The Introduction explains what the 'Rap is all about. BTW -- for those people who found the 'Rap by accident may be asking, Who on Earth is the Goddess, Anyways?...

        The CAWT_Network Yahoo! Group is sponsored by the Church of All Worlds Tradition Network (CAWTN) Two Rivers Nest and exists for anyone to express their thoughts about the evolving CAW Tradition, starting or getting publicity for a CAWTN Nest, and anything else of interest, of course. If you want an article to appear here, then all you have to do to submit articles is e-mail them to me.

        CAW III's Nesting (coven) program has been restarted, but getting recognized as a Proto-Nest has some requirements many CAW startups may not be meet the qualifications for awhile. A Shadow Nest has the advantage on *NOT* needing Official Permission to exist. A CAWTN Nest isn't a CAW Proto-Nest until you apply for proto-nest status, or as a 'nest forming' with CAW...

        CAWTN is an informal network which is not formally a part of CAW. One reason, out of many, is that this gives me the freedom to ignore 501.c.3 political restrictions because CAWTN is not a 501.c.3 church - this protects CAW from my "musings. Another reason is that sometimes a "shadow nest" can do things a CAW Nest can't do, much like the Baker Street Irregulars could do things Sherlock Homes couldn't have done...

        'Tis a Mystery -- CAWTN existed years before it was given a name - before I wrote its funky "Bylaws", before the hostile takeover of CAW II, before Liza Ravenheart wrote about the CAWT, and before I realized it existed. The WOW moment lead me to that conclusion happened before my short, OK not so short, letter was published in the very last Scarlet Flame which explained Something Interesting, (The Gods Themselves must have intervened to get it published before the Ohio BoD pulled the Plug on Scarlet Flame)...

        There was a lot of bitterness and angst over conflicts and misunderstandings of what was going on in CAW II, and some people have decided to go elsewhere because of it. This was partially a reflection of what's been going on in society at large - CAW has survived power plays by rogue Clergy, numerous personality conflicts, squabbles over money and Green Egg, highly infectious forms of HP[S] Disease, unfair treatment of members, the passsing of a CAW President, and attempted dissolution off CAW and mass resignations from the Ohio BoD. However, this freedom has come at a terrible cost, and many people left CAW without understanding what it was really all about, or how to succeed within it. I'd like to help change that - we have the "C.U.R.E." - [ "We can rebuild him..." ;-> ]. CAWT_Network is offering to begin the process, and start a bone-head CAW II Classroom of sorts. there's only one registration, and that's to the CAWT_Network Y! Group itself...

The Usual Links and Stuff are here!!

        The present position on theCAWT Wheel of the Year is about re-establishing ties with CAW members that were broken during the Cusp. Green Egg, has been restablished as CAW's Flag pubication, the new version is an on-line Magazine...

        I have a sheik_sebir's Forum Please, take the time to answer either the Religious Survey 1040 for 2010 (Long form) or the quick and dirty 2010 1040-EZ Form Survey (Short Form) if you want to ask a quick question. The IRS tax form references are an inside joke, I used to be a Call Center Rep for the IRS, and they're really not bad at all -- the surveys that is!

        However, if you want to send me E-mail then send stuff to My Primary Email, or My Personal "Business" Email.

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Dear Waterkin,

I [Oberon Zell Ravenheart] am pleased to announce that we are now accepting Ministerial Applications to license Ministers in the CAW! This is in accordance with the following paragraphs of our Canons:

RE: Ministers (from CAW Canons)

10.1. Religious Service. While the program of progressive involvement in the tribe provides for many levels of service to the Divine, to the Church, to the Mission of CAW and to the Curia (waterkin tribe) of CAW, some members of the Church of All Worlds are called to a life of more intense dedication and service to the Divine, the Church, and humanity. After proper training, reflection & vision questing, these persons may be received into the Clergy by way of ordination (Priesthood) or ministerial licensure.

