Nov - Dec 2002 LTD Newsletter
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Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury
Saturday November 16, 11am to 4pm
We'll do a scene or two from a story about a society in which
group marriage is the norm, but political difficulties and dangerous
adventure ensue when a group breaks tradition by adding a seventh
to the societal acceptable six. Nonconformity wins out and a great
deal of wisdom on day-to-day life in such a group is to be gleaned.
Potluck lunch. Bring something healthy and delicious to share.
Afternoon activity: What courtship rites are appropriate in THIS
society? Learn how you can find a primary partner for an open
relationship (or a 3rd for your couple), bring friends and lovers
into your intimate network or put together a group marriage. 4th
generation matchmaker Terry Brussel-Gibbons helps you figure out
what kind of relationship you are looking for, what kind of partners
would bring you joy and how to attract the partners you desire...
Location: Brussel-Gibbons group house: 809 Lashburn Street, Sylmar,
CA 91342. Take 405 or 5 to San Fernando Mission off ramp. Take
Laurel Canyon to Hubbard. Right. One block to Pearwood right.
One block to Lashburn Right.. RSVP PLEASE! (818) 361-6727
Following the 11-16 event, we'll be carpooling to dinner out and
a filk sing in Torrance. Filk is science fiction folk songs. They
are inspired by the writing of Heinlein and McGaffery, by Star
Trek and Star Wars and such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Come sing with us!
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LOSCON
(Los Angeles Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention) is THANKSGIVING
WEEKEND
(November 29 - December 1, 2002)
at the Burbank Hilton in Burbank
LTD will be sponsoring a POLY MEET POINT IN THE CON SUITE ON SUNDAY
MORNING 10:00am - 11:30am. Join kindred spirits for bagels, cream
cheese, fruit and a discussion of how and what we've learned from
alternative life styles in science fiction can be applied to present
day reality. Are you one of those who has fantasized about being
part of a group marriage like Lazarus Long's Tertius colony family
in Time Enough for Love? Pictured yourself in a (multi generational)
Line Marriage such as the one depicted in Moon is a Harsh Mistress?
Imagined yourself in one of Spider Robinson's chosen families
in his Calahan series? Wondered about what being part of Marion
Zimmer Bradley's group marriages and other alternatives in her
Darkover Series? This is a chance to meet and get to know some
folks who have made their fantasies a reality.
There are couples/families in the Science Fiction community who
have met and even married as a result of gatherings like this…
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LTD WINTER HOLIDAY PARTY
Saturday, December 14, 2002, 6:00pm - 10pm
Reserve the Date
Saturday evening December 14 is LTD's winter holiday party at
Anne friend's group house near USC. Celebrate Hanukkah with dreidels,
Menorah and Latkes. Yule with a ritual for bringing back the light
after the year's longest night and Christmas with Anne's unique
miniature Christmas village and an old fashioned Christmas tree.
RSVP (818) 361-6737.
Potluck: Bring something healthy & delicious to share
Location: 2649 Kenwood Avenue.
Directions: Normadie off ramp off the 10 freeway.
Phone # day of event only: (323) 737-3256.
Saturday January 18, 2003 / 11am -2:00pm
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Group Living NOW:
Imagine coming home to a beautiful home with plenty of trees,
a fire place, pool and hot tub (clothing optional of course).
You come home to the smell of something delicious being cooked
by one of your housemates. You share a good dinner with whoever
is at home tonight. Afterwards, you can go to the privacy of your
room or soak in the hot tub with good friends. Sound good?
We are selling our home in Sylmar to get a bigger, better place--most
likely in the San Fernando Valley. Every so often we do an exercise
at a Live the Dream meeting in which we have everyone write down
what they could afford to pay down for a home and what they could
pay monthly. Invariably, we discover that many people together
can live cheaper and a whole lot nicer than that same number could
live separately. If you have some real interest in living in a
lovely home with warm, caring, like minded people for little more
(and maybe even less) than you are now paying to live alone (or
with your spouse) in a smaller place, come to this planning meeting.
Potluck lunch at 1.:00pm
Location: Brussel-Gibbons group house: 809 Lashburn Street, Sylmar,
CA 91342. Take 405 or 5 to San Fernando Mission off ramp. Take
Laurel Canyon to Hubbard. Right. One block to Pearwood right.
One block to Lashburn Right..
