Hi all,
For those of you have read this before, sorry, but I don’t feel like typing
out the whole story again. But I did edit it a bit. 8^)

As you were informed, I developed technical problems with my computer.
Specifically the CPU fan somehow became disconnected and the CPU chip became
damaged. I managed to keep the computer running long enough at a time so I
could inform a few people (including you all with the brief technical
difficulties note) what was happening including  Anthony Clifton (my
publisher American Witch and Pagan). Stuffed somewhere in his garage he had
a computer one step better then the one I was working on and volunteered to
bring it up. So Sunday arrived and he arrived. He set it up turned it on
connected me to the net then left to go fishing positive everything was
perfect.

I went to download a word processing program and that is when it attacked,
the dreaded blue screen of death. After it appeared 4-5 times I figure. “OK
I will redownload Internet Explorer and kept getting booted from the
disconnect even if I was still on-line so off I went to get getrite.(For
those of you who don’t know, it is a little program that allows you to
restart downloads from where you were disconnected instead of starting
over.) Blue screen of death just as I was finishing only this time I got a
message when I tried to reboot that I was missing a file and something about
himem.sys.

Then I got what I thought at the time was a bright idea. I took the hard
drive out of my old comp and put it in this one. Well it would boot up but
kept crashing before it even finished loading Windows. (Before I get the
lecture/praise on how other operating systems are so much better. I’ve
heard.) Think I could put the old comp back
together once I was done with it? Of course not.

Anyway my husband got home Tuesday morning and spent all day Saturday
tearing apart the two computers and doing his Frankenstein impression. He
narrowed the problem down to the memory and the CPU from this one and the
Motherboard and memory from the other to make a living eerr working
computer.

So I would like to thank both Anthony and my husband for making a working
computer.

So until next time,
Sheila K. Watkins
Editor: Whispers of a Stone Circle
See last page of this newsletter for submission guidelines, forwarding
guidelines, where you can subscribe to Whispers and copyright information.

~*~*~*~

A New Promise in the Night
By Sheila K. Watkins

The gentle caress
A baby's breath
The curing sadness in the soul
Dancing under a summer’s moon
Laughter ringing in the night
A song to sing
Of what may be
Spirit of a love one
Smiling
Swearing
A new promise in the night

~*~*~*~
Cool Link(s) of the week:
Center for Oral History: University of Hawaii at Manoa This site "preserves
the recollections of Hawaii’s people through oral interviews and
disseminates oral history transcripts to researchers, students, and the
general community." Find brief histories of communities, ethnic groups,
government, historical events, individual lives, and occupations. Some
transcripts include sound files.
http://www2.soc.hawaii.edu/css/oral_hist/

HebrewSongs.com English translations and Hebrew transliterations (and some
sound clips) of the Psalms, Jewish festival music, and other lyrics for
Hebrew songs. There are links to Israeli singers and musicians and dance
sites, plus a notice board for comments and requests.
http://www.hebrewsongs.com/

Pledge of Allegiance: A Short History A brief history of the Pledge of
Allegiance. The author of this Web site notes that in 1954 "Congress after a
campaign by the Knights of Columbus, added the words, 'under God,' to the
Pledge. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer."
http://www.ifx.net/%7Ewjohnson/pledge.htm

~*~*~*~
The Healer's Imprint
Author: Jodi Wetherup (ierne)
Published on: April 24, 2001
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/women_healing_methods

That is an odd sounding phrase isn't it? Some of you may have heard of it
before, others will have felt it before.

A "healer's imprint" is the trace energy left behind by a healer following a
healing. While there are many who will tell you that this doesn't happen,
you must think for yourself - "When one transfers energy, wouldn't one's own
energies intermingle?" And that is what it does. Not always, but
occasionally even with a skilled healer, the energetic fingerprint will
remain.

While this does not harm the recipient at all, it can leave them feeling
uncomfortable for a brief time. However, should one have gone to a less that
honest healer, the residual energies could be slightly more than just an
uncomfortable feeling, it could even damage the recipient's energy body.
How? By similar methods as an energy vampire, only in reverse. This is rare,
though, thank the god/s!

By protecting yourself before a healing, this can all be avoided. First and
foremost, if at all possible find a healer through friends or family
members' recommendation. If this is not possible, ask the healer you have
found a few basic questions:

Can I see your credentials?
How long have you been practicing?
Are you part of (insert method here) organizations? i.e.: Canadian Reiki
Assoc.
Do you have a list of clients as referrals?
Are you willing to work with other healer's instructions? i.e.: MD

If you feel the healer gives you satisfactory answers, go ahead with the
healing. This is very similar to what anyone should do, even when visiting a
new medical doctor. As with anything else in life, though, if you feel very
uncomfortable, and you know it is not just nerves or illness - Don't have
the session! Find someone else who you can be comfortable with.

Other methods of protecting yourself are carrying a hematite stone and/or
quartz crystal to the healing. Tell your healer you have them, as you must
be completely honest. The healer should be understanding and respect your
wish to have them. The two stones will absorb any residual energies and
leave your energy body free of the possible imprint.

Following a healing, if you feel an imprint is a possibility, have a shower.
Visualize the excess energies rinsing off in the water - from your head,
down your body, over your toes, and down the drain. Another option is to go
to a quiet area outside, bare your feet, and ground yourself. Then visualize
the excess leaving you just as in the shower, only draining into the earth
rather than down a drain.


~*~*~*~
Announcement(s):
Merry Meet everyone,
I want to invite everyone to the 2nd annual Pagan Family Picnic.

