WELCOME ALL READERS. POINTS OF LIGHT is the monthly newsletter of TEMPLE OF THE ETERNAL LI

WELCOME ALL READERS. POINTS OF LIGHT is the monthly newsletter of TEMPLE OF THE ETERNAL LIGHT. It is an open forum for anyone to send in articles, poetry, short, short, stories, advertising or anything else. We desire it to blossom into a cornucopia of fact, or fantasy relating to modern magickal living, spiritual growth and a network linking all members of our human family by a chain of fellowship. With wishes for Love and L.V.X. Rt. Rev. Jerome Peartree, Publisher Rev. Karen DePolito, Editor ﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄ OPEN INVITATION TO ALL These events are open to both members and non-members. Please call a day in advance and let us know you are coming. SUNDAY, October 28 at 3:00 P.M. GNOSTIC MASS - Priestess: Karen, Priest: Jerome, Deacon: Ken. This is a Eucharistic Ritual. Everyone is required to partake of the consecrated bread and wine. Donation: $3.00 WEDNESDAY, October 31, 1990 Samhain Celebration at 8:00 P.M. Donation: Bring yourself and some food or drink This is it, friends! Come and celebrate the open sabbat with us. FRIDAY EVENING WORKSHOP....OPEN TO EVERYONE Newly introduced is an ongoing workshop in the Mystical Arts. Every Friday evening we will choose a topic and open it to everyone for discussion. Topics will include: Caballa, Tarot, Crystals, WICCA, Neo- paganism to name a few. This group, led by our Pastor Jerome, will allow for a question and answer session and an experience of the Judaic "Welcoming the Sabbath" service. Non-members are asked to call, at least, two hours in advance. ﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄ SAMHAIN (October 31). by: Rev. Karen DePolito On the night of October 31st, Wiccans and other Pagans mark the start of their new year with a celebration of death. Does this put you off, reader? Then you're probably not one of us. In terms of religious significance, Samhain is on par with Good Friday of the Christians, or the Jewish High Holy Days. Indeed, think of it as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur crammed into the space of one evening -- or as Good Friday with a twinkle in its eye. What is dying here, ostensibly, is the earth itself. Look around outdoors, and it's obvious: the initial beauty of autumn is fading. The trees have shed many of those leaves that were screaming with color a few weeks ago. Grass is drying out, frost has set in, and the daylight hours are noticeably shorter as we slide further into the "dark half" of the year. In the ancient Keltic tradition where it originates, Samhain marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. By this time, it was expected that all the produce from the fields had been gathered up and stored, the animals properly stabled, and any other preparations made that were needed for the oncoming cold season. (Continued on rear of this page) ﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄ HAPPY NEW YEAR A witch was seen riding her new electric broom. She boasted,"It cost $5000.00. Actually, $1000.00 for the broom and $4000.00 for the extension cord. ﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄ YIDDUSH YOGA will change your life! Improve your health! Enjoy Living! Feel Rich! "Thirteen Tools Toward Enlightenment" A dynamic study program! WRITE TODAY! Temple of Eternal Light, 928 East Fifth Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230 An "Omni-Denominational" Fellowship Information $1.00 donation When skyclad is right out... a robe by Arachne fits right in! Made from 100% cotton, our robes are custom-designed for a comfortable fit on every figure. Styles include: Pullover-type with or without hood Open wrap-around type with hood S P E C I A L S A M H A I N O F F E R This fall, TOTEL is offering robes in black or white for a special low donation of $35.00. (Other colors, please add 10%) Act now -- offer ends October 31, 1990 Please circle the following when ordering: 1. COLOR: BLACK WHITE OTHER _________________ 2. Do you want a hood? Yes No 3. If YES, please give length from shoulder to top of head______inches 4. STYLE: Open-front Pullover 5. MEASUREMENTS: Length of arms from shoulder to wrist _______in. Length from shoulder to ankle _______in. Shirt size _____ or width around chest ___________in. NAME_____________________________________ ADDRESS_____________________________________________________ CITY_______________________ STATE_____________ ZIP___________ Please make all checks payable to: Temple of the Eternal Light 928 East Fifth Street, Brooklyn NY 11230 Arachne of TOTEL. Outfitting the occult community for over a quarter of a decade. ﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄﾄ SAMHAIN.....Continued: Since housing and feed for livestock was at a premium, it was traditional at the end of the harvest to slaughter those animals considered too old or sickly to make it thru the winter. Only the minimum breeding stock was allowed to survive. This idea has survived into present-day Wicca, making Samhain an occasion for meditating on the unwanted, negative "surplus" in our own lives, and resolving to eliminate it. A much better-known theme of this holiday is remembrance of, and communion with, the dead. While Samhain does mark the Keltic New Year, Wiccans reckon it as belonging neither to the new year nor the preceding year. On this singular night, the boundary between the material world and the astral is believed to be at its thinnest, allowing the spirits of our departed loved ones to walk freely among us. It should be emphasized that this communication with the dead is not like a seance, or any other spiritualist practice. Wiccans do not command the dead to appear; they invite them to enter the circle of their own free will, and share the holiday with the living only if they want to. Of the eight Pagan holidays, Samhain is the one that Christianity has been least successful in assimilating. Not that it didn't try: the early Church scheduled two prominent feast days around that time, All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2) -- both are, appropriately, occasions for remembering the dead. But the "witchcraft" and "occult" associations of All Hallows Eve -- and unfortunately, some very real outbreaks of violence -- have rendered the holiday an embarrassment to the more orthodox Christian sects, church-sponsored costume parties notwithstanding. At the other end of the spectrum, I have heard several fundamentalist speakers vehemently denounce Halloween and urge their fellow Christians not to observe it at all. Yet in a way, I am almost grateful for this hostility, since it helps guarantee Samhain's status as the most authentically "Wiccan" of all the Sabbats -- the one that remains most truly our own. As with all of the cross-quarter Sabbats, Samhain occurs with the sun in a fixed sign of the Zodiac, symbolizing the sustained, expansive force of a particular element. In this case, it is the fixed water sign Scorpio, represented by the breadth and depth of the sea --a universally recognized symbol of death. It is the waters of the earth that are responsible for the process of putrefaction (better known as "rot"), that is, the breaking down of dead matter into its basic components. Bear in mind, though, that the sea is as much womb as it is tomb. All life begins in her, be it fish in the ocean or humans in the amniotic fluid. I could rhapsodize on this further, but I'll leave the reader to chew on it awhile. Remember the Charge of the Goddess: "From me all things proceed, and unto me they must return..." Finally, a word about the apple, traditionally associated with Samhain, and with the fall season in general. Supposedly it was an apple (the "forbidden fruit") that got humans into all that trouble back in Chapter 1 of Genesis --throwing us out of our cushy residence in Eden and bringing death into the picture. However, we are told that this apple came from the "Tree of Knowledge". Does that suggest, perhaps, a connection between death and the acquisition of wisdom? (For more on this subject, see Lesson Four of Jerome Peartree's Thirteen Tools Toward Enlightenment.) If you look closely at different cultures around the world, you will see how the theme of death and rebirth keeps popping up in various initiation ceremonies. The initiate's "old self" must die before he can receive new knowledge. Of course this is true in magical/mystical groups as well: your basic Wiccan initiation, for example, usually incorporates something from the legend of the Goddess' descent into the underworld. Consider also how many initiation rites -- including Christian baptism -- involve immersion in water. It was said a long, long time ago, by somebody much smarter that I, that he who knows the truth must die. Every good magickian walks the path with one foot in the grave.