10.3. Ministers. Individuals who desire to serve in a specific capacity may be approved and licensed as a Minister and issued Ministerial Credentials. Licensed CAW Ministers shall function as the equivalent of Chaplains, and be authorized to perform such sacraments as authorized by the Priesthood Council. In order to qualify for this special status, the postulant must present a Ministerial Proposal and submit a ministerial application to the Priesthood Council indicating the nature of the intended Ministry and his/her qualifications to fulfill it.

10.3.1. Clergy, Not Priesthood. Ministers shall be regarded as Clergy, but not as part of the Priesthood, which is a designation reserved for ordained Priests & Priestesses.

10.3.1. Ministry. A Minister may form his/her ministry as a subordinate organization subject to the provisions of Canon 13.

Our first new Minister to be licensed under this program is Julie Epona O’Ryan, who was invested on Dec. 21, 2009 (Yule).

          A Ministerial License from the Church of Worlds is a fully legal Clergy credential throughout the United States and Australia, where the CAW is a Federally- recognize d incorporated religious body with the power to ordain and license Clergy. Ministers are legally authorized to perform standard sacraments, such as weddings and funerals, as well as have visitation rights in hospitals and prisons.

          Self Employment publication #533 from Social Security states that Ministers are defined as: “individuals who are duly ordained, commissioned or licensed by a religious body constituting a church or church denomination. They are given the authority to conduct religious worship, perform sacerdotal functions and administer ordinances or sacraments according to the prescribed tenets and practices of that church or denomination.”

          In some states, such as Tennessee, an organization does not need an IRS tax 501 number to be considered a church (this is stated clearly in TN Code 36-3-301, which discusses “ministers, preachers, pastors, priests, rabbis or other spiritual leaders who must be ordained or otherwise designated in conformity with the customs of a church, temple or other religious group or organization and such customs must provide for such ordination or designation by a considered, deliberate and responsible act” and have the “care of souls”). Thus folks who get, say, a Universal Life Church ministerial certificate over the web can indeed be accepted as Ministers in such states without any other proof. Other states are not so casual and require Ministers to register, showing proof of either a) Articles of Incorporation or b) tax ID status of the church AND a letter of good standing (i.e. active membership) within that church. You should find out what the laws are in this regard in your own state, and register if that is required.

          The laws of all states allow ministers to perform marriages. You will find that many states specify, however, that only “ordained or licensed Ministers” may perform marriages. Here “licensed” means licensed by a legal Church. In addition to being ordained and licensed by the Church, some states require the Minister to be registered with the state or city before performing marriages. The International Clergy Association, based in Monterey, California, has compiled a summary of state marriage laws to let you know what you must do to perform marriages in your state. Under each state they quote or paraphrase what the law has to say about Ministers who may perform marriages. If you wish a copy of this document, titled “Marriage Laws of the Various States,” just send me an email request off-list at Oberon@mcn.org.

          Since at the moment the CAW Priesthood Council, which is authorized to approve Ministerial applications, consists of only Morning Glory and me, if you are interested in applying, please email me off-list at Oberon@mcn.org and I will send you by reply an email Application Form. Please understand that to qualify, you will need to be a current member of CAW (at least 2nd Circle), so if your membership isn’t current, please take care of this before applying for your Ministerial License! You will also need to present suitable background and other qualifications as noted on the Application Form. The questions you will be asked include:

* Education.

* Relevant experience and other clergy qualifications.

* What is your spiritual training? Important teachers? If you have learned through self-study instead of formal training, please describe your personal explorations.

* Why do you want to become a Minister, and how do you intend to serve as one?

* References: Please give us names and eddresses of two or more reputable people (ideally someone known to Oberon and/or Morning Glory) who would be willing to personally recommend you as a Minister.

There is also a $25 processing fee. As well as helping support your Church, this will cover printing and mailing your frameable 8½”x11” Ministerial License, wallet photo ID card, and some business cards identifying you as a CAW Minister (more of these may be ordered later).

