What's New On Cosmic Wind / Cosmic Mother, Wisdom's Lovers

It is with great pleasure that we introduce some of Eric Ashford's exquisite poetry on *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* this month. In *Vision Voices 2* are two of his deeply stirring & inSpirited poems, "Please Tell Me Who You Are" and "Striking Your One Note".

We are also adding two more of Frank John Culley's wise & endlessly rereadable poems to the Wuyu line-up, "Scars & Body Memory" and "Brother Despair, Sister Depression".

On our *COSMIC WIND* side we're extending the fantasy fiction contents of *Imaginative Worlds*. "Dream Memories of Shalath Lalal" is a full chapter in Norman E. Masters's still-being-written novel, DREAMER'S WORLDS. "Dream Memories..." provides variations upon a recurrent theme in fantasy, the Shoppe of very strange, arcane things for sale, often of a magickal nature from ancient times, or even from other dimensions or alien worlds. It's a loving tribute to all short stories in that vein that Norman has loved reading & rereading over the decades. And the 9 pieces of art included in this lengthy scroll are a small art gallery of the fantastique.

At our local writer's group, a couple of the women enjoyed The Mad Grammarian's Dream part of Norman's "Dream Library Of The Ages" the *most* of anything Norman has written. This is also being added to *Imaginative Worlds* this month.

Next month will be our Third Anniversary launch. You can be certain that some Very Special material is being prepared, already, for it.

There are no duties that we are beholden to that set us against other people.

Duty to nation (warring against nation) is an entrapment. Our only "duty" is to the Living Divine -- & to love the spark of divinity in everyone, as we love ourselves. This is unto *all* humanity, whichever nation they dwell in. "Even as you have done unto the least of these, so you have done unto me."

Compliance that runs counter to the heart-to-heartspeak of Love is what "duty" that is in the service of "evil" requires. Any man who makes it his "mission" to "rid the world of evil" is in such hubris that he will become a greater force of evil in the world than are any he seeks to eradicate.

In the Heart of the Divine we are here to love... love... love, all-abidingly.

All that distracts us from divinely loving, from numinously growing, would but blind us and bind us unfree -- in the webberies that the politicians & economists weave... and for who$e pocketbook$ but their own? -- & those who have bought them.

All such snares tempt us to be less than we *can* be...

Humanity is here to be *more* than it ever has been, before; & to be *truly* courageous enough to *dare* to do so!

Every truly *spiritual* being on this planet is united in this stand: CEASE THIS WAR -- *now*!

~~Wynn Manners

Norman is putting up four poems by his Beloved (re:Shapings from extracts from Linda's Journal writings during the second half of the 70's). These are: "Take My Hand", "Morning Is Come", "Morning Was A Prelude" and "In The Sunrise Of Our Spirits".

Back in July of 1996 when Norman was working in his parents' orchard in Michigan, Linda sent him a letter enclosing a Question from a Richard Bach book she was reading at the time. Linda's answer to that particular Question is the first piece we put on-line by her, in June of 2001 -- "Words To Live By"; Norman's answer -- written in his pocket Journal amidst picking cherries -- is finally going on-line this month as the initial piece in *BackWords In Time* -- also on our *COSMIC WIND* side, entitled "Love Is The Mother Of All". If anyone is remotely interested, baby pictures of Norman and pictures of his mother and grandmother are amidst those Cherry Tree Musings of yesteryear.

On *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* -- continuing with our Valentine's theme, further musings by the Olde Hermit can be read in *Vision Voices 2* -- addressing the question "How Can Romantic Love Manifest As A Path To The Divine?" This reflection was catalyzed by Lynda Kenny asking, at the *SOPHIA -- Divine Feminine, Earth, and Wisdom Centered Spirituality* list, "...how sacred sex and romantic love can manifest as a path to God." We would be *happy* to hear anyone *else's* response to Lynda's Query, if *you* feel so-inspired as to respond to it. Just push that "E-Mail Wynn" button and share whatever you have to share -- or post it to the Guest Book.

And as an eleventh piece to the "Wynn Manners Prose" line-up we're adding the Winsome One's brief contemplation, "Radiances Lick All Through Me".

Finally, as is generally the case, i'll turn the closing thoughts for this month's Up*Date over to Wynn, who indicates he *has* some, this time around.

