[Never Ending Story]

Tail of Two Civets, which was not at all what...

[My Brother]

Brother Sean,

You, your brother, and your family

are in my prayers,

and the prayers of many here.

[666]

.

666:

Isn't this what they now call "Old Route 66"?

[My Mother-in-law]

Thanks all - it was a nerve wracking night - it turns out that she only had an anxiety attack due to an allergic reaction.

Thanks again for your good wishes, prayers, and positive energies.

Thanks again.

Brian & Tracey

Thanks Brian, Tracey,

For letting us know that things got better,

Blessings,

Hex

[Discussion Thread For Secret Mark]

I don't know if this approach is going to work here at the ULC, I have tried it elsewhere, with mixed results.

The idea is to keep a thread, which is essentially a display of scripture, from getting unwieldy. So, I am asking folks who want to comment to "do it here". If this works out, Great...and if it doesn't...no big deal.

[Fabric Of Time]

Well I find your vision very interesting and quite similar to the web-like interlaced energy pattern I perceive sometimes that connects us all.

Yours is a very interesting choice of words, Fawzo.

It brought to mind a narrative description of an episode

from the works of Carlos Castaneda writing about

The Yaqui Indian Sorcerer, Don Juan, in which the

"lines of connectivity", which were radiating from "the center of being",

a point approximately midway between the navel and

the genitals, actually "became visible".

Of course, reading Castaneda's accounts of his

several mystical experiences involving Don Juan, do require

something akin to "a suspension of belief" in the

experiential world that we call "normal time".

Castaneda, before his death, went on to transform himself

into something quite wierd. But his Don Juan episodes are

remarkable.

[Used Bookstore]

Not everyone can AFFORD to worry about whether or not a royalty payment will adhere to a re-sale of a used book. If you are one of the fortunate few who doesn't have to "watch his (or her) nickels and dimes", then you will most likely choose to "treat yourself" to a nice crisp (new) copy of any given text, anyway. You will still enjoy searching the used book stores for those out-of-print or just-not-stocked items that aren't readily available anywhere else. And don't forget the environmental aspect! Buying a used book might save a tree....and besides, used book sellers are usually small businesses, and those folks "need to eat" too.

[Personal Theology]

Me, I'll fully admit that, yes, I am a Neo-Pagan, but that does not mean that I am evil, nor does it mean that I worship the Christian devil. Satan is not a name by which I address the cosmos, so therefore, I do not believe in him. Yes, many of the gods of my faith bear the horns of the stag, the ram, or the bull, but I do not worship the Christian Prince of Darkness. No, I worship the Horned Lords of the Hunt, masters of the wild world in which we all try to live. I worship the Goddess as Mother Earth, as the fertile and sacred Mother of us all, for without her precious womb (Earth), none of us could survive. Yes, I call upon the God and Goddess, yet I do so with the understanding that they are but names for something beyond human comprehension, something so great that it would require the perfect language to express it, a perfection that I, as a mortal, cannot achieve. I use the names to make sense of the infinite and the nothing, for that is truly what the Divine One is, both everything and nothing, for the Divine One is all things at once.

Sephira Midnyght

Hi Midnyght,

Welcome to the ULC Forum. Pagans, "Neo" or otherwise have had a "bad rap" (historically speaking) at the hand of some of the traditions represented here. I have only recently come to realize the extent of the polemic assault waged against the "Old Religion" by those who were the fierce proponents of a "New Religion" many hundreds of years ago. If I understand you correctly, when you speak of "the horns of the stag" you are speaking metaphorically about a "symbol" which represents for you one of the specific deities of your religion, am I correct? I am in total agreement with your observation that no human language is "sufficiently perfect" to speak accurately of the Divine One.

[Blessings And Thanks To My Four Legged Friend, Nori]

In her sixteenth year, we wish her well and know her time is near

Please join me in a moment of celebration -

to acknowledge the girl dog I picked up one Saturday afternoon long ago (1994-95?)

and to thank her for all her years by my side

We listened to "The Grateful Dead Hour" on WXPN. We got horribly lost on the way home. She was two.

She didn't have a very good reputation and she was only supposed to stay with me for three days, (I was a foster Mom for Gordon Setters).

Her reputation was undeserved and three days turned into fourteen years

now one of my best friends is coming to the end of her journey

please hold her (and us) in the light

I wish to share my favorite sentiment concerning our four-legged friends...

I cannot call it a theory, because it is more from the heart than the head:

There are indeed Angels in this world, they walk on all four, and are covered in soft fur.

[Early Christian Writings]

Here are some of the more interesting sections I found while perusing Origen's rebuttal of the writtings of Celsus.

Origen is one of the more reliable of the Early Church Fathers.

So what might this secret teaching be that even most the Apostles weren't privvy to. Remember Yeshua pulled one of the Apostles (I forgot which one) to the side and gave him a secret teaching that he could not reveal to the others.

The very first Lines of The Gospel Of Thomas (GoT) read as follows:

"These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded. "

Many of the Secret Teachings are presented in the Gospel of Thomas, which can be viewed on-line at the following URL: http://www.webcom.com/gnosis/naghamm/gosthom.html

We know Didymous Judas Thomas as "the Apostle Thomas". The word Didymous means "the Twin". It is thought by many that he was a twin brother of Yeshua.

Fawso has alluded to an episode during which Yeshua (Jesus) communicated some Secret Teachings to one of the Apostles (it was Thomas). As for "what was said by Jesus during that encounter, here is what GoT tells us about that encounter:

13. Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like."

Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger."

Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."

Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like."

Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended."

And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"

Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you."

As for what Yeshua said to Didymos Judas Thomashim, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like."

[Clergy Apparel - How To Get Dressed To Worship & Minister]

Dear Fellow ULC Ordained Ministers

I need to ask , am in Western Australia,

How can I start to begin to gather together a Church community and fellowship for worship

ULC Ordination is not recognised in Australia,

wish someone would get it registered with Attorney Generals Dept. Why cant ULC HQ do this?. They have good lawyers I take it?.

Am so sick and tired of people saying ULC ordinations are not valid or credible.

I love this church of ULC.

Hello Rev Tess. I'm from the U.S. so I am no authority on Aussie rules and regulations. But I do have a suggestion for you: Talk to clergy folks in the progressive churches that are already accepted Down Under. You may discover that the Unitarians there, or some equally liberal organization, can themselves recognize your ULC ordination, and perhaps they can offer you "association" status, which may be useful in getting government recognition, if not for the ULC "in general", then perhaps at least for you and your mission.

Good luck and God's blessings be with you.

Rev Sam (hexalpa)

Below is an exerpt I found "on the web" that lists some Aussie progressive organizations..Might be of help?

What is new about the current progressive Christian expression, is this open and pluralistic faith is ‘coming out’ or resurfacing in many congregations in mainline churches, despite or in spite of, archbishops, moderators and ‘religious right’ lobby groups. As well it is giving sustenance and support to thousands of disillusioned individuals who “love the Christ and leave the Church” (Murray 2000) as New Zealand songwriter Shirley Murray puts it, and who now meet in informal, safe, discussion/nurturing groups in a dynamic grassroots movement.

Some of the more formal groups are included among the sponsors of this Conference:

Sea of Faith in Australia

Progressive Christianity Network, South Australia

The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought, Canberra

The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought, Sydney

Progressive Spirituality Network, Brisbane

Progressive Christian Network of Victoria

Progressive Evangelical Network, Sydney

The Spirit of Life Unitarian Fellowship, Kirribilli.