Bayou Packet #37

Halloween 2007

The Bayou Packet # 37

Page 1 of 5

An irregular irreverent confabulation for the edification and delectation of podjos, friends, brothers, kith and kin of Jess Epps

Dearest Betsy, I sleep, I dream, I awake, And feel your presence, As if you had only just risen.

This is my first foray into free verse poetry, and you're not here to check my grammar, spelling and structure, as you used to do when I was a more frequent purveyor of lexis. I am however cognizant of my double entendre.

As Samhain approaches (on 01 November), for the third time since you left on that day (in 2004), I again put my virtual pen to the task of communicating with you. Samhain (pronounced 'sow'inn') has been celebrated in Britain for centuries and has its origin in Celtic traditions. It was the time of year when the veils between this world and the Otherworld were believed to be at their thinnest: when the spirits of the dead could most readily mingle with the living once again. Later, when the festival was adopted by Christians, they celebrated it as All Hallows' Eve, followed by All Saints Day, though it still retained elements of remembering and honoring the dead.

While death is still the central theme of the festival this does not mean it is a morbid event. For Celtics, death is not a thing to be feared. Old age is valued for its wisdom and dying is accepted as a part of life as necessary and welcome as birth.

While Celtics, like people of other faiths, always honor and show respect for their dead, this is particularly marked at Samhain. Loved ones who have recently died are remembered and their spirits often invited to join the living in the celebratory feast. As well as feasting, Celtics often celebrate Samhain with traditional games such as apple-dooking. Sure do wish that you were here for some plain and fancy dooking – with or without the apples. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Nehalennia is proclaimed to be a goddess of seafarers. Her name itself means 'leader' or 'steerswoman', and all of us who wish to make the dangerous journey across the open seas seek her protection and guidance.

Along the coast of ancient Celtic settlements are standing stones carved with stylized dolphins. Offering stones have been found depicting her sitting down with a basket of apples, and a dog at her side, sometimes with a sceptre in her hands. In some iconography she rests her foot on a ship, or holds a ship's oar.

As well as the Earthly seas, Nehalennia also presides over the sea to the afterlife. When we decide to really look at our selves, we might see an endless and unexplored ocean and think, 'how could this have been here all this time, and I didn't notice it'. Eager or afraid, there is only one thing to do and it is not until we lose sight of our safe harbor of everyday life, that we begin to realize what it is we are up against. Fear and truth. It is here, when most of us want to turn back, that Nehalennia steps in, and in her beautiful and calming voice urges us onwards.

I wear her talisman about my neck at all times for both of us, and have invoked her to watch over you during your journey across the uncharted waters. She will be your guide and companion, her beautiful and calming voice urging you onwards, her presence giving you strength and courage.

My Nehalennia Pendant ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Love can do all but raise the Dead.

— Emily Dickinson

The Bayou Packet # 37

Halloween 2007

Page 2 of 5

An irregular irreverent confabulation for the edification and delectation of podjos, friends, brothers, kith and kin of Jess Epps

If it's true that souls who have passed on can look down on what human beings are doing on the planet, you must be appalled to see the political situation that the Democrats have wrought.

The latest polls finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of about 31 percent. But, just 22% of Americans approve the performance of the Democratic controlled Congress. The Democrats won’t remember this, and the mainstream media won’t report this of course, but their beloved John F. Kennedy’s approval rating the morning he was killed was hovering at around 25% and had been at that level for some time. Things changed rather rapidly later that day. Of course he also liked classical architecture, along with cigars, booze, long vacations, and poorly waged wars.

Taxing Cigars Out of Existence

A note for the new reader, and a reminder to the old, about the Irish connection: Betsy was a lover of Celtic music, as I am. My mother was a McCain with ancestry from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, only 13 miles across the narrow seas from Scotland.

Congress wants to raise the federal excise tax rate on cigars to 52.988%, with a $3 cap on each cigar. Therefore, cigars having a current price of $5.66 (and higher) may soon cost $3 more, with tax. A $4 cigar would cost $6.12, after tax.

President Bush vetoed the bill that was passed, but now the Democratic idiots are trying to override the veto. How does one respond to the higher cost of cigars? This is what I wrote the fools misrepresenting me in Congress: Remember, if you are old enough, what the Tax Act of 1986 did to the boating industry and to the practice of architecture. Can you say obliterated?

That is what this insane bill will do to the cigar industry.

I have smoked cigars for over 60 years - but will quit cold turkey before I personally pay for illegal aliens health care.

I urge you to use some common sense and VOTE NO! on the Presidential Veto Override of HR976.

I am happy to report that Veto Override Vote Failed! But, “they” have started another push to ram this down our throats again.

Now, on to the personal stuff: Mister Blue, as you call him, is now 13 and feeling his age – kinda sorta like his Mandad, at times. I have to help him up the stairs and lift him into and out of the truck because of his arthritis, and he's having trouble seeing and hearing - but he never complains. And never explains. He's still overweight despite the diet regimen I feed him and Ruby in the same amount. The vet says it's metabolism.

