Sunstone, Synchronicity, and SLC Radio

RadioActive! Aug 6 Sunstone Symposium - Critiquing Mormon Theology.

"SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (2008-08-08) The annual Sunstone Symposium is in session and Gena welcomes three of the participants. Jeff Needle is a Jewish Mormonphile who has spent decades fascinated by Mormon theology. Elizabeth Quick sees Emma Smith as a mystical shaman and Sharon Adams is comparing and constrasting Mormonism with Buddhism. All three guests offer new and interesting takes on the religion of the Latter-day Saints."

Download the MP3 while it's still available (click) HERE

Just prior to this year's Sunstone Symposium I was contacted by producer Troy Williams of Salt Lake City's community radio station, KRCL, for an interview regarding my Sunstone presentation.

Two other Sunstone presenters were scheduled to appear on the show with me: Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirby and the (interestingly, non-Mormon) Mormon History Association book editor Jeff Needleman.

My husband and I arrived at the station Wednesday evening at 5:45 where I met Jeff and his companion, Richard C. Russell (another Sunstone presenter) at the front door, which turned out to be closed after hours. Jeff was very charming as he described his Sunstone presentation to me on our way to the back door. (My husband) Tim and Russell went to listen to the show in the producer's room with Troy.

When I arrived in the studio I was surprised to see that the third guest was a woman, not Robert Kirby, who turned out to be Sharon Adams, but when I found out that she was giving a paper at Sunstone on "female empowerment in the Mormon and Tibetan Buddhist traditions," I was even more surprised, as I hadn't fully explored the symposium program yet, and a large section of my Emma Smith paper had to do with paralells and possible connections between the Mormon tradition and Tibetan Buddhism.

161. Paper RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY VERSUS PRACTICE:FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN THE MORMON AND TIBETAN BUDDHIST TRADITIONS

Abstract: This presentation explores notions of religious 'authority' as it relates to religious experience for women in Mormonism and Tibetan Buddhism. Whereas religious authority appears to be the domain of men in both traditions, I argue that certain aspects of individual religious experience, aspects of worship involving personal meaning, and how a practitioner embodies the tradition, is not gender specific. I explore how some Tibetan Buddhist teachings regarding representations of the divine feminine may compliment LDS practice, giving Mormon women access to the divine feminine in ways that could bring a sense of empowerment.

During the breaks and after the show, Sharon was just as surprised to meet me. She kept asking me if I knew about this or that aspect of Tibetan religion, culture or history that had some auspicious synchronicity with with Mormonism, such as the "Terma tradition." Nearly every time I said, "Yes, I'm covering that in the paper that I am presenting." We also found out that we both practice Tibetan Buddhism at the Shambhala Centers, she in Colorado, and I in California. We were very excited to meet each other, and after the show I mentioned to Troy that I thought that it was a really meaningful coincidence that instead of Robert Kirby, there was another woman talking about Tibetan Buddhism there. Troy said that he felt I had written a really "maverick" paper for Sunstone and that when Mr. Kirby was unable to make it that he thought that Sharon's topic would compliment mine on the show very nicely. Indeed!

While I was being interviewed, Tim found out that Troy needed a ride back to the Sheraton (where the conference was being held and we were staying) and offered him one. I was excited to meet such a fascinating person with so many common interests and was eager to read his blog (which I thought has such a great title), http://www.queergnosis.com

When we pulled into the parking lot Troy was telling us that he knew the Indigo Girls and mentioned the new song on Amy Ray's latest solo Album that he'd used as bumper music for the show that day. I hadn't noticed until he mentioned it - but the song was titled: SLC Radio, and was inspired, in part, by KRCL! (You can listen to the song HERE.)

It was such a coincidence because the Indigo Girls often remind me of Utah and I had made it a point to bring a couple of Indigo Girls CDs with me on this trip for old time's sake. I was first introduced to the Indigo Girls self-titled first album when I was 18 years old, by my friend Graye Morehouse, in the Spring of 1988. In June of that year, I moved out of my parents house for the first time to Provo, Utah and brought the first Indigo Girls album with me. Already on this trip I'd been driving around Salt Lake singing my heart out to the Indigo Girls. It was also a coincidence because being in the KRCL studio reminded me of my own radio producing days at Salt Lake's K-Talk (KTKK), another independent, grass-roots, radio station, where I interned for several months and occasionally hosted, co-hosted, did news, commercials and PSAs.