I know that many of you have been waiting for this—finally, here it is!

May You Never Thirst,

Oberon, Primate

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Want to keep your 1st Amendment rights? Read this!

          I [Oberon Zell Ravenheart] am shocked almost speechless today at a brazen attack on the religious liberties of Pagans, Wiccans, and all other followers of minority religions. Some of you may have heard of Rev. Patrick McCollum, a man who became the first government-recognized Wiccan chaplain in the United States in 1997. He has been doing outstanding work in raising visibility on legal issues involving discrimination against minority faiths in prison and elsewhere; he appeared before the US Commission on Civil Rights in Washington, DC, to speak at a briefing focused on prisoners' religious rights; he spoke at the Parliament of World Religions in Australia in December; and he's been invited to be part of the current administration' s discussion on how to limit discrimination and promote Interfaith education. To put it briefly, he is out there fighting for us.

          His latest battle has been an ongoing fight of several years against California's "five faiths policy," which restricts paid prison chaplains to being only of the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American faiths. He rightfully argued that this constitutes religious discrimination in hiring practices, not to mention the fact that incarcerated members of other faiths would be well-served by having more minority faith chaplains. The response, up to now, has been to argue on the technicality that McCollum has no legal standing, as he's not a prisoner, nor is he a taxpayer trying to curb government spending (he's suggesting government money instead could be spent more fairly). But now the conversation has taken a turn for the worse. Much worse. Patrick's latest statement reads:

          "In one of their first arguments to the court, the defendants said that certain "traditional" faiths are first tier faiths and that those faiths were meant to have equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution, but that all of the other faiths, for example, Hindus, Pagans, Buddhists, Sikhs, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jains, are second tier faiths deserving of lesser rights, and therefore are not meant to have the same equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution as the first tier faiths.

          Now, in an amicus brief filed in the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in support of the CDCR and the other defendants, an organization called WallBuilders, Inc, which is represented by the National Legal Foundation, has argued that Christianity is the only religion that should be protected under the Constitution or at the very most other monotheistic religions might also be included. They also argue that the term religion only applies to Christianity or monotheistic faiths, and that anyone else, including the Pagans, are not really a religion for the purpose of Constitutional protections."

          Does that send shivers down your spine? Creep you out entirely? It should. Wicca has been a protected religion in the eyes of the Federal Court since 1986 now these cretins want to say "not really."

          The WallBuilder' s brief claims that the definition of "religion" when used by the founding fathers was synonymous with "Christianity" or "monotheism" because they spoke of "the Creator" as a singular noun, and therefore McCollum can't invoke the protection of the founding fathers. Inexplicably, they also argue at the same time that since the definition of religion has changed since then (yes, the definition has changed, but if anything I would argue that it's broader now than it was back then), whatever definition of "religion" you apply, Paganism and witchcraft don't fall under it. Incredible!

          If you're troubled or outraged by this assault on the beliefs of millions of non-monotheists living in America, here's what you can do, in Patrick's words again:

"...We all need to write to:
Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Mathew L. Cate, the Secretary of the CDCR and let them all know our outrage.

          And if you are a Pagan or Heathen, then we must also demand equal treatment, equal accommodations, equal access to our religious items for institutionalized persons, including prison inmates, and equal access to paid Pagan chaplains...

          For the full enchilada, complete with links to Patrick's full statement, and WallBuilder' s full amicus brief, please see for-monotheists\the post on the Wild Hunt blog: Is the First Amendment for Monotheists Only?

          Kids, it looks like now is the time to jump in. We've been letting Patrick fight for us, now is the time to make our voices heard on his behalf before this thing goes too far.

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I [Oberon Zell Ravenheart] just wrote the following 200-word Letter to the Editor to our local newspaper. I hope they'll print it!