There are humans in every culture that seek to know, understand, experience & live the enduring sacred values. And ever, Sophia has been the Divine Source of these -- in all Her changing faces across time -- in hide & seek behind the veils of Divine Mystery, immanent to those with spiritual eyes to see; transcendent, alone, to those who have not yet fully awakened.

We are living in an epoch of tranformation, heading towards an historical culmination. We are breaking free of the endless cyclic round of HIStory.

Out of the primal Silence the Feminine Spirit of Wisdom speaks again, begetting Christ Consciousness into multiple minds, revealing the inner teachings of spiritual liberation thru the Goddess Mysteries -- HERstory.

Feminine exaltation in the liberation they have fought for is taking on cosmic stature -- far beyond just personal enlightenment. A new mythos, more relevant, deeply and profoundly poetic, is in the making.

Free spirits are here to define the Meaning of Existence in *Her* terminologies.

Thea Mystica invites us into the awesomeness of Her divine nuptials...

Her Light is the sacred fire in our hearts;
Her Love is the transformative energy of Life itself;
Her Peace whispers a radiant wisdom deep within.

Know Her Light
Know Her Love
Know Her Peace

And abide in these.

~~Wynn Manners

It's *not* new that the Olde Hermit is running a week or so behind, as per usual.

What *is* new, this month, are three pieces of prose added to our *Freedom Voices* line-up on *COSMIC WIND*. Gaia gets very upfront about western cultural imperialism of indigenous cultures' spiritual practices in "Shamanism And Cultural Imperialism". Cathie Many Veils reflects upon discursive truth, analytic consciousness and poetry's elusive meanings in "Poetry As Criteria For Truth". Norman E. Masters appears with some "Scattered Musings Upon Freedom".

On *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* look for three new pieces by Norea St. John (only one of them being poetry, this time -- "angel*whispers i", a series of fourteen short dew*drop-like poems). Her other two pieces are brief spiritual contemplations, "The Eucharist of Love" and "Infinite Complexities, Ever Deepening Mysteries".

Next month we're hoping to launch our update a bit *ahead* of schedule rather than behind. We're aiming for February 7th.

Winter Solstice Celebrations! Christ*Mass Emancipation! New Year's Felicitations! Creative Cerebrations -- with Imaginative Permutations! Serendipitous Fructifications!

For this Season that brings to climax the Year 2002 we're uploading our next grunch of classic, neglected, nigh-unto-forgotten piano sheet music (but these won't be accessible online til almost the New Year, since our WebMaster has to get back Home to *do* so -- Dad not yet having learned *how* to do it).

This month's tri-yearly sheet music upload starts out with Theodore Oesten's mellow "Sleep Well, Thou Sweet Angel" scanned-in from THE WORLD'S BEST MUSIC, Volume IV, Instrumental (of a 9 volume set), Victor Herbert having been the Editor-In-Chief of these volumes published in 1900 by The University Society, New York.

We're also uploading Brinley Richards's "Sibylle, Warblings At Morn" (switching things around, a bit, since "Thou Art So Near And Yet So Far" still isn't scanned-in). Ted S. Barron's "Vesper Chimes" is our Chimes*Peace offering for the year; and Dolly Connolly's "Love's Delight" is a lovely little piece that is quite easy to play.

These music uploads will pretty much max-out our meg-limit -- so decisions will have to be made relative to which pieces will cease to be ongoingly available, on-line... OR we'll link-up with a free server, for future sheet music -- with some nuisance to the pop-ups, there. As the amount of other content continues to grow we'll have to shift some of the music that is now up, on over to the free server, too, to allow meg-space for other material. Consistently our Classical Music Index page gets 4th highest visitors, each month (of the now more-than-200 content pages we maintain on-line); but it doesn't appear that very many are actually accessing & downloading the music scans, themselves...

Also, available on *COSMIC WIND*, this month, are Yours Truly's "Prologemma to Dreamer's Worlds" -- a lengthy poem written in 1985, and most of Chapter 4 of Dreamer's Worlds, my second fantasy novel that is almost *half* written (for a second time)-- "Strange Awakenings". There's a virtual *gallery* of art in that long scroll -- so expect it to take a few minutes to download. Those are in the *Imaginative Worlds* fantasy and science fiction anthology.