Ornate window on Innisfallen Island, Co. Kerry

Your little Princess, Ruby, is now 11 and acting like she is 4 – kinda sorta like her Mandad, at times.

In the 6th century Saint Fionán founded a leper colony on the little island of Innisfallen on the Lakes of Killarney. Later it became the first university in Europe in over 800 years, where princes from all over Europe lived and learned. It's still a holy and peaceful place.

I think you must be proud of my gardening – your former chore. All plants are thriving – even the hibiscus that Lesley gave you - and a huge 3-trunk plant that Reubin Harle sent you.

Oh, how I wish that we had made that trip to Ireland that we always wanted to do.

As are the birds and squirrels that I now care for, as you once did.

I still haven’t fixed the driveway for you, but I still have the same good intentions.

Halloween 2007

The Bayou Packet # 37

Page 3 of 5

An irregular irreverent confabulation for the edification and delectation of podjos, friends, brothers, kith and kin of Jess Epps

In my quest for the Gnostic Truth, I am reading a book titled: "Doubt," even though it is by a female author, which as you know I rarely read - which tends to prove my dedication. There is no doubt that I am a doubter, as was Socrates, Jesus, Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson, who wrote: "I know that He exists. Somewhere. In silence." I take great comfort in being in such good company.

Socrates challenged every last conception of life as he knew it, even the idea of having a conception of it. His chief claim was: "that he knew nothing and yet was wiser than most, since at least he knew that he knew nothing." I can relate to that nothing part, but am uncertain about being wiser.

Plato's religion was based on belief that the stars have intelligence, and that we, and they have immortal souls of some sort. This is what I want to believe.

Perhaps they are not the stars, But rather openings in heaven where The love of our lost ones pours through And shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.

– An Eskimo Legend – Ancient Greece produced over 500 immortal philosopher and mathematicians from among their limited population, while for the past few centuries, only occasionally is there found an outstanding figure. Some opine that man today possesses so much knowledge that greatness is not the contrast it used to be. I find that explanation insufficient. The truth is our type of civilization is not conducive to true greatness. Small attitudes cannot produce broad minds. The greatness of the ancients is directly traceable to their religio-philosophies now called the mysteries. The Mystery Schools were the culture and civilization of their time.

Which segues me to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which I am soon to be a Fellow Craft member, having just passed all Entered Apprentice examinations. And again, I find myself in good company – George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Paul Revere are some of our Founding Fathers who were Freemasons. It is widely believed that Thomas Jefferson was a Mason, but documentation of his Masonic memberships has never been discovered. Marquis de Lafayette, Robert Burns, Goethe, and Rudyard Kipling were among famous Masons from abroad. Texas hero’s Stephen Austin, Jim Bowie, David Crockett, and Sam Houston were all Freemasons.

Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that arose from obscure origins (theorized to be from the time of the building of King Solomon's Temple). Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, and has millions of members. The various forms all share moral and metaphysical ideals, which include, in most cases, a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being. Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon's Temple, to convey what is most generally defined as "a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols."

Freemasonry's singular purpose is to make good men better and its bonds of friendship, compassion and brotherly love have survived even the most divisive political, military and religious conflicts through the centuries. This is personally personified in the following quote from page 230 of Goodspeed’s Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas, Pope County: Capt, J. M. Harkey [my Great Grand Uncle] was twice taken prisoner during the [Civil] war. The first time he was soon exchanged; the second time he was led out with a rope around his neck to be hanged. While his captors were tying a rope to the limb of a tree he gave the sign of distress as a Mason, and was rescued by a second lieutenant of Federal troops, who was a Mason and a friend. Mr. Harkey says: "He said he was raised in Indiana, but I have forgotten his name and post-office address; I would be very glad to meet him in some Masonic lodge or Grand Lodge. I would most assuredly tell him that the latch string of my door hangs on the outside, and I would be glad if he would pull it and walk in at any time and sup with me and I with him. If I meet him no more in this world I hope to meet him where parting will be known no more."

Halloween 2007

The Bayou Packet # 37

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An irregular irreverent confabulation for the edification and delectation of podjos, friends, brothers, kith and kin of Jess Epps

Defining “Architect” Over the last few years numerous publications like the Washington Post have run news stories about "architects." But instead of covering the work of Sanford Whitaker, Ed Guice or Jess Epps, the stories are about politicians or members of the Bush administration, people like outgoing White House adviser Karl Rove, who some have called the "architect" of Bush's campaign triumphs.

In these cases, the media uses the term architect to refer to an individual who serves as a strategic leader in meeting organizational goals. But it's not only in the realm of politics: in recent years the hi-tech industry has embraced the titles architect and engineer to identify lead project managers. In these instances the "architects" in question are not designing buildings or communities, but software programs and computer networks. And as anybody who's followed the controversy over the next Architect of the Capitol (where some in Congress are suggesting that the next Architect need not be an architect) knows, not everybody believes that titles matter.

Webster's II New College Dictionary defines "architect" as: "One who designs and oversees the construction of large structures, such as buildings, bridges, or ships." A second definition labels an "architect" as "a planner or deviser." The first definition fits the legal definition of an architect held by every architectural licensing board in the country; however, the second description speaks to how the media and others have appropriated the term to describe non-architect positions.