          If anyone else would like to send a similar letter to your own local paper, giving your own group's contact info, please feel free to crib from this one as you wish. Let's get this message out! After all, "Avatar" is the biggest blockbuster movie of all time, with millions of people loving it for its essentially "Neo-Pagan" message. Now that the Pope has explicitly made that identification, we need to let all those "Avatar" fans know who we are, and how to find us.

Bright Blessings,
                    Oberon Zell Ravenheart

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Dear fellow Pagans,

Letter to the Editor;
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat
letters@pressdemocr at.com

Pope: 'Avatar' [is] 'Neo-Pagan'

In a recent review of the mega-blockbuster movie "Avatar," Vatican Radio condemned "pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium. Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship."

          In his "Papal Message for World Day of Peace 2010," Pope Benedict XVI warned that "such notions eliminate the difference of identity and worth between the human person and other living things. In the name of a supposedly egalitarian vision of the 'dignity' of all living creatures, such notions end up abolishing the distinctiveness and superior role of human beings. They also open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man's salvation in nature alone."

          Indeed they do! Thanks, Your Holiness, for explaining this so succinctly to all the enthusiastic viewers of that phenomenal movie! After 1500 years of the Church misrepresenting Paganism as evil and satanic, we modern Neo-Pagans appreciate this tacit acknowledgement that what we are r eally all about is Nature worship. Neo-Paganism is "green religion," plain and simple. Our primary deity is Gaia-Mother Earth.

          Readers who appreciated the ecospiritual message in "Avatar" might want to check out the at: Sonoma County Pagan Network

Rev. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
Church of All Worlds

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[Someone to whom I posted the Pope's response to Avatar said:]

[Oberon Zell Ravenheart] ... "Some of my Pagan/Druid friends objected to 'Avatar' because it continued, in their opinion, the white-centrist savior concept. White superman savior leads and saves the naive childlike (infer less intelligent) natives from destruction (they can't do it on their own)."

          This rather odd and misguided interpretation of the movie seems to be getting quite a bit of circulation lately. Personally, I think it is a subtle right-wing plot to attempt to discredit the message of the movie with liberals and progressives.

          But, I think it's crap. The hero's race was irrelevant; he could have just as easily been black, Asian, Hispanic, or anything. That wasn't the point. The point was that he was human, and came out of the very culture that was intent on destroying the natives; but after spending time among them, he switched allegiance. That is only significant if he had started off far removed from them in the first place-which he so clearly did. Thus his education and transformation becomes that of the audience. Which is the whole intent of the movie, according to Cameron.

          I think the reason that so many stories like this involve white men "going native" is simply that they're in fact representative of the culture of oppression-the implication being that even they might become enlightened if they could only experience first-hand the traditional cultures their own culture so despises. And the actual history of colonialism - especially British - is replete with real examples of this sort of thing. The "savior" is not the white guy, but the indigenous culture he comes to appreciate. And thus, so does the audience.

          As a Pagan, I am always delighted to see such beautiful depictions of the values I hold dear reaching into the hearts and minds of wider audiences. I believe that such stories are our best hope for transforming humanity and saving the world. After all, Pandora is only a fictional world in a movie. But our own Earth is real, and we live here. And the plotline of Avatar is but a thinly-veiled allegory for the history of imperial colonialism and its brutal oppression and exploitation of indigenous peoples-which is all too real. But the movie-like the Pagan renaissance now in progress-also holds out hope for a future resolution and cultural transformation. And this hope is what we're counting on.

          And incidentally, those traditional peoples who have seen Avatar seem to love it! "Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, has praised 'Avatar' for what he calls its message of saving the environment from exploitation."

BB-OZ

The Grey School

Vivere bene est vindicata optima.