On *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS*, new to the "Wynn Poetry" line-up, this month, are "lost in your boundlessness...", "open unto me, living mystery...", and "Sophia *Sizzles*!" -- the latter written (in part) on Easter Day, this year. These are highlighted with three more of Andrew A. Gonzalez's exquisite depictions of the Feminine Divine.

~~and conclude this month's "What's New?!" with a piece of writing that is *quite* new, & Most Appropriate for this Season:

Somewhat more than a year later Norman has finally returned to going thru his typescript of poems by his late friend, Steve Krantz, (always an emotionally wrenching thing to be doing) for further selections to make available online at *COSMIC WIND* -- for any who care to share in lines by a poet who died far too young, while all the dawning promise of youth's idealism was still freshly abloom. (Perhaps in too many another, the poet *within* died young, tho the mind and body continued on, life focussed upon other goals...) Some new art has been created for this presentation; and, as before, in some instances several of Steve's shorter poems have been linked together under a single header. This month we are presenting "I wish...", "Be gentle", "Hey star!", "The hours lend themselves", "My kingdom, which is me", and "Seasons are perhaps like" (the latter being a take-off, by Steve, on a poem by e. e. cummings). And we have a half-a-dozen more already prepped for a later launch (trying to get a little bit ahead so we can maintain our policy of launching at least *some* new material *every* month -- even during upcoming months when it will be impossible to do any prep work).

On *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS*, this month, we're adding an additional half dozen of Frank John Culley's wise and endlessly rereadable poems to the "Wuyu" line-up. Sometimes taoist... then dipping into Hafiz... and finally, getting a bit more personal, these poems are "Waterway", "In Your Flow", "The Impunity Of All Things Is Fraught With Power", "From The Words Of Hafiz", "Dreams", and "In the Land of Erotic Dreams". We feel that *our* lives would be the poorer without Wuyu's poems gracing their mental spaces... and, indeed, world literature would be the poorer, too -- in their absence. As with Steve's poetry, we've prepped more of Wuyu's ahead -- for a future launch (while time and health and energy still allow).

~~Norman and The Winsome One (and, ever, quietly behind-the-scenes, making all this possible: our faithful WebMaster, Gamaliel)

We have finally gotten our first *Sophia Links* page updated (and a bit renovated). The four links to webpages that no longer seem to be online have been deleted; the changed URL for Soror A. L.'s "The Role Of The Sacred Feminine In The Gnostic Pantheons And The Mystery Of The Bridal Chamber" has been tracked down and modified so that it works again. And we have added over two dozen *new* links to *Sophia Links* 1 (including a a few to our own WebPages at the end, working with the assumption that several people find their way into a *Sophia Links* page through whatever searchstring via whatever search engine but never find their way to relevant material on the very website *hosting* these links pages.

New content-wise on *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* this month are two additions to our *Vision Voices 2* anthology. Sue Peek's very fine song/poem, "amber glow", is highlighted with one of Jonathon Earl Bowser's beautifully spiritual works of artistry, "Musicians In Paradise". Mellen-Thomas Benedict's remembrances of his near-death experience recounted in "Through The Light" is a profoundly beautiful and spiritually enheartening revelation that you owe it to yourself *not* to miss.

On Norman's side of our co-hosted WebSite, this month, he's finally added three more short stories by Paul Powlesland to the *Phantasmagoria* line-up on *COSMIC WIND*. These are "The House, The Lawn", "September Weather", and "The Kids". "The Kids" is a Halloween story. As with the first three stories by Paul Powlesland in the *Phantasmagoria* anthology, there is a sensitivity to Paul's expressiveness that is somewhat reminiscent of Ray Bradbury; but Paul Powlesland is a unique talent in his own write, & no mere imitation of *anyone*.

Have a *holy* All-Hallows Eve; & if getting sky-clad makes it all the more memorable (however chilly!) -- then, as ever, Merry Meet & Most Merrily Part! ;)

~~wynn manners (imitating Norm's style as best he can, here; or is it Norm who's been imitating *mine*?!) [*grin*]

This month, on *COSMIC WIND* we're adding seven poems by Irene Dodge to the eleven that have been on-line for a bit over a year. These are: "Killdeer", "Whistle", "The Trap", "The Mountain Stays", "Celtic Witch", "Straw Into Gold" and "To Wild Fennel". In response to being introduced to Irene's poems, someone (Bethy) recently wrote, "Thank you so much for sharing <...> the Web Sites on Irene Dodge. The poetry there was masterful and it is still such a great feeling that in this day and age that there are folks out here that still have a heart and a soul and are also kind and caring enough to share them!!!"