Here is the latest update on the Pagan Family Picnic. There have been some
changes in the workshop area.

Pagan Family Picnic
August 9th-11th
Ledges State Park
Boone, Iowa
(Directions are coming soon)

For those of you who don't know what this event is, let me tell you.

Last year after Summer Solstice, Thunder & I decided that we should have
another event between the Summer Solstice and the Blessed Be Event. (It was
just that we miss everyone and always like to be with you all).

Anyway, we thought having a Pagan Family Picnic would be a great idea for
all Pagan Families. It will be a great time to let our kids get involved and
learn about the Pagan religion.

Other states, like Missouri, have been having Pagan Picnics for 10 years.
But we hadn’t heard about Iowa ever having one. So we decided to put one on.

Last year's Picnic went well even though we had some bitter cold weather to
play around in. But the kids had a blast and it turned out wonderful.

This year we will have few good men for security, just in case we need it. I
can use some volunteers here please.

Also, we need a First Aid person (Would anyone like to volunteer?)

This year I hope I can get more pagan parents and their children to come.
These are the workshops that I have so far.

Friday night, August 9th
Register and pick up nametags
Social time
Children will introduce themselves with each other
Play Badminton, volleyball and more yard games.
Potluck
Drumming (Any volunteers, please)
Saturday August 10th

Children’s Ritual (this is where we have 7 children that will rehearse a
ritual). We will have the High Priest, High Priestess, the 4 elements,
Center and this year I would like to add in a maiden, mother, and crone, if
I can find 3 more children that will be willing to do it). This ritual is to
let the kids shine on what their parents have taught them and also to let
them have them learn on how to do a ritual. Everyone is welcome to come.

We will have games. (List below)
Pin the tail on Pan with a Pan story afterwards
Sack race
3-legged race
Egg carrying race
Pagan Bingo (for the whole family)

We will have story time. (List below)
Moon Phases (I can use 3 women and 3 men to be the moon phases, if
interested email me please, it is a fun and a great learning experience for
the children and adults)
Story time-Elaine
(I can use a couple more stories for this also, wanted: Story tellers)

We will have prizes...stones, coloring books, flower head pieces, talismans,
bookmarks and hopefully more.

We will have workshops. (List below)
Fairy Craft - Pixy
Bell Fairies - Andi
Bead Bracelets and rings - Sanna
Children Craft (will be announce) - Elaine
Pagan Banners - Willow Ring
(I can use more workshops)
Nature Walk - Altair (he needs volunteers for chaperones and first aid)

Adult Workshops (Can't leave out the parents.)
Divination Spell working (kids 10 and up can join their parents in this
workshop.)
(I can use a few more workshops for here also)
.
Picnic time around 11:30-12:30
Potluck is after activities are done.

Sunday, August 11th
Closing ritual (It will be done by Thunder and Gypsy).
Social time for all, I thought the children could exchange email addys,
phone numbers, birthdays. More or less a "I made a new friend" social time.

The times of workshops will be added in the next few weeks. If you would
like to do a children or adults' workshop, please email me. If you have any
ideas or suggestions, feel free to tell me. Thunder and I, who are parents
of 4 pagan children, just want this to keep going on year after year, for
the next generation of Pagans. So our traditions and beliefs will be carried
on.

Please let us know how many kids will be coming and the ages, this will help
Thunder and I and our workshop teachers know what we need in prizes and
supplies.
______
Please feel free to pass this on to other email list.
Any Questions? E-mail us at thunder1@interl.net or
covenoftheblessedlady@yahoo.com
Love & Light
Gypsy
~*~*~*~
Writer's Biographies:

Sheila K. Watkins knew from the time she was 15 that she wanted to be a
writer but did not really start writing until she entered college where she
worked on her college newspaper and also worked as the editor of the feature
section for one semester. She was also introduced to the love of writing
poetry at this time. Fortunately for all of us most of the poems have been
lost to the world of men. After college she worked several jobs during the
next few years but none included writing. It wasn’t until after both of her
children had started school in 1998 that she went back to her love of
putting words on a computer screen. Her first submission was accepted by
publication by the IOWAN newsletter and it started her on the path of truly
honing her work. In October of 2000, she founded and became editor of
Whispers of a Stone Circle.

~*~*~*~
Submissions are always welcomed and can be made to: Zeliziw@netins.net
In submitting materials writers are agreeing that if accepted I may post
them in the newsletter and on the web page (whenever I finally get back to
work on it.) Works submitted must be the writer’s own work and they must
still retain the copyright OR it must be verifiably public domain. Works can
have been published before but please nothing that has been around over and
over again. Copyright remains in the author’s possession. The Author also
realizes that they will not be paid. (If I had money I would be hosting this
on something other then Yahoo.) If a submission is accepted, I will check
for punctuation, capitalization and spelling in submitted articles. I will
fix minor errors if they are present. I will NOT reword things (except for
an occasional “an” for “a” and vice versa.) Poems are published as
submitted.

Forwarding information: If you chose to forward this newsletter, do so in
its entirety, including copyright and contact information. People may
subscribe to Whispers of A Stone Circle at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WhispersOfAStoneCircle/


All articles, poems, etc, except where noted are copyrighted by the writers
and are used with permission. They are not to be republished without the
express permission of the writers. Contact information may be obtained by
contacting the editor of Whispers of A Stone Circle at Zeliziw@netins.net

Copyright (c) 2002 Sheila K. Watson.
All Rights Reserved