now is samhain, the night when the veil thins and those things from our past can come back from wherever we buried them to dance with us again. some are persons, some are pets, some are ideas or ideals that we held dear. how do we respond when the ghosts return? do we hide our eyes? do we deny their place in our life? do we just runrunrun screaming toward the next distraction? or do we turn and face them, welcoming them, honoring the place they still hold in our lives? at midnight the graves will reveal all that was hidden. can i at last unbury the pain, the resentments, the anger, the obsession so that we can all just get on with our....lives? so mote it be.

now is that age-old battle of male-vs-female. i just finished reading an excellent book(Stiffed by Susan Faludi) and this is her closing argument:he no longer has to live by the "scorecard" his nation handed him....and so ...comes an opening, an opportunity for men to forge a rebellion commensurate with women's. and, in the course of it, to create a new paradigm for human progress that will open doors for (all) sexes.....to create a freer, more humane world. In the end, though, it will remain a dream without the strength and courage of men who are today faced with a historic opportunity : to learn to wage a battle against no enemy, to own a frontier of human liberty, to act in the service of a brotherhood that includes us all(pp.607f). Having just come from two similar gatherings, one of gay/bisexual men and one of men and women, gay and straight, and experiencing the beauty of ritual and sharing, including talking circles and sweat lodges, i am overjoyed to announce that the troops for this new battle are gathering in arkansas and texas and kansas and oregon and probably in your town, too. read the book(if you can find it) and find someone with different "junk" from you to discuss these issues. the time is now, the place is in our hearts,namaste,goldenrod