~ April 2006 Supplemental Page~
 

Circle of Life


Continued . . . Mrs. Silliman lived in Sunnyvale for 30 years before moving to Carmel 17 years ago. She was a member of the Carmel Valley Women’s Club. A very loving, generous person, she enjoyed spending time with her family and her friends at Curves in Carmel Valley. Mrs. Silliman is survived by her son Peter Douglas Silliman of Plainfield, Indiana; daughter Jules Hart of Carmel; daughter-in-law Michelle Silliman; and her grandchildren, Rachel and Daniel Silliman. Her husband, C.H. “Hank” Silliman, preceded her in death in 1998.

A Celebration of Maxine’s Life was held at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula on Friday, March 24 at 11:30 a.m. Following cremation, a private inurnment took place at San Carlos Cemetery in Monterey.

The Reluctant Goddess; Kleopatra and the Stolen Throne

Continued . . . As Kleopatra escapes from hiding place to hiding place, her sister’s army searching for her, she develops her skills and is blessed by the Gods and Goddesses with talents and powers beyond her imagining. With Timoxenos ever by her side, she faces daimons, evils and days of war. As an initiate in Hermetic Magic, Kleopatra learns that the great evil in Egypt is not just her sister but also the Lord of Chaos, Seth-Typhon. Will the great Phoenix, Hermes, and Wedjoyet be able to help her? Even they realize that only the Goddess of Ten Thousand Names can save Egypt.

In an epic tale of Gods and Goddesses, Kings and Princesses, author Dharma Windham has created a novel of excitement, romance, magic, and morals. It is an in-depth look at Egypt and royalty wrapped up in an entrancing story of heroism, justice and bravery. The characters come to life complete with natural urges, rude behaviors, human flaws and deep desires. The plot twists and expands like an ever-changing force of war.

Not your usual work of fiction in these days and I was truly satisfied reading the tale of the “Reluctant Goddess.”



All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise


Continued . . . Yes, it definitely moved me but more than that, it made me think. I thought about the way the media so singularly portrays gay and lesbian people, reducing an entire segment of society to drag queens and guys cruising Sunset strip. And because these images are so “not-family” they are easily reduced in mainstream America’s mind as “deviant” behavior and applied across the board to all lesbian and gay people. Isn’t it just so much easier to disregard a whole group of people when you only see one narrow spectrum of who they are? You know the image I’m talking about–the typical story portrayed on local TV stations when the news is light and they send a crew off to cover the occasional gay-themed event. Rosie’s Family Cruise takes us beyond those stereotypes and allows us a glimpse into the intimate lives of these families who are no different from my family. Or your family.

Oh sure you hear the occasional story about gay and lesbian couples wanting to adopt, wanting families, blah, blah, blah, but on Rosie’s Family Cruise I saw the faces of those couples. I saw those families. I heard the stories of the children who grew up with two dads or two moms. I saw the bright, beautiful six-year old shyly hiding in his poppy’s arms–a “crack-baby” who no one wanted except his two dads who cared for him through his newborn addiction. I heard the pain in the woman’s voice when she and her partner found out the artificial insemination didn’t work. . .again. (The state they live in only allows frozen sperm. Nothing fresh for these women!) I saw two white moms being inundated with love by their adopted black children. But what I saw on All Aboard! were families–whether black or white, young or old, parents or grandparents–with kids who were wanted, loved, and adored. I saw babies and children of all ages who were happy and thriving. Isn’t that what family is supposed to be about? Isn’t that what we want for all humanity?

No doubt most reviewers will say this documentary is too idyllic, the families too happy and perfect. But hey, I’ve seen the media’s other version. . .countless times. I NEEDED to see this “picture” of gay and lesbian families. I needed to see these faces and hear these stories. I needed my consciousness shifted. And I am a better person for having watched this movie.

The following is a synopsis of All Aboard! Rosie’s Family Cruise from the Sundance Film Festival.

Five hundred families from across the nation are on board a ship chartered by Rosie and Kelli O'Donnell for the first-ever cruise for gay and lesbian families. This historic event, a kind of nautical utopia, offers a world without prejudice, where love, compassion, and true family values prevail. But when the families disembark in Nassau after a week of fun and adventure, angry protesters accost them, hurling hatred in the name of Christ. For many of the younger children, still untainted by the scars of human bigotry, these protests are a confusing and frightening initiation, while the parents and teenagers are left with a piercing reminder of their struggle for acceptance. Nimbly directed by Shari Cookson, All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise provides a compelling example of what film does better than any other medium. Ever conscious that a picture paints a thousand words, Cookson interweaves multiple stories with simple visual images. The smiles on the faces of the children aboard the ship become a political statement unto themselves. This exquisitely layered, powerfully moving film forces us to examine our conscience as a nation and challenges us to imagine the possibility of a better world. -- © Sundance Film Festival



Ritual As Worship: What is ritual and why we do ritual?