Indigo Girl loves Salt Lake's 'vibrant scene'
By Scott Iwasaki
Deseret News
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700247705,00.html

KRCL's Troy Williams interviews Amy Ray (short MP3 interview):
http://cdn3.libsyn.com/queergnosis/Amy_Ray_Interview_08.mp3?nvb=20080830004223&nva=20080831004223&t=00dc9ee7b21ff008e21ff

I also love Amy's appreciation of punk rock!

Ray Taps Into Her Punk Side On Solo Work:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_/ai_n14605769

Another side of Amy Ray:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/06/amy.ray/index.html

Lyrics from LyricWiki.org

Salt Lake City radio radio
fighting the good fight for me
all the songs all the words
that don’t get played that don’t get heard

I’m pulling in to the LDS nation
looking for a community station
Cause we heard about the kids in SLC
and how they fight to be set free
and how they fight for you and me
and radio radio community

I’m sending love to all the Mormons
ain’t nothing wrong with changing their plans
I said keep the good things
and throw out the bad things
you gotta pull the reins
on a whole lot of suffering

Radio radio SLC
fighting the good fight for me
Boys and girls lend a hand
bend an ear in God’s land
Take your city on a holiday from pain
All you missionaries
can you hear what I say?

I know the bible belt
I know the sobering noose
and everybody’s got their own set of rules
But we heard about the kids in SLC
and how they fight to be set free
and how they fight for you and me
and radio radio community

I seen a lotta roads
and pastures and mountains
I met a lotta folks in a whole lotta towns
I feel a crack in the skin of the majority
They’re gonna figure it out
I ain’t here to fuck the family

Take your city on a holiday from pain
All you missionaries
can’t you hear what I say?

Way down in the deep south
I got the bible belt blues
I want to shake these chains off
what have I got to lose?
I said everybody across this nation
stand with me
and your community station
What have you got to lose?

Mother Goddess Wisdom in the Book of Mormon

For parts 1-6 click HERE

WOMEN'S POWER

This DVD can be ordered through the Suppressed Histories Archives:

Restoring Women to Cultural Memory


Monumental Women


African Queens


Female Farmers and Providers


Woman Shaman


Female Liberators and Revolutionaries


Mother-Right: Equalitarian Societies

Transformation through Family History: The Power of Genealogy

The original story appears HERE:

The New York Times
April 13, 2008
Editorial Notebook
Of Witches and the Wait for Justice
By MAURA J. CASEY

In 1662, the colonists of Hartford accused 39-year-old Mary Sanford of witchcraft. Based on evidence — drinking wine and dancing around a bonfire — the court pronounced her guilty “for not having the feare of God before thyne eyes.” Sanford was hanged, leaving behind five children and a shaken husband who was later acquitted of similar charges.

More than three centuries later, Sanford’s descendants, 14-year-old Addie Avery and her mother, Debra, of New Milford, Conn., have petitioned the State Legislature to exonerate their distant grandmother and 10 other people executed for witchcraft. The fight has taught them something, perhaps more than they wanted to know, about the mob mentality.

The Averys did not always know they had a forebear accused of being a witch. A relative told them of their lineage and Sanford’s fate before a 2005 lecture on the Connecticut colony’s witch trials, which were sparked by widespread hysteria long before the better-known Salem witch trials of 1692. The lecture led to research, and the Averys took the first small steps toward asking the Legislature for exoneration. Along the way, they have learned what comes of taking a public stand.

Addie, who is home-schooled, researched every witch case in the colony. She was surprised to learn that all but two of the executed were women. Community leaders had presided over trials where the accused were usually the least educated and the least powerful. Women fit that bill nicely.

(Not much has changed there. Of the 170 people Connecticut has executed in over 300 years, only one was a college graduate, said Lawrence B. Goodheart, a University of Connecticut professor of history.)

Soon, the Averys’ lobbying attracted the support of other descendants of those who were accused. But critics spoke out, too, lashing out on Internet blogs. Ms. Avery was shaken to read the harsh comments, which reminded her of the mob frenzy that her ancestor faced. “The world has changed, but people haven’t,” she said.

Addie said she got a new education when she decided to publicly defend her ancestor. To her mother’s amazement, the attacks didn’t bother the suddenly thick-skinned teenager. “There are worse things than mockery,” Addie said. “Now, I’m not afraid to stand up when I see something wrong.”

Connecticut is slow to admit fault. It is not likely to soon join such states as Massachusetts and Virginia in acknowledging the injustice done to those accused in the witch hunts. A legislative committee passed on the issue this year.

