Sahmain 1999 Newsletter Editorial

With Hope in the Goddess
I’d like to extend a big welcome to all of our new members and welcome you to another edition of the newsletter for NSW. The NSW section of the Alliance will be closed from Friday 24th April until Monday 17th May, as I’ll be away up the coast on holidays. Urgent messages will be returned as soon as clear my answering machine. During this time, you can also contact the Australian Pagan Alliance Team of Jon and Chel Bardell (PO Box 823, Bathurst 2795). If you have been trying to get in contact with me lately, and have left a message on my answering machine, and I haven’t gotten back to you yet, it’s because my machine has been playing up. For this I apologise, and ask that if I haven’t returned your call, that you give me another ring?

At the end of March I attended a small protest rally outside the office of John Howard to protest about the beginning of the preamble that Howard and Les Murray had written recently. I personally, am concerned about the inclusion only of ‘God’. I believe that this excludes many religions and belief systems that incorporate a different view of the world from the male monotheistic belief systems. At the protest we called for equity and recognition that there are a lot of different faiths that make up the fabric of Australian society. Allanah, the Tasmanian Alliance co-ordinator, has also been busy writing letters to this effect. The freedom of religion legislation is still under consideration in parliament, and we need to be ever vigilant against discrimination.

Autumn has begun, and daylight savings has finally finished. The leaves on the deciduous trees have started to change colours and fall to the ground. Jumping in these piles of leaves is great fun and a great way of reconnecting with the child within. The leaf curling spiders in our backyard seem to be taking it over! We have had a great increase in the number of orb weavers and leaf curling spiders in our yard recently. They are most welcome as they keep the mosquito population (thriving in the bromeliad water tanks) slightly under control. There have been many different birds eating the last of the figs of the tree, including the cuckoo, koel, minor birds, and the odd rosella.

Have we had enough rain on the East Coast yet? Summer had an above average rainfall, and Autumn looks like following a similar pattern. We have had a very mild summer compared with years gone by, and we wait to see what winter holds in store.

What’s happening in your backyard, or on your balcony this season?

Blessed Be
Adrianne
NSW Co-ordinator