Volume III, Issue 38 December 13, 2002 A note before I begin: If you have unsubscribed since the last issue and received this newsletter in error, please let us know once more. There has been a lot of personal and technical interference so our mailing list might be a bit off. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Sheila In This Issue: Editor's Note Poem: Ponderings By Mina Cool Link(s) Article: Pentacle Ornaments By Wendy Suggested Book of the week Skyward happenings: The Geminid meteor shower In the News: Roadless Rule Upheld as Bush Moves to Speed Logging Radio interview link discussing modern Paganism. Announcements: Do You Know An HIV Long-Term Nonprogressor? Writer's Biographies Submission guidelines and other stuff Current Subscriber Count: We will find out after we send this mailing ~*~*~*~ Hello All, Well after an interesting chain of events, Whispers is back up and running. Things went wonky at first when the place Whispers was mailing though suffered a case of disgruntled employee syndrome. The man in change of maintaining the computers locked everyone out and then disappeared the day before the last full mailing. This of course happened just as Karen was moving and starting a new job. Don't you just love perfect timing? After the second week of not being able to send out Whispers I tried to move the list to Yahoogroups where was housed originally. I sent in all the names to be added as per the rules and never did hear back from anyone. Consequentially I am still not too happy with them. I sent out a notice to those already signed up at Yahoogroups about what had happened but could not get the newsletter out to everyone. (If you wish to see that issue please go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WhispersOfAStoneCircle/message/92 It contains an interesting article The Celtic Tradition By Matthew Ellis which you might want to read.) The next Friday was Blessed Be and Meet me in Des Moines, which I attended with my family. We had a nice warm cabin and were some of the few people who did not freeze that weekend. That Monday, (October 21,2002) I went into the hospital and had a bouncing baby Samuel Edward. The Doctor, who delivered him, declared him a cutie and I think so as well. His older sisters are still at "the argue over who gets to change his outfits" stage. He is a living-breathing doll to them. Good thing he is too small to be twisted by some of the outfits he has appeared wearing. (My husband is probably still rolling his eyes at the duck outfit.) Mommy of course dresses him in a lot tamer way; sleepers are a good thing for babies. I got out of the hospital on that Wednesday and downloaded my mail, glanced through it and then saved everything I needed to answer for later. Can we say mistake? The next day when I went to try to answer a bit of it, my monitor decided to go on the fritz. I stepped away, my oldest daughter turned on the comp, and the monitor was fine. I asked her if she did anything and she said she tapped it and then proceeded to show me what she had done. The Screen went dark again and nothing we could do would make it work. I thought, "OK, I will try it again tomorrow." Tomorrow came and the power supply bit the dust. I think someone was trying to tell me something, don't you? I discovered why our electronic equipment was having a shorter then expected life span on Samhain day. We had a power surge that tripped the electricity and when it was turned back on everything was at half power. My husband had to come back home and fix the wiring. Meanwhile the girls, Samuel and I had to move back in with my parents for ten days. Now I love my parents but there is a reason that grown children leave home. It is because only so many adults can live in the same household. I was very glad to get back home. Hubby went back over the road and called me that night. "You know, I don't know why I didn't leave my computer with you so you could use it." He left it home at Thanksgiving. It took over an hour, almost two hours in fact, to download my stack of mail. One thousand four hundred and nine pieces of it and over eleven hundred pieces of it was Spam. I went delete happy of course. So 6 weeks after I gave birth I was allowed back on the net. I really smell Themselves hands in that situation. It has been suggested that next year I also plan on taking a break sometime in October to almost Yule since it has been 2 years in a row that I have been forced to take such a break. Once I got back, I let Karen know I was on-line again and thank Themselves she had a backup copy of the mailing list. For the past week, Karen has been setting up the new mailing program thing. (Don't you just love my technical term for it? What can I say I am a writer, not a techie.) She has it set up so I can start sending Whispers out again starting this week. Next order of business was begging Wendy to use her craft idea as the article for this week and beg Mina for a poem. The few submissions I had are housed on my hard drive which is in the non-powered computer. (Bad Sheila, didn't backup on disk.) I do hope you enjoy both submissions. So you all know how my last two months have been. It is good to be back. 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. ~*~*~*~ Ponderings By Mina Soft, chill, teasing at the edge of my senses ... that thought is there again, that this Winter means more Time seems fast, as if it hurtles to dance and I wonder if it is time once again to bring the Circle closed. More than my own feelings tie into this ... I listen to what comes from the hearts of others Hearing of strange dreams and vague prophecy. Is it indeed time to pay the piper Or is it instead, time for true rebirth. ~*~*~*~ Cool Link(s) of the week: http://santas-workshop.org Who is Santa but the Holly king in disguise? Here's a fun site to check out with the kids. It has pages the kids can color, a live "Elf Cam," and some easy-to-make cookie recipes. You can also learn how to build a gingerbread house and make a variety of crafts http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/christmas_crafts__1.htm Christmas (Yule) Craft ideas from Amazing Moms ~ Reindeer and pinecone Yule tree http://www.essortment.com/in/Crafts.Holiday/ Here are many links for lots of different holiday craft ideas. There are way too many to mention. ~*~*~*~ Pentacle Ornaments By Wendy They were originally made by Kathryn Wolpert. 