Building a bit of a wood fire to take the chill off the room, this morning, i glanced thru THE ADAMS COUNTY RECORD for July 25, 2002, to see if there was anything therein that might best be clipped-out and saved (before using the newspaper for fire-starter) -- & discovered something that Irene Dodge had written in a Letter To The Editor:

"I am fairly well acquainted with the Eastern Woodland Indians having spent time with the Micmacs, Montagnais, Passamaquoddys and Penabscots. I still cherish my beaded soft soled mocassins made at Shubanarcadie.

"In September and October 1945, I visited the reservation at Alleghany, NY and the large one at Brantford, Ontario, Canada. I was one of a group of five cultural ethnologists doing research on a Peabody Museum expedition. I was working to collect Iroquois bird names and to study Iroquois flute music.

"In October, I was made a 'Blood Sister' at the Fall Harvest Festival, because I spoke their language of 'thought transmission'. I spoke none of the Algonquin tongues but my Iroquois friends claimed that I always knew what they were talking about.

"The young man at Brantford with whom I 'exchanged' blood was a Seneca. His name was Howard Green. His mother, who was one of the influential matriarchs of the Six Nations, had suggested that we do so. I had worked extensively with Howard on the 'bird name' project.

Irene's letter was written in response to a previous Letter To The Editor from Nancy Thompson.

At *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* we're *most* joyous to be able to highlight Wynn Manners's "Bride of Light", "Lover Of My Numinosities" and "Bridegroom of Eternity, Bride Who Is Eternity" with A. Andrew Gonzalez's exquisite artwork (inSpirited depictions of the Feminine Divine) -- "Passion", "Love of Souls" and "Golden Dakini". Be sure to follow the link to Andrew's own website, Galerie Sublimatio, to partake of more of his awesome artistry.

Whatwith running so late with the September update, it doesn't look like we'll be able to get the *Sophia Links 1* page update finished until *next* month. So, hopefully, those dozen-or-more additional links (some really *fine* material, on-line!) will be made available for anyone interested in same, then...

This month on our *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* side of the WebSite we're beginning *Vision Voices 2*. The initial five items in our line-up thematically flow from one to another. Leading off is Waya Diana Aamerut Philo-Sophia's poem of Sophia Sapientia, "Let Me Come To You". Following this is an extract about Sophia from The Wisdom of Solomon, which we have entitled "She Pervades And Penetrates All Things" (with a poetic preface & footnote attached thereunto by the Winsome One).

Representative of a contemporary shift-in-belief on the part of an increasing number of Christians (women, especially, but also more and more men) breaking free of the falsehoods taught by patriachally-indoctrinated dogma is Cathie ManyVeils's personal wo/manifesto, "I am a Goddess Worshipping Christian". In an environment of *genuine* "freedom of religion" (increasingly free of even subtle patriarchal repressive controls) we will begin seeing *every* individual who truly *knows* the Living Divine Spirit blossoming a *uniquely* knowing approach to the Divine Infinity & Multiplicity, expressing their personal experiencings, revelling in the sacramental permeation.

Genie Webster gave us permission to reprint her "What Is A Goddess?" from the Temenos anthology on her own WebSite. What *are* the qualities of women who awaken into goddesshood & begin womanifesting their own full goddess potential?

And, finally, as each becomes more aware of Goddess in all Her aspects, the Winsome One suggests we "*Feel* The Flesh Of Goddess" & enter into a deepening intimacy with Her.

On our *COSMIC WIND* side, August is one of our tri-yearly months for a new upload of forgotten classical piano sheet music. Leading off is Theodore Oesten's moody "Gondollied". It's amazing how Oesten's artistry takes a theme that is initially deeply melancholy -- and at the climax of the composition transmutes that theme into something intensely uplifting, and, indeed, *free*ing. Brinley Richards's "Juanita" is a lovely transcription of a popular song of the time (circa 1860); and Adolph Baumbach's virtuoso treatment of "Then You'll Remember Me" from Balfe's Bohemian Girl is the most splendid version thereof that Norman is aware of. Zipping up the timeline about 70 years, we conclude, this month, with Joe Sanders's soulful "Southology" from the Suite, Improvisation.