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UPCOMING EVENT!
Saturday, February 13, 2003 join us for a Valentines day Tantric
(intro) during our regular LTD Meeting from 11:00am - 4:00pm.
There will be a more intensive Tantric workshop Saturday evening
of 2-15 and all day Sunday, February 16, 2002
This is lead by SHAMA.
This event is being held at a beautiful home in the hills of Glendale.
Early RSVP is a must for this one because space is limited. (818)
361-6737. More info in next newsletter.
Potluck Lunch: Bring something healthy & delicious to share
Address: 1447 Hillside Drive, Glendale, CA 91208 Directions are
on page two
Directions: Take the 101 or the 5 to the 135 East. Take the Glendale
Avenue Exit. Turn Left on North Glendale Avenue (.6 miles), Continue
on North Verdugo Road (.6 miles) and bear left on Canada Blvd
(.7 miles). Turn left on Hillside Drive. House is on the right
side of the street.
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BOOK REVIEW
Modern Pagans by V. Vale and John Sulak is a sensitively done,
well illustrated, accurate look at the leaders and founders of
today's Neo Pagan movement. Among other things, there are pieces
on members of Ravenheart, the five member group marriage of Oberon
and Morning Glory Zell who founded Church of All Worlds. It is
in an interview format which allows participants to speak for
themselves. Knowing some of the people involved personally, it
is clear that they had a great deal of control over content. They
used it as a forum to impart wisdom, history and their own quirky
senses of humor... Here are some excerpts:
Morning Glory (Zell) Ravenheart:" In 1973, I hitchhiked
to a Pagan gathering in Minnesota and met Oberon (then known as
Tim Zell). Almost instantly we felt a total psychic melding; we
were so in love we could hardly speak.
But I've always had the ability to step back from my feelings,
pause, and take a deep breath. I looked at him and said "You
know this is amazing and wonderful and I love you so much I can't
even think straight. " But I can think straight enough to
be honest with you. I need you to understand that as much as I
love you, I can never be in a monogamous relationship...I want
to be free to have other lovers and you're free to do that as
well. I'll give you my whole heart and my soul, but I cannot give
you monogamy. That's just who and what I am. Oberon looked at
me like he had found the Holy Grail:" Ah, the Goddess has
appeared in my life!
Oberon (Zell) Ravenheart:" I think jealousy is deeply related
to insecurity...it's not unjustified as there are good reasons
to feel insecure. I just don't have that. I'm secure in my personal
identity, and not at all worried that the people I love are going
to leave me...I have trusted people who betrayed me... It isn't
a bad idea to trust people, but it's essential to find people
who are worthy of trust."
[Oberon and Morning Glory must have chosen well in each other.
They have been together almost 30 years. Do share that message
with anyone who tells you open relationships
can't work!]
Wolf Ravenheart: "Some sensitive New Age Guys are so sensitive,
they are practically ineffectual. What a lot of women really want
are peers. In the Pagan mentality where every woman is a goddess,
in order to be a peer to a Goddess, you have to be a God...Sexuality
has been repressed during the last 2000 years probably because
controlling sexuality is a way of controlling people. Eros, being
the God of male sexuality has been particularly denigrated...Today
both men and women fear male creative and sexual energy yet male
sexuality is vitally important. The world could not exist without
it. Fire can heat your home or burn down a village, but it's the
same fire."
Wolf's fire drew Morning Glory and warmed Oberon enough that
they have been together first as a triad, then as part of a group
marriage, for nearly ten years--longer than the majority of monogamous
couples in this society. I had heard Morning Glory speak of this
explosively attractive man before they started living together.
Paul and I first met Wolf on a visit to Oberon and Morning Glory
when Oberon was recovering from surgery. Wolf was right there bringing
him food, water and whatever assistance he needed at the time. Relationships
of this kind only work if the men bond, too.
Many other prominent pagans are interviewed here including Starhawk
(arthur of The Spiral Dance), Isaac Bonewits (Real Magic) and
Diana L. Paxson (prolific SF writer and co-founder of Society
for Creative Anachronism). Some of these are in expanded families
and open committed relationships. Diana is a leading member of
Grayhaven, the group home Marion Zimmer Bradley was part of and
shared with us in some of her writings. She says they, too, were
originally inspired by Stranger in a Strange Land.
Read this book and recommend it to your friends--it's terrific!
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