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
Headmaster

Grey School of Wizardry

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03/07-09/10:I have some good news ;-) and some bad news... ;-(
The good news is that I've migrated to "Windows 7" and the internet connection works; the bad news is the HP printer won't work for printing, but for some reason the scan does work - just the opposite of the way it was on XP. (HP didn't make a generic driver for it) I can't get the printer to work on the second computer in the network either because it's "obsolete" as well, so I'll probably have to replace it, I found that my computer does have a hardware glitch (most of the software problems ended with the install) that stops me from using the computer immediately after Windows is supposed to load (it looks like I have to let it warm up first for up to 10 minutes as all I get is the black warning screen and an occasional warning about data corruption). All of my "Favorites" were wiped clean, so I'm sarting from scratch. I'll survive this ezperience :-) Win 7 has changed some things around compared to XP, so it's back on the learning curve for me. ( I'm a poet who doesn't know it.) I expect to upgrade on the next printer I get, when I can afford it...

03/04/10:Our Economic Elite have engineered a coup against the middle class, endangering its existence, and it's time we recognized what been going on in our country. This link has something to say that I think needs to be aired out in the light of day. If stupid is as stupid does, then greed is as greed does. I seems that there comes a time in every rich person's soon to be black heart where mere monetary wealth is no longer enough to satisfy their urge for power. Then they reach out with their money to fund a charity, work behind the scenes. They also spend their money to get more perks from the gov'mint as tax breaks, or decide to either fund politicians for favorable legislation, lobby legislators for favorable laws, or run for office themselves (Meg Whitman who is betting her own mega-bucks to become the next Governor of California).

          Goldman Sachs is a good example of this. They've alledgedly conspired with the Grecian gov'mint to create exotic financial transactions to hide its debts through arcane financial hocus-pocus from the rest of the EU. Previously they sold trashy derivatives to unsuspecting clients while taking out insurance on those same derivatives to profit again when the mortgage bundles reverted to their true worth which is a lot less than its nominal value. Having grown tired of unscruplous money making and obscene salaries for the top executives which some say came from the long suffering taxpayer they've decided that mere money grubbing is not enough. They have an inside track to put its executives into executive positions in the ObamaNation's gov'mint, including, and expecially, the US Treasury. Now the fox guards the sheep's money, and GS can use the Treasury as one big ATM when it needs to. Our government is the best gov'mint money can buy, and they have alot of power to hand out in the lobbyist and job swapping games. It's time for the Treasury boss to resign and for the trials to begin...

02/14-17/10:Sorry about the broken links to Jerry Brown, et al. I didn't see the spaces in the http address for two of them and the duplicate http://s in the address line or the copy error they overlooked because the http appeared twice in each website. I should have double checked them for this because for some reason people put spaces in website names and generally don't know how to write websites correctly, mea culpa...

          I've trimmed back on the old news and placed them in the notes in "Calendar". It was just getting too large, and no one probably reads the old stuff anyways.

02/10/10: I've added another appeal for correspondence with the powers-that-be which has to do with prisoner's religious rights to worship within the faith they choose, and be included in the so-called top tier religions (the top tier idea is foriegn to the bill of rights as written, there is no "top tier" in the first amendment), or just Xtianity - the perferred stand of the WallBuilders. The California prison system is being urged to adopt this stand by some Xtian cretins who will ruin even their own standing, as many of Xtians don't believe that Xtianity is a religion at all, but a relationship. Even a stupe can figure out that the 1st Amendment covers all religious expression, because if it doesn't then the Bill of Rights doesn't exist for large groups of minority religions or even minority Xtian cults...

02/02 - 04/10:Here's some interesting news out of the U.S. Air Force Academy on their recognition of Neo-Paganism and their new stone circle.

