  When we are self-aware, there
  is no shame, greed, or despair.
  The problem of cutthroat competition
  is solved by individual co-operation,
  no division between labor and management
  the goal of all people is social benefit.
  When we co-operate, there is no cause
  for jealousy, envy, or hate.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH PROSTITUTION?
  Not when we liberate ourselves
  from the master-slave economy.
  Sex can no longer be bought with money.
  There is neither exploitation nor rape;
  lust and perversion pass away
  when we learn that money doesn't pay
  and love is the only way.
  Artists are finally free and when the
  arts are free, humanity is free.
  Women and men walk across the land
  holding each other hand in hand.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH POPULATION?
  Not when we educate the human race
  to use birth control, family planning,
  and moral chastity: no sex without love;
  no child unwanted; no mother haunted
  by the ghost of a father missing in action.
  No sexually transmitted disease.
  Abortions all but disappear when
  we are responsible for the sexual act.
  To think how dear life is, is to make
  sex unthinkable if it lacks the love of life!

  WE HAVE A STARVATION PROBLEM?
  Not when we convert agriculture
  to a diet of vegetarianism.
  Feeding people nutritiously is the foundation
  for good health and natural conservation,
  replenishing the soil with organic farming
  and not letting it spoil with
  tobacco, coffee, and caffeinated tea,
  growing soybean, rice, corn, and wheat
  as well as harvesting vegetables from the sea:
  everyone has enough to eat.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH POLLUTION?
  Not when we save the human race
  by means of applied ecology.
  We stop industrial production
  of radioactive and other toxic waste.
  The release of fossil fuels and
  chlorofluorocarbons into the
  atmosphere ceased.
  All materials are recycled
  in a renewal of life and death.
  Forest, fields, rivers, and seas
  revive when they're pollution free.
  Species once threatened with extinction
  thrive through the efforts of conservation.
  We inhale clean air and exhale fear
  with each and every breath we breathe.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MEDICAL CARE?
  Not when medicine is free.
  Doctors are dedicated
  to their work and motivated
  by their love for humanity
  not large sums of money.
  Research is given whatever support
  it requires to cure disease.
  Instead of the most lucrative profession
  medicine is the humblest of careers,
  the compassionate model for all to follow
  generating joy out of sorrow.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CANCER?
  Not when medicine is preventative and
  we use therapies both West and East.
  Everyone has the right to live
  without sickness and disease.
  Cancer rates drop as we clean up the
  ecology and we all eat Vitamin B-17
  in almonds, millet, and bean sprouts.
  Hardly anyone is ever ill
  since good diets and exercise
  keep us physically fit and lean.
  But even when someone dies
  there is no suffering in their demise.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH INSANITY?
  Not when we advance psychology
  to the realm of parapsychology.
  Developing our intuitive power allows
  us to inspect ourselves inwardly
  and clean the soul of all impurity.
  By ridding the external causes
  and internal confusion of mental illness,
  the mind pauses enough for self-realization
  and when the self is unfurled
  so is the way of the world.
  No one takes life, only gives,
  and so never dies, but eternally lives.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CRIME AND VIOLENCE?
  Not when we live in harmony and rule ourselves.
  Not when people have a common sense
  and the only wealth is the common wealth.
  Private ownership is revoked;
  the only legal contract is your word.
  When society is no longer yoked
  to the weight of class warfare,
  the crisis of crime and violence
  evaporates into air.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE PENAL SYSTEM?
  Not when we treat criminals as human beings
  reforming them with consolation
  instead of locking them in isolation:
  we fulfill their needs by helping
  them to realize their potential
  instead of punishing them in jails.
  We give social purpose to their lives
  by lovolutionizing them, and not
  institutionalizing and dehumanizing them.
  Crime isn't necessary when
  no one need struggle to survive.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH EDUCATION?
  Not when we educate everyone
  to attain their individual potential.
  As goes each individual, goes the human race.
  The collective unconsciousness becomes conscious.
  Our universities are the centers of cities.
  Learning to love is the fulfillment of the soul.
  Every student becomes the teacher.
  No one is in a subservient role.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH TRANSPORTATION?
  Not when our cities are compact
  and we can walk and ride bikes
  to the wilderness and back
  and for longer distances
  we can fly or travel under seas
  since we've disarmed the military
  and converted its technology
  to serve humanity.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HOUSING?
  Not when we live in arcologies.
  People working and living together
  to build communal architecture
  with clean, safe technologies.
  Every city an oasis whether
  underground or in Antarctica,
  in the desert or underwater.
  The geodesic dome is the basis
  for the next Renaissance.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH COMMUNICATION?
  Not when we have a world language,
  and television is used for creative means.
  Transmitting culture throughout the world,
  television broadcasts the works of genius
  before the conscience of the world.
  Communication satellites encircle the planet.
  Computers analyze the universe.
  Soon we master the speed of light
  and can reach out to the stars.

  WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ENERGY?
  Not when we've converted to solar
  energy and invest all our energies
  into the founding of Neutopia.
  It is not simply a dream,
  it is our duty.
  The mysteries of life unraveled.
  Nature restored to pristine beauty.
  The far reaches of space traveled,
  the inner space of the mind realized,
  a paradise found, not a paradise lost.
  The sun saves us from nuclear holocaust.

Written by Doctress Neutopia
1983?
-http://genesis.tiac.net/neutopia/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FOGIES SPIEL

You may like to Have a Squiz at my Home page

http://www.avon.net.au/~croft/

Fogies is a group which began in Perth
Western Australia in 1995 and has since
expanded to have a good sized local
"membership" and an ever-increasing
number of "members" throughout Australia
and internationally.

Fogie is our version of what appears in the
Concise Oxford as Fogy or Fogey "Old
fashioned fellow. Old man behind the times."
As we have about equal numbers of females
and males we created Fogie as a gender
neutral version of the compliment!

We are a group of above average age *for
those involved in computing*. Our nemesis is
BYKs (Bright Young Kids) who know far
too much about computers for our liking, and
sometimes are not kind to us older folk, who
have trouble with such things as microwave
ovens, cannot program VCRs and frequently
find certain aspects of using the internet
more than a little puzzling.

Originally we got together as a mutual help
group to try to sort out various problems in
using internet tools such as FTP, web
browsers, e-mail, IRC, news-readers and the
like. Those are still matters of major
importance and anybody interested in joining
us for this purpose is more than welcome,
either as one who knows little and is looking
for help, or who knows rather more and can
contribute to the improvement in knowledge
of the rest of us.(If you think that by
"news-readers" we meant people on TV then
you had better join Fogies right now!).

There are no membership fees and no
demands, other than that you be of mature
age and are (reasonably) civil to others in the
group.

Because of the vast range of interests, skills,
abilities and talents (snort!) of various fogies,
our discussions on-line range far and wide -
politics, science, philosophy, current affairs,
sport and whatever you like.

We are old enough to be able to set our own
agenda as we go along, so there are very few
rules at all other than common courtesy, the
Fogies Code of Conduct

http://www.iinet.net.au/fogies/code.html
and the Rules of Netiquette.

http://www.iinet.net.au/fogies/rules.html

If you think about joining the list then expect
an average of about 16 emails a day. There
are plenty of lurker fogies (those who read
but don't write to the group) and other
 regular contributors whose names you will
quickly come to think of as old friends (with
 the emphasis probably on 'old'!).

We have occasional social gatherings known
as FNOs (Fogie Nights Out) and FDOs
(Fogies Days Out) but unless you happen to
be in Western Australia these might be a
little inconvenient.
Fogies
http://www.iinet.net.au/fogies

Take care of yourself - from all the Fogies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By Danilo D'Antonio <dasa3000@sgol.it>

I send you my best greetings and thanks for sharing with us so
many and fascinating information on NCN!