But the prospect of returning to the Legislature next year, attending hearings and beginning the process all over again doesn’t seem to bother the Averys, least of all Addie. It may have taken more than 340 years, but finally someone is speaking up for Mary Sanford.

“I’ve discovered myself by honoring Mary,” Addie said.

Elaine Pagels on Mormon Response to the Gnostic Gospels

Theological scholar Elaine Pagels is the author of The Gnostic Gospels and the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University.

Here is a delightful excerpt from an interview with Elaine Pagels when she visited Utah:

A caller asked,"What do the established religions, particularly the Catholic Church or the L.D.S. Church, do they have an official position on these gospels?"

Pagels: "That's a very good question. You know when we speak of either of those churches, we are speaking about a wide range of people. Now in the Catholic Church, for the most part, there has been a lot of skepticism about these texts. They were called 'heresy' in the 2nd century, which means 'choice,' and some of the leaders of the church felt that was not a good thing for people in the congregations to have. They were excluded from the canon of the Church. There are Catholics who welcome them, who study them, who explore them, as well."

"In the L.D.S. Church actually, when I was working in Egypt 25 years ago, a scholar who is now at Brigham Young [University] was working with us, very much convinced that something like the Gospel of Philip anticipated or actually communicated some of the mysteries that were later understood within the L.D.S. Church. So there are people within that community who see these as amplifications of what we know, which is very consonant with the teaching of that church."

The rest of the interview is fabulous, listen here:

9/24/08: Jesus and the Gnostic Gospels

KUER 90.1, The University of Utah

RadioWest
KUER news host and producer Doug Fabrizio brings you inside the latest news and issues from Utah and around the western region with newsmaker interviews, and in-depth reports, along with your calls.

In 1945, the sacred text of one of the world's earliest Christian sects was uncovered in Upper Egypt. The discovery of the Gnostic Gospels -- including the Gospel of Thomas -- has fascinated scholars and ignited imaginations since. Preeminent theologian Elaine Pagels joins Doug Fabrizio to talk about how Christianity may have been different had these teachings of Jesus been a part of church canon from the earliest days.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1373879§ionID=184

If that doesn't work, try this back up link (scroll down):
http://radiotime.com/program/p_1454/RadioWest.aspx

NOW'S the TIME...

"LET IT NOT BE SAID THAT WE DID NOTHING" - Ron Paul



"True Patriotism is more closely linked to dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security" – Ron Paul

"I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist oppressive state power" – Ron Paul

"The true Patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility and out of self-interst for himself, his family, and the future of his country to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state" – Ron Paul

"Each of us should choose which course of action we must take; education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes, but let it not be said that we did nothing" – Ron Paul

Quotes of the Day

Minnesota Historical Society


“Well behaved women seldom make history” – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Mormon, Pulitzer Prize Winner

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

“On a visit to Salt Lake City a few years ago, Gloria Steinem quipped that the L.D.S. Church had probably created more feminists than she ever had.” – Margaret Toscano

HAPPY EQUINOX

SALT LAKE - Constitution Celebration and Public Rally

Captain Moroni & the Title of Liberty via Meridian Magazine

Ron Paul is coming to S.L.C. on September 15th!

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM MT

Historic Grand Hall
Union Pacific Depot
91 S Rio Grande St
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/SaltLake/

Coincidence? "The Champion of the Constitution" in Utah on Constitution Day:

AWAKEANDARISE.ORG: That We Might Sever the Strings of Tyranny!

Latter-day Saints attach special significance to the Constitution of the United States of America

Dear Paula,

Your email address isn't working so here is my reply:


Dear sister in humanity!
How are you doing?

I have good news. An answer to your question about SLC City Hall.

I asked my cousin, when I was in Salt Lake. He is a historian, among other things and will be giving a free talk at the 55th Annual Utah State Historical Society Sept. 6-8 at the SLC Library ~ fond memories, btw ~

My cousin, Steve Richardson, will be speaking on Prisoners of the Utah War (including my 3rd great-grandfather), Friday, September 7, 9 - 10:15 AM at the Rio Grand Depot / Zephyr Roon, 2nd floor, North Wing, 300 South / 450 West

Anyhoo, I asked him about that figure on top of city hall and what he told me was:


Back in the 1800's it was common for city halls in America to have a statue of liberty on top of the building. Not THE Statue of Liberty but A statue of liberty. He said there was an earthquake in the late 1800's and it knocked the statue off the building - grin - but eventually they put up another.

Let me know whats happenin in Salt Lake!