As of this morning we've had 23 visits to our Sheet Music Page, sofar this month. Only the Sophia Links pages have gotten more traffic, with 36 & 25 visits. Wynn's re:shaping, "Embrace Wisdom", has received 21 visits & Sara Teasdale's poems have received 15. Search strings, this month, that have brought individuals to our sheet music page have been: "t oesten piano sheet", "sheet music starlight reverie by jo", "pianoforte evening chimes" & "t oesten sheet music". Last month we had more traffic to *COSMIC WIND* / *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* than in any of the previous months we've been on-line. For the first time we went over 10,000 hits! There were 11,102 total hits with 1693 visits to 4750 pages by 253 unique user agents. We thank *you* -- each and all!

A. Andrew Gonzalez, one of the finest spiritual artists of our time, magnanimously gave Norman permission to use some of his exquisite art to highlight future spiritual poems on the *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* side of our site; so that is something to be looking forward to! (Norman said that Andrew's gracious permission set his heart to dancing all day & was the "bestest" birthday gift he could've received, this month -- entering his 60th year upon this planet, this-life-around.) Needless to say, Norman takes his committment as "art director" of *both* sides of our WebSite *most* seriously!

And hopefully, next month, we'll get our revised version of the first *Sophia Links* page finished up.

It's been a year since we introduced the creative whimsy and heart-moving sensitivity of Peter Kathleen Ligeski to a Larger World at *COSMIC WIND*. So this month we're happy to be adding 12 more of Peter Kathleen's delightful pieces from the Steeple Pines Letter Archives. You might not want to miss out on the pleasures to be discovered -- in playing with Peter's Buttons? :) There *is* magick, to be found, there! *Some* of these pieces are: "seed pods, my letters", "a pint of poetry, a vase of laughter", "for the love of the universe, rainbow hope", "doorways to possibilities", "recognize the magic" & "the magic is real". Three poems by Norm's daughter, Jaynell Louise Lyn Masters, written when she was about 16 -- in poetic dialog with Peter, are amidst the poetic scroll, "the magic is real".

We'd hoped, last month, to launch 4 more pieces in our *Freedom Voices* anthology, but, ever, there is never enough time. This month, belatedly, we *are* able to present Carol Seaton's "What Kind Of Education Is Best For Maintaining Democracy?" -- an essay addressing issues of Primary Importance that *needs* to be read by *every* adult (and student able to understand) in this country -- if not, indeed, the world.

For about a half a month (for whatever reason) the entirety of *Imaginative Worlds* and Norea St. John's poetry (on *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS*) wasn't on our server. Our WebMaster *did* get them relaunched, once he was able to access his computer, again.

So, above-&-beyond what we were initially intending to add, this month, we've added a new story to our *Imaginative Worlds* line-up -- "Ghost Lover" by Linda and Norman E. Masters. Its imagery *is* very erotic, but (we believe) within the bounds of "good taste" (however, individual subjective values relative to such matters *do* vary).

The Winsome One has responded to some of Norman's *prodding* ;) & released four more of his own poems and three (brief) prose pieces from the Closet of his Contemplation. So under the *Wynn Poetry* button you can now access "All Becomes...", "ambrosia of the eternals", "my head upon your bosom" and "you are dressed in radiances, beloved". Under the *Wynn Prose* button, newly available this month, are "Who Loves Me And Understands Me, Anyway?" "We Are Inseparable" and "Portal Into Infinity".

We added seven new links to the *Sophia Links 2* page, last month -- and have added several more *this* month. Wynn is industriously reworking the initial *Sophia Links* page -- there being 4 non-operative links on it to be removed; and he's adding at least a dozen new ones; but there isn't time to complete that particular UpDate before this month's launch (which is already running a few days overdue).

Finally, we've changed the backgrounds on two of Steve Krantz's poems (the previous backgrounds never did please us all that much), changed the 2 header pieces of art for the two Philinda Fox pieces in *Vision Voices* and the background (with a header piece of art added) for "Sophia Speaks" in Norea's poems (we *liked* the previous background, there, but some have found it too difficult to *read* the text upon it).