1909-2002 May she know happiness and joy in her next life. This year, since grandma passed and I'm living with her son and an infant, we did a tree up with just the hand-beaded ornaments she had made. Practically speaking, they're less likely to break than glass balls... plus, it is a nice honor-your-ancestors moment. Dad hasn't bothered with a tree in around ten years, and so we had quite a hunt to find them. I opened the box of grandma-made ornaments, and... fully a third of them are stars. Most of the stars are pentacles. I'm charmed beyond belief. I don't DO beadwork, I never have. But for those of you who do, here's what I can figure out of how she made them. (I don't recall ever having seen a "pattern" for beadcrafts, so I made one up.) She used 35 faceted "round" beads (approx. 5/16" in diameter) and 14 "seed" beads ('bout a third that size?). And some kind of string, thicker than thread or embroidery floss, thinner than thin yarn... of an off-white color. (I trust y'all who do this sort of thing can figure it out from there, based on the materials you prefer.) Anyway, to get my "pattern", I numbered the beads as you string them. R before a number is a round, S is a seed. If I repeat a number, then I mean for you to go back through that particular bead that you've already gone through. I assume this will be perfectly obvious to people that have done it before. R1, R2, R3, S1, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10, R11, S2 S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, S11, S2 (this makes a loop) R11, R12, R13, R14, R15, R16, R17, R18, R19, S12 R19, R20, R21, R22, R23, R6, R24, R25, R26, S13 R26, R27, R28, R8, R29, R14, R30, R31, R32, S14 R32,R33, R34, R35 >From examining several of these, I conclude that she tied a knot in the two ends, and then dabbed them with a bit of glue or something to keep them from breaking apart. I assume that's why she didn't start at a point, but at a joint. There are a few of another type of star, it forms a sort of nested Star of David, with one star inside the other. I'm still trying to figure it out, seems trickier. Anyway, I thought I'd share my Yuletide surprise, and work out how those ornaments were made, and generally be all holiday spirited.... on a cold and snowy day! (Editor's note: a photo of the ornament can be found here: http://www.jbinc.com/whispers/pentacle_ornament.jpg) ~*~*~*~ Suggested book of the week: http://lordoftherings.net Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers The most talked about motion picture this month is the release of Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers. It's the second movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This official site includes sneak previews and a gallery of images. To Read the books that started it all: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345340426/whispeofaston-20 And The movie from last year The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring DVD: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000069F5H/whispeofaston-20 Video: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000069K5I/whispeofaston-20 And for something completely different: Your own hobbit hole http://www.stormbear.com/bagend2/ ~*~*~*~ Skyward Happenings: The Geminid meteor shower will be appearing in 2002 from the 7 to 17 of December and will peak around the 14th of December ~*~*~*~ In the News: Roadless Rule Upheld as Bush Moves to Speed Logging By Cat Lazaroff WASHINGTON, DC, December 12, 2002 (ENS) - A federal appeals court today upheld the legality of a rule aimed at protecting 58.5 million acres of unroaded areas in national forests from logging and roadbuilding. The decision came one day after President George W. Bush ordered the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to take administrative actions aimed at reducing the environmental reviews required before approval of forest fuels reduction projects. Rest of the story: http://ens-news.com/ens/dec2002/2002-12-12-06.asp Radio interview: Emma Restall Orr, Joint Chief Druid of the British Druid Order; Kate West, a Wiccan High Priest of the Hearth of Hecate and Richard Thomas, an Anglican priest discuss modern Paganism. (Editor's note: Scroll down to the bottom of page) http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/elements.shtml#audio ~*~*~*~ Announcement(s): (Editor's note: This was sent to me via an e-mail list. All that was removed was the name of the list and the sender to protect her privacy.) Do You Know An HIV Long-Term Nonprogressor? Strictly speaking, this is not pagan / witch business, but Since my little brother is a witch, and since there are other HIV positive people in the pagan / witch community, here it is. This is the article I have been waiting for. My little brother is one of the 15 nonprogressors in this study. He & others like him are probably carrying the cure for HIV in their genes. If you know of anyone who may be a long-term nonprogressor, have them contact Drs Fauci, Connors or Migueles at the NIH NIAID. More of them are needed for this research. Spread the word. This may be forwarded as long as it remains intact. -----Original Message----- From: Greg Folkers Sent: Monday, October 07, 