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.

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