Has the term architect been altered too much to adequately and sufficiently explain what architects do as members of a profession? Or does the public understand what these different interpretations of the word "architect" mean? (Clients aren't asking Karl Rove to design their houses, after all.) And do federal, state, and local governments need to play a stronger role in enforcing the integrity of the title architect? I believe so.

Except in the Masonic definition of God as: “The Supreme Architect of the Universe.” So mote it be.

Throughout history symbols have been utilized by the people as a means of facilitating communication. Before the advent of an alphabet, symbols were the only means available to convey written messages. The invention of the first alphabet was, in fact, the development of a set of symbols designed to make it possible to communicate easily in writing. However, it was many years before books were available for all but a very few persons. Consequently, most people could not read and were dependent upon symbols as one of the important ways to learn the lessons of religion and life. For example in medieval times churches were designed to teach religious lessons. Churches and especially cathedrals utilized symbols extensively to teach the people the stories found in the Bible. The use of the word "story" for the floor of a building dates back to medieval times when it was not uncommon to adorn the windows of buildings with pictures telling stories. The buildings came to be designated as "one story", two stories", etc., depending upon the number of stories they told.

As the builders of the medieval churches and cathedrals, the operative stone masons were, of necessity, knowledgeable about many religious symbols. With the advent of the printed word, which resulted in the increased availability of books and increased literacy, the importance of religious architecture as a teacher of people decreased. This resulted in a diminution of the importance of the operative stone mason's craft and set the stage for the development of "speculative" or "accepted" Masons, who continued to make extensive use of symbols to teach their lessons.

Victor Hugo believed that architecture was a form of documenting history. His reasoning: The upright stone became the first letter, the laying of one stone on another became the first word, and the monuments (with their statuary and stained glass) became the first books recording the great ideas of the human race. This culminated in the medieval cathedral.

"Architecture has recorded the great ideas of the human race.

Not only every religious symbol, but every human thought has its page in that vast book. " – Victor Hugo And as Victor Hugo also said: "The thirst for the Infinite proves infinity."

Halloween 2007

The Bayou Packet # 37

Page 5 of 5

An irregular irreverent confabulation for the edification and delectation of podjos, friends, brothers, kith and kin of Jess Epps

Deism Deism is a religious philosophy grounded in the idea that any belief in ‘God’ should be through the human powers of reason, rather than divine revelation and supposed miracles. It gained strong currency in the 18th century subsequent to the Enlightenment, as scientism took root in European intellectual life. New discoveries, such as Newtonian physics, appeared to support the idea that the Universe behaves in a mathematically predictable ways, which could be understood by applying reason and logic.

The best understanding we can have of the Deism of the Founding Fathers is through the words of one of them, Thomas Paine: When the divine gift of reason begins to expand itself in the mind and calls man to reflection, he then reads and contemplates God and His works, and not in the books pretending to be revelation. The creation is the Bible of the true believer in God. Everything in this vast volume inspires him with sublime ideas of the Creator. The little and paltry, and often obscene, tales of the Bible sink into wretchedness when put in comparison with this mighty work.

The Deist needs none of those tricks and shows called miracles to confirm his faith, for what can be a greater miracle than the creation itself, and his own existence? In Deism our reason and our belief become happily united. The wonderful structure of the universe, and everything we behold in the system of the creation, prove to us, far better than books can do, the existence of a God, and at the same time proclaim His attributes. It is by the exercise of our reason that we are enabled to contemplate God in His works, and imitate Him in His ways. When we see His care and goodness extended over all His creatures, it teaches us our duty toward each other, while it calls forth our gratitude to Him. As priestcraft was always the enemy of knowledge, because priestcraft supports itself by keeping people in delusion and ignorance, it was consistent with its policy to make the acquisition of knowledge a real sin.

This classical Deism has the Universe being created by a God who then withdraws and does not interfere in its affairs.

Paine described this philosophy using the analogy of a watchmaker: When we see a watch, we have as positive evidence of the existence of a watchmaker, as if we saw him; and in like manner the creation is evidence to our reason and our senses of the existence of a Creator. But there is nothing in the works of God that is evidence that He begat a son, nor anything in the system of creation that corroborates such an idea, and, therefore, we are not authorized in believing it.

This move from revelation towards reason was triggered by the Rosicrucian philosophy, and found its first genuine expression in the ‘Invisible College’ (which evolved into the Royal Society) in England. Founded by Rosicrucian and Masonic thinkers, this group literally gave birth to modern science. This combination of Deist, Masonic and scientific thinking can also be found in the Founding Fathers, perhaps most obviously in the figure of Benjamin Franklin.

It is bemusing to think that despite the modern view of America as a ‘Christian’ nation, some of its greatest statesmen and leaders were actually Deists. This belief was not only restricted to the Founding Fathers such as Franklin, Washington, Jefferson and Paine – Abraham Lincoln was also an adherent to the philosophy of Deism. As, I am.

This I will remember, When the rest of life is through: The finest thing I’ve ever done is simply loving you.

– Robert Sexton Your Loving Husband: Jess – in Good Company