The Beltane Conspiracy We are facing, in 1988, perhaps the greatest threat to the Old Religion and to human liberty this country has ever seen. There is currently a coalition of forces, often referring to themselves as "Christian Reconstructionists", with a terrifying philosophy. Anyone who viewed the recent PBS special on Church and State knows what I am referring to. At the core of their beliefs is a yearning for America to become "God's Kingdom on Earth", a desire to which "secular humanist" ideas like democracy are antithetical. This is not merely my paranoia, they have stated it as such. The Kingdom is to be a "bible believer's" theocracy, in which biblical law would function alongside civil law. To those of you uninitiated in the terminology, "Biblical Law" and "Islamic Law" are pretty much indistinguishable. They call for, among other things, the execution of adulterers, homosexuals, "incorrigable sons", and of course, us........ Normally, this would be just another nut group, but their influence in current Republican politics is astonishing. At the grass roots level, their electors may well have achieved dominance at the next Republican nominating convention. An example: This year one Northwest Florida precinct had 23 slots open for local participation. There were over 200 applicants for those slots.....ALL BUT 12 OF THEM WERE ELECTORS FOR REV. PAT ROBERTSON! Although it may not win, there will be strong support at the Republican Nominating Convention for a Kemp/Robertson or Robertson/Kemp ticket, and their influence will be felt in the platforms of both parties. Make no mistake, This Is Real.....! We have come up with, I think, a way to help combat this kind of thinking, and, hopefully, a way to help put this country back on the path set out by our beloved, drug-sodden, sex crazed, mystical forebears Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Washinton (long may his pot fields wave). We feel it is ideal for Pagani because it is essentially apolitical (though if you do have a political bent, in the names of the Goddess, get involved. One person can do so much good if intense enough) and probably a lot of fun. /\ / \ /<()>\ / \ -------- THE BELTANE CONSPIRACY! (....or: can a bunch of Witches, New Age types, rock musicians, computer geeks, and 60's burnouts save American Democracy and have a good time while doing it...) The premise of this project is very simple: It is to increase the awareness of the American Public of options....options in lifestyles, in religious beliefs, in futures...it is also to increase the political visiblity of Free-Thinking people to the political electorate (as in: if they got 170,000 people out in the park last Saturday, thats a LOT of potential votes). We want to present to America a vision of the world in which options are only limited by the will to carry through on them, and by a respect for our fellow humans and for the Earth, as opposed to one in which "everything not prohibited is compulsory and everything not compulsory is prohibited." The current resurgence of the 1960's, both in interest and in musical style, as well as the ascention of those of us who grew up (or didnt) through the 60's to positions of importance in government and business, provides an excellent platform for a year of celebration. A celebration of life and of freedom. The Conspiracy timetable runs like this: 1: OMBLEC (or Candlemas or whatever you use in your trad....early Feb., anyway): Meet with your Circle, friends, or Working group to plot out the year. We suggest using Amnesty International's technique of breaking people up into smaller groups, each assigned to letter writing or to securing needed public permits...whatever. It seems to work very well. This is also a really good oppurtunity to do something positive....just in general. After you meet, take your Circle down someplace with a bunch of garbage bags and clean up a roadside, tidy up a park, anything. Make somplace a little nicer to be in, and when someone asks what you're doing, tell them... 2: EOSTAR: Get your Circle together with other interested groups for planning. This is not only a good chance for some larger scale public works, but for some Events with a capital E. If you've access to some musicians, or to artists, make the meetings occasion for public showings and concerts. Do it right. Get the appropriate permits, et al. Make a point of showing the local authorities that you're not out to cause a scene, at least, not a bad one. Above all, DON'T PUSH, don't SELL anything, unless you're doing a crafts fair. The point is OPTIONS, not OUR OPTION in particular. Make it fun for everybody. 3: BELTANE The traditional time for festival, a time for the fires and music and maypoles and orgies and so forth, and its about time we stopped keeping these all to ourselves. We should be together enough by now to do it right, to drown out the jackboots echoing down Red Square with some sounds of joy. Public concerts, Public Circles, maypoles, REAL maypoles like when most of us were growing up, and this time, get up a press list and invite the media along. Think about a Maying with Reniassance or Medieval period dress and instruments, or a big joint public circle in a public park (again, GET THE PERMITS), or just a series of outdoor concerts, just for fun. Lets DRIVE SOME OF THIS BLACKNESS OUT OF HERE. 4: MIDSUMMER! Stated Simply, we would like to see major festivals in every major city in this country. We would like to make the fabled "Summer of Love" look like a tepid handshake on a cold night. Call together the Pagans, the Hippies and NeoHippies, the Punkers and the Eccentrics and the people who are just plain flat in love with living for a celebration of options and ideas. I would personally like to see 150,000 people in Griffith park at Midsummer sunrise. It Will Happen. If you or your group are interested, leave Email to me or to Parsifal, and please talk this up. Those of you on Qlink, Playnet, or Compuserv, there are already discussions going on, and we hope to have a handbook of sorts ready for DLing by the end of January. Lets ride this horse. Blessed Be [Editor's note: More information should be available on the following BBS's: Parsifal's BBS: 818-769-5864, North Hollywood, CA PBS (Pagan Broadcasting System): 818-982-0751, North Hollywood, CA And, possibly, on Mysteria: 818-353-8891, Glendale, CA (use "C D/CAGLE/12" for PCPursuit) (since Mysteria runs at 1200baud, then, it is available via PCPursuit. The other 2 BBS's run at 300 baud (as of 15 Jan) and, as such, are not available via PCPursuit (there's only one PCP modem for that area, and it runs at 1200 baud, only!) If PBBS or Parsifal's BBS ever get 1200 baud, then, they WILL be available via PCPursuit. I don't know who's taking contributions, try asking on Mysteria, which does run at 1200, or, call direct at 300 baud.)] [Editor's further note: I believe the original author of this piece goes by the handle of "GreyMage1" on QLink. An associate of the author goes by the handle "Parsifal1" on QLink. I have no idea of how many other networks these two are on.]