Sincerely,

EQ aka Bethany Magdalene (you can email me through my profile on Blogger, or through my website: In Memory of Her

Check out this years Sunstone sessions!

Click Here:2007 SUNSTONE SYMPOSIUM SESSIONS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD, or hard copies are available on CD

2007 Sunstone Report

This year @ SUNSTONE:

I learned that my pioneer ancestors were entheogen-imbibing anarchists.
I contemplated the yoga of Christ, practiced meditation for Mormons, flirted with a mohawked lesbian in the lobby, had the pleasure of hearing an Anais Nin quote during my panel session, and to top it off - Dennis Potter looked hot in fishnet stockings under his ripped jeans and purple finger-nail polish!

I attended a private test-screening of Richard Dutcher's latest film FALLING and found it to be one of the most harrowing yet beautiful films I've ever seen. Richard's attention to detail in this film is exquisite. This is his best one yet.

CLICK HERE for the PROGRAM

TO BE CONTINUED ~ stay tuned for the Salt Lake City report!

Women's Spirituality @ SUNSTONE 2007

I returned to Sunstone this year for a panel on women's spirituality. MP3's will be available for download soon @ http://sunstoneonline.com/ LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: EXPANDED POSSIBILITIES IN MORMON WOMEN’S SPIRITUALITY Kathy Wilson, Jana Bouck Remy, Elizabeth Quick, Michael Farnsworth, Sharon Kennedy Elizabeth Quick Doe Daughtrey & Elizabeth Quick LISTEN FREE ONLINE:

https://sunstone.org/life-is-a-highway-expanded-possibilities-in-mormon-womens-spirituality/

Abstract Twenty-first-century Mormon women of all ages continue to discover new avenues for expressing their spirituality, developing spiritual gifts, and coming to terms with patterns that haven’t served them. As they adapt the old and integrate the new, they create new spiritual possibilities for themselves and ultimately for those who stand beside them and come after them. In the tradition of past Sunstone panels on human potential and women’s spirituality, this panel explores the spiritual journey of Latter-day Saint women who embark on alternate paths through practices such as dreamwork, channeling, and earth-based ritual, and who maintain (though not without struggle) intimate relationships while engaging in extra-Mormon spiritual practices. Moderator/ DOE DAUGHTREY, doctoral candidate, religion, Panelist Arizona State University; member, Sunstone board of directors Panelists MICHAEL FARNWORTH, Ed.D., educational psychology; recently retired from Ricks College marriage and family relations department JANA BOUCK REMY, doctoral candidate, American history, University of California, Irvine; blogger at Exponent II, SunstoneBlog, and PILGRIMGIRL.BLOGSPOT.COM SHARON KENNEDY, high school teacher, Carlsbad, California; mother of five KATHY WILSON, artist, art gallery owner, Salt Lake City ELIZABETH QUICK, M.A. student in women’s spirituality, New College of California, San Francisco; maintains several blogs and websites, including, In Memory of Her (HTTP:// BETHANYMAGDALENE.ATSPACE.COM/HOME.HTM) and Priestess Academy (HTTP://PRIESTESSACADEMY. BLOGSPOT.COM) Room Market Street

The Mushrooms of Mormonism - NEW LINK UPDATED

THIS is PART 2 in a SERIES of REVIEWS & COMMENTARY on SUNSTONE 2007

EVERY SESSION WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD @ http://sunstoneonline.com/symposium/symp-mp3s.asp within the next few weeks

CLICK HERE FOR THE TEXT OF DR. BECKSTEAD'S PRESENTATION

I told Robert Beckstead during this session that I dare say that this was the most important session at Sunstone this year! The one thing I contributed to this session was an anecdote about how I heard one of the world's leading ethnomycologists, JAMES ARTHUR say on Coast to Coast AM, a few years back (before he tragically died) that he wanted to write a book called the Mushrooms of Mormondom (or something very close to that).

Paper:
THE RESTORATION AND THE SACRED
MUSHROOM: DID JOSEPH SMITH USE
PSYCHEDELICS TO FACILITATE HIS
VISIONARY EXPERIENCES?

