POINTS OF LIGHT 928 EAST FIFTH STREET VOLUME IV #6 Brooklyn, New York 11230-2104 Copyright 1991: Temple of the Eternal Light (718) 438-4878 An "Omni-Denominational" Religious Fellowship _____________________________________________________ WISHES FOR A RELAXING SUMMER "POINTS OF LIGHT" will be suspended for the summer months and will resume in September. Happy vacationing to all. The Temple will be open for visits this summer. Please call in advance. Rt. Rev. Jerome Peartree, Publisher Rev. Karen DePolito, Editor ****************************************************************************** OPEN INVITATION TO ALL This event is open to both members and non-members. Please call a day in advance and let us know you are coming. (Also see workshop schedule below) SATURDAY AUGUST 3, 1991, at 8:00 P.M. LAMMAS SABBAT Donation: Bring some food or drink ($1.00 optional) ENJOY THE CELEBRATION WITH US. ****************************************************************************** A GENETIC MERCURY - Part 2 of "Tree of Life" series. African and ancient tribes would kill a lion and make a ritual out of eating its heart, to gain courage. In China, deer antlers and tiger bones were ingested to communicate to the eater the characteristics of those animals. People go to Mass, eating the bread and drinking the wine to take in the body and blood of Christ, and somehow becoming more divine. One of the functions of Hod is memory. We will discuss the function of memory and the role memory plays in Ceremonial Magick. About thirty years ago, a laboratory experimented with DNA and RNA. Using food, the analysts trained planeria (flatworms) to distinguish between the black arm and the white arm of a T-maze. They isolated the worms who learned rapidly, and rewarded them by grinding them into food for untrained worms. The untrained worms ate the flatworm food and knew how to differentiate between the black and white maze. DNA is a double helix: two ribbons of information wound around each other in the center of every cell. Actually, they are wound around a non- visible central column. The central point is not definite. DNA consists of different nucleic acids, linked together by base pairs (codons), long lines extending between the two ribbons. There are four different types of base pairs which contain every possible characteristic or trait that can exist in a human. Four codons combining in all possible combinations can produce sixty- four possibilities -- similar to the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching (the Chinese "Book of Changes"). These hexagrams are formed by the combining of two trigrams. The long line consists of two parts, sort of a + and - , four varieties. The base pairs link the ribbon together. It is said that DNA does not exist naturally within the world, but was introduced outside of it. Scientists say that the possibility of these compunds forming these chains randomly, is similar to placing a bunch of nuts and bolts into a box, shaking the box and having a Ford roll out. They say no inside force produced DNA. What does that mean? Is there a GOD? DNA, as represented by two coils, appears in many mystical writings of diverse cultures. The Chinese practiced a form of geomancy called "Fung-Shway" (wind-water). Geomancers could look at the lay of the land, and determine where buildings could be erected that would withstand natural disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods. They saw the world as being in a state of constant flux. Flowing within the earth wre two dragons, red and green, intertwined. It was said that these dragons were constantly changing and moving. Hindu cultures represented DNA by two coils in Kundalini: one, the Eda and the other the Pingala, wound around the Nshunda pillar. The Emerald Tablet of Hermes illustrated two serpents wound around a central pillar in the Caduceus, the widely-recognized medical symbol. Why would so many cultures develop the concept of wisdom as two coils wound around a center pole? DNA and RNA. The relationship between DNA and RNA is similar to the relationship between God and His angels in a Caballistic sense. Gematria: English Hebrew DNA Aleph, Nun, Daleth 1 + 50 + 4 = 55 = 10 = 1 (God) RNA Aleph, Nun, Resh 1 + 50 + 200 = 251 = 8 (Hod, Hermes, Thoth, Mercury all messengers) Why choose these names? I suppose it was coincidence! ****************************************************************** WORKSHOP SCHEDULE: Saturday,July 20, 1991, August 17, 1991 at 7:00 P.M. Please call in advance to let us know you are coming. DONATION: $1.00 ****************************************************************************** LITHA a poem for Midsummer by: Karen DePolito It's raining hard -- whatever "it" may be. In these short, schizoid hours before dawn the rain ignites a fire in my blood; It moistens the heat within that drives me on. Night has descended, here where god's life ended. Party time is done, the animals are gone; Their offerings sit in a smoldering pile: Perfumes of dead roses, scorched lavender, and camomile. They drench the air -- ah, such a tease, This exquisite infection, this beautiful disease. One drop from heaven sends you to your knees. I walk the black path, it suits me to a T. O goddess my goddess, why have you exalted me? But is it done? Not yet Not yet Not yet I would know otherwise. Shall I offer you a cunning word? You delighted in my words in times past. Put the Word in my hand and I am unbeatable, Describing the nameless, naming the unspeakable. Isis, Persephone, Venus, Demeter, Locking divinity into rhyme and meter. Would that satisfy you, pacify you, mollify you, Would you walk away with your belly full at last? No? Then crown me with roses, but leave the thorns intact, And tie me to the wheel that turns not back nor forward -- only round and round it goes, And where it stops, god only knows. And I do it for the love of the One-in-three. O goddess my goddess, why have you exalted me? I thirst, I thirst, give me my blood to drink. I'm running out of rhymes! Don't ask me to think about what it means: I'm sick of being clever. Should I wallow in my own philosophy forever? Ah sweet silence! embrace me, that your wisdom I might see. O goddess my goddess, why have you exalted me? Where the light hits the water, There you'll find the rose that bleeds. Mother, into your belly I commend my seeds! ... ... ... And the wind moves across the face of the sea. O goddess my goddess, why have you exalted me? It is finished It is begun It is.