Next month: pianists can look forward to our next Forgotten Classics music launch and... Coming Soon (probably in October) will be three more Paul Powlesland stories -- in *Phantasmagoria* (which have already been prepped).

The nature of the Divine Feminine is regenesis.

The Feminine speaks from the heart, foremost. Mind is a tool for expressiveness -- *not* the essence of what is to be expressed, lived, loved.

Regeneration happens within -- & happens in the HeartSpaces.

You become -- most fully -- the (no longer occluded) Light that you Are -- because you are borne of the HeartWomb of Mother Eternity.

Those who have maintained faith in the Living Light -- She has saved *all* of them. New generations of awakening woomanity become one with these -- to joy, to dance, to sing, to create in the infinite numinosities.

Now is the time of the Convergence of the Everlasting Hope, o wonderment blossoming the all-fructifying Emergence of the Children of Light.

Beams of Her LightWeave radiate thru all eternity...

We were originally intending to begin the *Rainbow Voices* anthology, this month, on *COSMIC WIND* -- but somehow the contents that seemed to seek priority fit, better, the title, *Freedom Voices* -- so the former title is being postponed for Up-The-Timeline, sometime...

Leading off *Freedom Voices* Caroline Kuijper's "To Love Or Not To Love -- Real Liberation For Womenkind" -- especially directed towards contemporary feminists, is being *finally* made available on-line (as we promised would forthcome, months ago, in *What's New*).

Bill Hamer sent his deeply insightful musings in "i have always been crazy..." by e-mail about a month ago & i didn't hesitate very long to ask his permission to put it on-line, here -- which he graciously gave.

And, at last, Michael Tobin's "Moral Insanity and the Rise of Big Brother: Technocratic Fascism as the Final Phase of Patriarchal Society" -- deals deeply with contemporary life and the world destructive forces we are all dealing with, delineating their roots, and providing pointings towards solutions. This is a *very* important essay; & tho it takes some mind-stretching *effort* to read it, it's definitely worth the effort involved, & worth *re*reading!

On *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* we're adding 4 more poems by Frank John Culley (under the Wuyu button). These are: "hard to know what to say", "no mystery more awesome than friendship", "mutual abiding in each other" and "How long have you been in our midst, and close".

Since the number of visits to Sara Teasdale's poems (& *Sophia Links 1*) were mentioned for mid-month, last month -- the *end* of the month totals were 81 visits to Sara's fourteen poems and 46 visits to the first of our *Sophia Links* pages.

The Winsome One has returned to wrap up this month's update with a bit of his own pensive musing:

The beauty of the trees... the fragrance of the flowers... the caress of the breeze... the celebration of the birds -- singing their joy: abiding in this loveliness can heal and restore the soul, & beget a deep sense of peace, settling in, like lambent lightfall permeating the cellular membranes, like a soft rain blessing the parched earth.

The pure soul-essence, itself, is a kind of flower, a chalice of light. Pure dewdrops of Spirit caress one's inner being; Divine Presence, itself, anoints with grace.

This intricate tapestry of human life... all souls are *good* in their innermost being -- & there is an inscrutable Mystery in the meanest person who sees with eyes of wonder... *Awareness* of this Mystery -- an upwelling sense of *awe* in its naked revealing... can transport the sensitive awareness into a beatific sense of revelation... in the living Light's sacred numinosity, all-illuminating...

For the month of May, on the *COSMIC WIND* (literary) side of our WebSite we're introducing John Mach with 7 poems, the first of which ("Who Is Singing The Poem?") is upon the ongoing impact of a living poetry, itself. Three of them reveal John's romantic side (love poems that are in the tradition of those by Pablo Neruda and Kenneth Patchen) -- "I am the scribe of every bright word," "To Remember Is To Recall All Our Fragile Designs," and "Thou Art Beautiful, Thou Art Handsome". Other poems ("hunger is also a teacher" and "Woman Standing at the Bus Stop") reflect the more nitty-gritty side of life. His narrative poem, "Lao Tzu At The Gate" is exquisitely indescribeable -- but not to be missed! We still have several of his more *strange* poems in the file (of a surrealist nature?) which can be launched at a later time.