2002 11:39 AM Subject: NIAID: STUDY SHOWS WHY SOME IMMUNE SYSTEMS CONTROL HIV NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases http://www.niaid.nih.gov NIH NEWS RELEASE EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE Sunday, October 6, 2002 2:00 p.m. ET Contact: Jeff Minerd (301) 402-1663 nerd@niaid.nih.gov STUDY SHOWS WHY SOME IMMUNE SYSTEMS CONTROL HIV Scientists are beginning to change their thinking about why the immune systems of most people infected with HIV cannot control the spread of the virus while the immune systems of a rare group of individuals, called long-term nonprogressors, can. For some time, scientists thought that people who could not control HIV had too few HIV-fighting white blood cells called CD8+ T cells. However, a new study suggests the Difference is not the number but the quality of these cells: Both nonprogressors and others have about the same number of HIV-fighting CD8+ T cells, but the cells of nonprogressors function better. "Understanding the mechanisms by which the immune systems of long-term nonprogressors control HIV is important to our development of effective vaccines," says Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). "Studies like this one, which reveal basic knowledge about how the immune system interacts with HIV, form the foundation of our effort to fight this disease." Details of the study, conducted by NIAID scientists, will appear on October 7 in the advanced online issue of "Nature Immunology." Instead of attacking HIV directly, CD8+ cells inhibit virus spread by killing off other immune system cells infected with HIV. "For some time we have known that even patients who cannot control HIV maintain high numbers of HIV- specific CD8+ T cells," says senior author Mark Connors, M.D., of NIAID's Laboratory of Immunoregulation. However, this study represents the first time scientists have observed a difference in the HIV-specific CD8+ T-cell response of nonprogressors, he says. This study also suggests a mechanism whereby the CD8+ T cells of nonprogressors control HIV and those of most individuals do not. Dr. Connors and colleagues closely examined the immune systems of 40 people infected with HIV, including a group of about 15 nonprogressors-people who have controlled HIV for up to 20 years without antiretroviral therapy. The researchers found no significant difference in the number of HIV-fighting CD8+ cells between nonprogressors and the others. Instead, the scientists found that the nonprogressors' cells were better able to divide and proliferate when called on to go into action; they also produced higher levels of a molecule called perforin, which helps them to kill off cells infected with HIV. "Some of the newer techniques used in this study enabled us to see the functional differences in the CD8+ T cells of the two groups," says lead author Stephen Migueles, M.D., also at NIAID's Laboratory of Immunoregulation. "The CD8+ T cells of people in the study who did not control HIV had retained only a limited ability to divide and produce perforin." This finding is especially important to HIV vaccine research efforts, says Dr. Connors, because many candidate HIV vaccines attempt to induce a strong CD8+ T cell response. New knowledge about CD8+ T-cell function opened up by this line of research might lead to preventive vaccines that avoid the development of poorly functioning CD8+ T cells. In addition, this research might lead to therapeutic vaccines for HIV-infected people that improve the function of their CD8+ T cells and control HIV infection. Next, Dr. Connors and colleagues plan to analyze an even broader array of differences between the CD8+ T cells of nonprogressors and others infected with HIV, seeking to understand what causes the poor function of most HIV- infected people's CD8+ T cells. NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, illness from potential agents of bioterrorism, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies. Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov REFERENCE: SA Migueles et al. HIV-specific CD8+T cell proliferation is coupled to perforin expression and maintained in nonprogressors. "Nature Immunology," Advanced online publication at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/Ni845 # To subscribe (or unsubscribe) from this list, go to http://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=hhspress ~*~*~*~ Writer's Biographies: Mina is a practicing if quiet Witch, living in the Midwest for the past seven years, she is married with three cats, and a yappy part Terrier dog. Only one of which is her familiar, the others are just kitties in waiting. Wendy describes herself as A frustrated writer, a sometime editor, a full-time student, a single mom, and a professional in higher education administration. It just so happens that I wrap it all in a package of a statuesque mid-thirties Midwestern pagan woman. Sheila K. Watkins founded and became editor of Whispers of a Stone Circle in October of 2000. She is past editor of The American Witch and Pagan Weekly Newsletter, A long time Wiccan/Pagan/Witch as well as being a Wife and Mother. ~*~*~*~ Submissions are always welcomed and can be made to: zeliziw@jbinc.com Submission guidelines can be received by writing zeliziw@jbinc.com Forwarding information: If you chose to forward this newsletter, Please do so in its entirety, including copyright and contact information. People may subscribe to Whispers Of A Stone Circle by mailing: Whispers-subscribe@jbinc.com or unsubscribe by mailing: Whispers-unsubscribe@jbinc.com Any other commentary may be sent to: Whispers-owner@jbinc.com Back issues may be found at: http://www.jbinc.com/whispers/ 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@jbinc.com Copyright (c) 2002 Sheila K. Watkins All Rights Reserved.