As I see that we are on the same thought wave, I wish signal
you the ultimate edition of the Earth Calendar for the Space Age (29th
year of the Space Age: the incoming year) at:

http://oasi.asti.it/Homes/eudemonia/calene.htm

As you can see, future is one of our common interest! If you
want, I'll be very glad to receive your severe criticisms.

Note that NCN has been linked in my pages, so if you change
some address let me know.

Kind regards, have great days,

Danilo D'Antonio
EUDAEMONY LABORATORY oOOo What will you sow today?
Via Fonte Regina, 23 - 64100 - Teramo - Italy
tel & fax: 0861/415655 - e.mail: dasa3000@sgol.it
http://www.freeyellow.com/members/eudaemony/

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THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

By Burt Wilson <futurecon@earthlink.net>

Jesus was not born on Christmas! Jesus was a Piscine Master
for the Piscine Age, therefore he was born in late February or March
under the sign of Pisces. The reason that Christendom celebrates Jesus'
birth on December 25th goes back to the year 273 when the early
Christian Church decided to couple Jesus' birth with the Pagan birthday
of the "Invincible Sun," established on that day by the Emperor
Aurelian as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations.

The Three Wise Men (Magi) were Mahatmas (Great Souls) whose job
it was to make sure that Jesus had all he needed to fulfill his
mission. Thus the "gifts" of gold, frankincense and myrrh were metaphors for
the gifts of wisdom, teaching and healing. The "Star" which the three
Magi "followed" was Sirius, in the constellation of Orion which,
because of its configuration at that time, foretold of the birth of a
great prophet. That there was "no room at the inn" is indicative that Jesus'
Teaching was for the pure of heart and not those engaged wholly in
business. The birth in the manger was a harbinger of his identification with
the "lower" economic classes.

Santa Claus and St. Nicholas are multi-ethnic dramatizations of
the original "Father Christmas" who leaves his home at the North
Pole to appear at the Yuletide bearing gifts for everyone.
These "gifts" are much like the gifts which the Magi gave
Jesus. In fact, Father Christmas is a Wise Magi who brings us the gift of
wisdom precisely at the Winter Solstice--the idea being that
everything which has existence, including Human Beings, goes
through cycles and each of these cycles affords growth. Since we are
here to learn wisdom and truth, we are continually offered these gifts in
yearly cycles in hopes that we have grown enough to be aware of what they
really represent. Thus each year we have our chance to see through
the physical illusions of life and begin to discern the
metaphysical reality of life. It's like growing up enough to finally be
able to grab the brass ring on the merry-go-round.

The fact that Father Christmas comes from the North Pole is
significant. According to the Ancient Wisdom, the first
continent to be formed on planet earth was around the Northern Polar Cap. This
is where the magnetic influx of cosmic energies is highest and where the
earth's crust first began to take shape. Also, the long-awaited advent
of the New World Teacher, the Lord Maitreya, and his "Warriors of
Shambhala" will arrive from the North, according to Tibetan lore. Therefore the
"Gifts" of Wisdom which the Magi--Father Christmas--wishes to give us is
the wisdom needed to prepare our consciousnesses for the coming of
the New World Teacher and the next step of cosmic evolution.

How to best celebrate Christmas? First, don't participate in
the crass commercialism which has taken over the real meaning of this
very sacred time. Meditate on the renewal of consciousness as a matter of
spiritual evolution. If your personal urge for renewal coincides with
the planetary cycle of renewal, the combined magnetism of energies will
reinforce each other to your benefit. Remember that wisdom lies not in seeing
things, but in seeing through things. And, above all, be kind and
considerate to other people--that's precisely what it means to "love one
another"--thus you will be passing on to others the gifts you have received.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor: Bob Ewing <cclash@web.net>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    o o
   / \------------------ Flemming A. Funch -------------------/ \
  / * \ New Civilization Network / Synchronicity Networks / * \
 / * * \ ffunch@newciv.org / * * \
o-------o----------- http://www.worldtrans.org/ -----------o-------o



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