Synchronicity-of-information-wise, the Olde Hermit realized that these poems by John Mach are going on-line when John's about the age that Jack Kerouac was when Kerouac *died*! i have no notion what's been happening in John's life this past 15 or so years; in fact, putting these poems on-line carries some hopes he (or some friends who know where he's at) will discover them & we can re-establish contact again. Last i knew he was going to school in Boulder, Colorado -- and had helped bring out an underground publication, "Edge City" -- with a kind of beat flavor to the writing therein.

John did some lettering and art for my *No-Eyed Monster* in the latter-60's -- & he (& his older brother, Fred) were the ones who introduced me to the music of The Doors & the Jefferson Airplane WayBackThen. (Steve Krantz introduced me to the Moody Blues around the same time -- & Pink Floyd was discovered thru an enthusiastic article about their first 2 albums appearing in a resurrection of "Shaggy" (Shangrai L'Affaires) -- the Los Angeles s-f fandom zine. John probably published some of his finest early poems in mailings of the amateur press association, *Phoenix* (after i left it) -- & it's questionable whether anyone has copies of them, anymore. It appears that John has lost copies of *most* of his poetry along the high!ways & byebyeways of life (a major handwritten collection extending over howmanyever years stolen at a party). We're fortunate to *discover* whatever few still survive time's wayward viscissitudes...

John Mach is (pretty close to) the *last* of the Old Writing Friends i'm intent on doing an on-line tribute to (tho some of Fred Phillips's s-f fandom writing is planned for *Phantasmagoria* -- & i *may*, someyear, do a tribute to the memory of my old writing buddy, John Henry Merkel).

Next month we're hoping to begin the *Rainbow Voices* anthology -- with that lengthy (and very *siginificant!*) essay by Michal Tobin that was promised months ago, alongwith an essay by his "significant other," Caroline Kuijper.

On our *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* (spiritual) side we're launching *Sophia Links 2* and 2 new pieces by Norea St. John, "Come Into the Light of Bliss" and "In The Garden of Sophia".

Most months the *Sophia Links* page receives the most traffic of anything on our sister sites; but this month Sara Teasdale's poems have already gotten 45 hits (compared to Sophia Links's 18) -- from a wide variety (of about a dozen) search strings on Sara and her poetry. (We speculate it might be students doing an assignment?)

(& maybe, by then, wynn's mind will have returned sufficiently, from transgalactic? post-temporal? spaces, to have a few words to add, too...) ;)

This being our First Anniversary Launch, we've "gone the extra mile" to try to make it Special.

Very Special, indeed, is Melanie J. Carroll's short story, "The Start And The End", taking place nearest the very *first* Easter Day, addressing the Question of, "What was *Sophia* doing then?" (Melanie is a graduate of a theological college in England & currently manages a Christian bookstore.) Melanie's story also concludes our first *Vision Voices* on-line anthology.

We'd intended there be 21 items in *Vision Voices* but couldn't resist asking *cathie's* permission to include her short poem, *beauty*, at the last minute -- which picked up on the flow of Harv Green's "My Friend Joy" and melanie's "What Is Grace?" so well.

We're also adding 9 poems & a short autobiographical piece ("conversatio morum") by Frank John Culley to the *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM LOVERS* line-up -- under the *Wuyu* button. To the Olde Hermit's values, Wuyu is the latter-20th-century's (& early 21st century's) Most Significant Spiritual Poet (since Sri Aurobindo); so it is certainly with great joy that we begin presenting a more in-depth selection from his poetry, accessible to anyone, now, on-line. Six of Frank's poems, this launch, are translations from the Tao Te Ching (which enable us to *finally* begin fulfilling our initial promise of material from "the tao-way" -- made *before* our initial launch). "Veils slip...", "Spirit falls upon this man", and "Were one to speak from one's heart" are among Chesko's *latest* poems.

Finally, on *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* we're adding a 15th piece by Norea St. John, "The Wine of Eternity" and a 15th by Wynn Manners, "Embrace Wisdom!"

On the *COSMIC WIND* side of our website we're introducing 7 poems by Morris Reynolds. As is so with Frank John Culley's poetry, tho there *is* poetry as *exquisitely excellent* as that of Morris Reynolds -- this one asserts that there is no poetry that is *more* excellent. We've held back on launching Morris's poems just to have something Really Special to add to *COSMIC WIND* on our First Anniversary. These poems are: "Isness", "Starting Over", "Mindscape", "Tao", "But What Are People For?", "Song Of The Moth" and "Night Chant". NOT TO BE MISSED!