01/29/10:Massachusetts has a new 'Publican Senator in a state long held by the "blue" column, and it was the "Kennedy Seat" to boot. Very few MSM news outlets paid attention to, or even noticed this race, until it suddenly looked like the Dem candidate would be ecliped by the 'Publican dark horse, much like Sauron's Eye couldn't focus on the Ring until it was too late, and then the Black Swan event, the highly improbable event that no one was looking for - happened. The Democrat's runaway freight train - the ObamaCare and the 'Cap and Trade' bill and other runaway bills - have been stopped for now, but only if the 'Publicans' can all vote as one, otherwise that small advantage will slip through their fingers...

          Is this is a harbringer of a defeat to come for the Dems in November? It will be if the Dems don't get the message and reform their wicked ways: pandering to large corporations such as the Pharma, Wall Street, Financial, and Health care industries; goverment bankruptcy; bribery; buying votes; holding secret meetings instead of open, transparent ones that Obama promisedwould be done openly; the occupations of Afganistan and Iraq; the closing of Guantanamo; the treatment of terrorists as criminals in a court instead of what they really are - enemy combatants. The People are slowly waking up, will speak loudly, and deal with the corruption that prevades Washington DC and Wall Street, if the Dems don't do so, by throwing the bums out yet again...

          Getting the Goglet of Fire to work again took up alot of time and I had some frustrating time to figure out why it wouldn't work. This one is a little fatter than the original image, and I think it looks better that way, for now... 01/05-12/10:It's staring out the year in hopeless optimism that things will be marginally better for most of us eventually - and the operative word here is "marginally". Meanwhile, the decks of the 'Rap have almost been cleared and I have a new installment of the FUTER to write, but not right at this moment, for I'm still getting over the holidays which is much like the cold I can't get rid of. Actually I've just started it and it's in DRAFT Mode.

01/01/10:It's a New Year in Chicago, so here's some actual good news - Happy New Years! Unforturnately it won't last, it usually doesn't - there's always some bunch of morons or idiots that will do something stupid to ruin it for anyone who cares, and problems don't melt away because of a change in calendars. So, though it's usually unwise, it's time for optimism at least for a while - enjoy the day!...

12/29 -> 31/09:♫ Mithras is over ... and I feel fine... ♫ One thing that's done at this time is to try and forecast the future for the next year My first one is from James Kunsler's article, Forecast 2010 and the second one is An Introspective Look at the Future of America...

          Business has picked up and I'm getting more hits and my guess is because it was the Santa article, so expect more of the same. I went to my aunt's for Xmas and had a good time. I don't have enough web presence to require a Facebook account, and I've done absolutely nothing with my Twitter account - I just don't have the time. I also have no cell phone because I don't have alot of people to call - OK, I have almost no one to call. However, I plan to do someting with the CAWTN_Network Group in the next few weeks...

12/24/09:It's Christmas Eve and I hope y'all like the Santa article I've chosen to explain one point of view about a Xmas Tradition that is a wee bit odd. However, picking mushrooms is not an easy task for those who don't know what they're looking for, or what they're doing - if you pick the wrong 'shroom you can be poisoned. I prefer a less risky ways to reach a shamanic trance like meditation and Dreaming, drumming, or rattles, either taped or live. As always on Xmas Eve, I wish you all a Merry Mithras!...

          This recession/ depression does have a spiritual element, and some may be getting what others may see as their just deserts, while other people who don't deserve any help, are being bailed out of their stupidities, greed, and short sightedness because they're too big to fail (Mebbe if they're broken up into little pieces then they're no longer be too big to fail). Others have been left without a lifejacket to sink or swim all by their lonesome. To me it's quite clear that the whole Consumerist way of life needs to be reevaluated by 'Mercan families, and some have come to the conclusion that it's OK, and culturally allowed to drop the house keys into their mailboxes and walk away from their underwater mortgages. This happened because the Banksters and the credit companies got a little too confident in their ability to to screw people and pinned their abilities to use the new Bankruptcy bill, they demanded, to screw consumers and debtors even more than they have already. Things have backfired for them - that't why they're really in trouble - No one trusts them anymore - Hades! They don't even trust their own! That's why they're in trouble...