Continued . . . Ritual is a vital part of human health, but we have reduced this aspect of our vitality to a few, scattered traditional ceremonies such as birthdays, graduations, weddings, and christenings–ceremonies that unfortunately, have lost much of their meaning. It’s no wonder the human condition is as it is today. We are bereft of the healing power of ritual and myth. As a result we seek to fill our spiritual emptiness with drugs of all kinds–from crack to consumerism to cookies–none of which endows us with the important, meaningful support needed to enhance our lives and support our personal evolution.

Eminent mythologist Joseph Campbell points out in The Power of Myth that ”if you want to find out what it means to have a society without rituals . . . read the news of the day . . . [you’ll find] destructive and violent acts by young people who don’t know how to behave in a civilized society.”1 The proliferation of gangs in the past few decades is evidence of a culture lacking in mythology and the appropriate rites of passage for young people. A closer look at the structure of gangs reveals many of the elements associated with the human imperative known as ritual. For instance, they have ritual clothing and colors, music, language, symbols–repetitive signs and hand gestures–and connection to community or family. Because nature abhors a vacuum of any kind, these youths have fulfilled an important human need by creating rituals based on a mythology that, unfortunately, clearly reflects American society today–a mythology of death, dominance, and destruction.

Ritual is the formula, the recipe, for cellular alchemy. It provides a psychic pathway for transmutation to take place. Ritual done to its fullest involves the whole person–the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies. It encompasses the totality of the human expression, and the layers of meaningful action amplify the experience, thereby creating the potential for a deeper, cellular transformation than could ever be accomplished from, say, simply repeating an affirmation alone. Author and medical anthropologist Dr. Alberto Villoldo, in discussing this phenomenon, explains that the part of the human brain known as the limbic system, which houses all of the mechanisms that regulate physiology, self-healing, and regeneration, does not have direct and conscious dialoguing capabilities, and therefore cannot be influenced by speech and language alone.2

The limbic brain (from Latin limbus, meaning “border”) is an incredible switchboard where signals travel back and forth on neural pathways between the “lower” parts of the brain (governing instincts, drives, and automatic regulation of body processes) and the cerebral cortex, the “higher” brain (controlling advanced reasoning and planning). According to the ABC’s of the Human Mind, “In this strategic spot, a kind of crossroads where visceral feelings, cognition, and memory meet, the limbic system helps shape the basic motivations and emotions of our lives.”3

The physical enactment of a ritual that has been endowed with highly charged emotions, based on intellectual, well-thought-out goals, and contained within our highest spiritual aspirations has the potential to discharge old neurological circuits and then reprogram, or make new neurological connections.

Ritual can be a great resource for individuals by reinforcing the personal growth accomplished through therapy and other transformative techniques, such as prayer, meditation, dance, astrology, yoga, and dreaming, to name a few. Ritual, in essence, marks the changes in our lives and supports the subtle shifts in our interior landscape as we adjust to those changes. Ritual assists the transformative process, whether it is used to acquire guidance about a needed change, to initiate some desired change, or to celebrate and embrace a completed change.

Humans often use ritual to demarcate beginnings and endings. Rituals create paths to guide us from one stage of being to another; these are commonly called rites of passage. Rituals also connect us with community. Joining with others in ceremony fulfills our human need to belong. It also affirms the timeless commonalities of the human experience. And when a ritual is brought to the most personal level, it becomes a tool for spiritual, emotional, and psychological development. Rituals accelerate personal growth and enable us to connect with the innermost parts of ourselves.

Rituals can be part of a therapeutic process. They contain the framework for personal transformation, rites of passage, healing, empowerment, and manifestation. Rituals can restore us to balance and wholeness, and allow us to make the necessary inner changes when our outer reality has been altered, whether in expected or unexpected ways. They bring clarity and resolution to personal choices and new life directions. They open us to insight, inspiration, and new possibilities. Rituals help us shed what we've outgrown and release whatever no longer affirms our personal evolution.

Ultimately, and most important, ritual brings the sacred into our lives. Rituals require thought and intent, which force us to step away from the accelerated pace that most of us live by and move into a space of timelessness. No matter what your religious beliefs, rituals can enhance the moments of your life by giving focus and attention to those things you have designated as important. They bring a sense of the divine into our lives, and they affirm and enhance our connection to the sacred, however we choose to define it. Campbell explains this connection with the divine in The Power of Myth: ”A ritual can be defined as an enactment of a myth. By participating in a ritual, you are actually experiencing a mythological life. And it’s out of that participation that one can learn to live spiritually.”4

Rituals are a collective way of relating to the divine energies and celebrating them. In the process of celebrating these life-affirming energies, we have the opportunity to practice a form of the ancient art known as alchemy–to change our lives for the better, to create our lives the way we want them to be.
 

1. Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers

(New York: Doubleday, 1988), p. 8.

2. Alberto Villoldo, Shamanism and Spiritual Healing (Palm Beach, Fla.: The Four Winds Society, n.d.) tape 2, six-tape audio cassette program.

3. Reader's Digest, ABC's of the Human Mind, edited by Alma E. Guinness (New York: The Reader's Digest Association, 1990), p. 84.

4. Campbell, The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers, p. 182.