Presenter ROBERT BECKSTEAD, M.D., emergency physician,
Pocatello, Idaho; medical hypnotherapist; integrative
medicine coordinator

Abstract Gnosticism and shamanism practice techniques
of “knowing”—entering spiritual dimensions and
experiencing the ineffable, both heavenly and
hellish. Derivative forms of these ancient traditions
were practiced in upstate New York during Joseph
Smith’s formative years. Interestingly, shamans and
Gnostics used certain psychotropic plants and fungi
during rituals and ceremonies to facilitate trance
states. Used in this setting, psychoactive substances
are often called “entheogen,” meaning to manifest
“God within.” I will review the use of entheogens in
shamanic and Gnostic traditions and the evidence
that puts Joseph Smith in proximity to their use.
It will also show how the use of entheogens can
reproduce many of the paranormal and mythmaking
abilities Joseph manifested.

Respondent Questions from the audience
Chair EUGENE KOVALENKO
Room Weights and Measures

INTEGRAL MORMONISM

ASCENDING DESCENDING and TANTRIC THEMATIC PRACTICES
by Mormonism's own Ken Wilbur - JOHN KESLER

I attended my first session today at Sunstone. This (3 hr.) workshop was a hub of synchronicity for me!

MEDITATION FOR MORMONS with JOHN
KESLER

Description

The primary purpose of this workshop is to introduce
meditative practices that invite Mormons into the
mystical implications of their own tradition but also to
stretch a bit beyond the Mormon “spiritual field.”
A practicing Mormon, John Kesler has explored
many approaches to meditation including learning
from a number of teachers of the mystical schools
of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. In this
context, John is one of a handful of people who
have received transmission to facilitate a Zen
meditative practice, the “big mind process”
developed by Genpo Roshi, the leader of the largest
Zen lineage headquartered outside of Japan. John
has developed and teaches a meditative system
which he calls “integral thematic practice.”
John will introduce several meditations that resonate
with the patterns and practices of the Mormon
tradition. Because they draw on the resonances of
the Mormon spiritual field, a Latter-day Saint who
participates in these meditations may get the eerie
feeling that “I have been in this space before” even
without ever having participated in meditation. John
will also introduce a few meditations which other
traditions would suggest would be fruitful meditative
explorations.

Instructor

JOHN KESLER is an attorney, consultant, and
lecturer. He is founder and executive director of
the Salt Lake Center for Engaging Community,
and speaks and consults regarding community
flourishing and transformation. John developed and
teaches meditation and related practices called
“integral thematic practice” reflecting Mormon, Zen,
and other influences. He is also a founding member
of the Ken Wilber-led Integral Institute and its politics
center and founding teacher of the Integral Spiritual
Center of the Integral Institute.

Proof that God/dess Loves us

The Tree of Life

Tree of Life Sm

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Libertarian Answers to Post-Patriarchal (a.k.a. feminist) Values

Libertarian Answers to Post-Patriarchal (a.k.a. feminist) Values

How can we replace the cultural ethics of dominance and control with more cooperative ways of interacting?

Government is the primary patriarchal institution in our culture. It is based on the ethic of dominance and control. Reject the culture of government and cooperation will blossom. Free the schools. Free the airwaves. Withhold your support of government and avoid dependence on it. If your goals can only be met by dominance and control (government action), it is time to re-evaluate your goals.

How can we encourage people to care about persons outside their own group?

By removing barriers to trade, travel, and charity. By abandoning the myth of the government safety net. Caring grows where there is no exploitation or restriction, but through taxes and regulations we exploit and restrict each other needlessly.

How can we promote the building of respectful, positive, and responsible relationships across the lines of gender and other divisions?

Respectful, positive, and responsible relationships cannot be created by law. Laws which now dictate our (personal and economic) relationships destroy respect, responsibility, and harmony. They should be repealed. Merchants everywhere compete to build positive relationships with their customers in spite of natural and artificial divisions.

How can we encourage a rich, diverse political culture that respects feelings as well as rationalist approaches?

Libertarians welcome voluntary social experimentation and the diversity it brings. Government seldom encourages political diversity or shows respect for feelings.

How can we proceed with as much respect for the means as well as the end (the process as much as the products of our efforts)?

Libertarianism is means-oriented. Libertarians reject the initiation of force as a means of achieving any social or political goal.

How can we learn to respect the contemplative, inner part of life as much as the outer activities?

Only if we have the leisure time generated by a free and prosperous economy.

--Harry Reid, The Liberator, page 9, Winter 1993

Currently listening: Under the Pink By: Tori Amos Release date: 01 February, 1994

Help my friend raise money for school!

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Ayla ~School fundraiser! Buy my E-book!
Date: 17 Jul 2007, 07:11 PM

For the Next 7 Generations: the Grandmothers Speak (10 min.)

The Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers:



http://www.forthenext7generations.com/