Also on *COSMIC WIND* it's time for our next tri-yearly Forgotten Classical Piano Music launch. Heading it off is Theodore Oesten's piano transcription from Lucia di Lammermoor (one of his *best* -- at least among the approximately 20 compositions this one has seen by him). It's that kind of piece that makes the 3rd or 4th grade level pianist *want* to advance to be able to play it -- in its entirety -- as it *should* be played. (Some sections require as high as a 6th grade adeptness; but near the conclusion Oesten includes a couple pages that are basically *first* grade level -- showing how *effective* a shift to *simplicity* can be -- after all the pyrotechnics!)

"Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still" (apparently a transcription from a popular song of the time) demonstrates, again, the matchless smooth romantic styling of Brinley Richards.

"Whispers From Erin" by W. S. Rockstro (i've seen no other piece by him) is the most splendid piano treatment *i've* seen of the Irish airs, "Oft In The Stilly Night" & "The Young May Moon". The Oesten, Richards and Rockstro compositions are all from the 1850's to 1860's -- the Golden Age of the Romantic Piano.

And, for more beginning pianists -- functioning at a first/second grade level -- we're making available, "Saviour, Breathe An Evening Blessing" by Harry Spencer -- probably from the earliest part of the 20th century.

The entirety of *COSMIC WIND* / *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* for our first year (including *all* the art) utilizes 24 megs of space (of the hundred megs we're renting from our server). Of those 24 megs, 15 megs are being taken up *just* by our first sheet music launch (of 4 pieces). (We've launched very large files to provide a *quality* print-off.) This means that (at most!) we'll be able to fit 4 sheet music launches on the site before we have to Make Some Decisions. Thus it is *possible* that we will reach the point of having to *remove* (from on-line) availability of the *earlier* launches as later ones are added. SO DON'T DELAY DOWNLOADING YOUR PERSONAL COPIES OF THIS MUSIC -- if you *want* a copy.

It appears that there *are* a Few People *Out There* looking for the kind of music we're making available. Our WebMaster extracted all the search strings (from the raw log data) that have brought people to our sister sites for the first 3 months of this year (since we've been with our latest server) -- and amongst them were 3 searches on Theodore Oesten, 1 search on Charles Grobe, 1 on Gustav Lange, 2 on Louis Moreau Gottschalk, 1 on Fritz Spindler & 3 on A. F. Marzian.

Looking over Promises Made with our first launch we see that making available essays by Thomas Carlyle, John Burroughs, Richard Jeffries and David Grayson is still to be fulfilled -- as with "some good sf tales from the old pulps". (That lattermost promise may still be a few years before any initial fulfilling...) We *do* have Carlyle's essay on Novalis typed onto the computer -- alongwith a David Grayson essay on friendship -- so they're relatively soon on the agenda for our *Classics* anthology. Likewise Caroline Kuijper's essay, "To Love or Not To Love -- Real Liberation for Womenkind" and Michal Tobin's "Moral Insanity and the Rise of Big-Brother" -- *should* be getting launched within the next 3 or 4 months. We've decided that putting Norm's "Love*Star" up *this* month is a bit more than we can handle, trying to maintain our mid-month launch-schedule. So... *later*!

Next month, foremostly, we're aiming towards getting some of John Mach's poetry up on the *COSMIC WIND* side -- and, hopefully, a *Sophia Links 2* on the *COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS* side. A *Sophia Art* Gallery is *also* in the planning stages.

Her Garden is expanding; Her Love is all-expansive. Awareness of Her numinosity is growing; our evolution in Her Spirit sows the loving that is the flowering.

All that you have experienced -- the pain, the devastation, the sense of isolation -- has been a part of the Purification.

And you *become* -- more fully, more transparently -- all the Light that you Are!

You are Living Light -- radiancing with Living Lights, Love all-loving. Together we are a Symphony of Light -- All-inclusive.

Childe of the Universes merging across the dimensional shift: time is collapsing, infolding; futures & pasts are merging; in this moment there is only *one* moment -- forever *now*.

WHAT'S NEW?!