THE DAILY TRAVESTY | Let Me Turn You On, Imbolc
THE DAILY TRAVESTY for February 1, 2000
    Volume 1, Issue 21
 
 
 
"As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm.  Jump.  It is not as wide as you think."  Native American Initiation Rite
 
 
WITH THE INTENT TO SEXUALLY AROUSE Part 2 of 4
Copyright © 2000 David Steinberg
 
Let Me Turn You On

Erie, Pennsylvania, decided that what it found objectionable had something to do with nudity. Not all nudity, however -- just the kind practiced in nude dance clubs like the one called Kandyland (now defunct). But just what was it about the nudity at Kandyland that made it different from nudity, say on one of the town beaches? A difficult question, but one that the lawmakers of Erie were obliged to address. Erie may have the right to ban certain kinds of public nudity, but it most definitely does not have the right to enforce laws against public nudity in some cases while not enforcing it in others. That kind of selective enforcement is prejudicial and unquestionably unconstitutional, whether we're talking about public nudity, racketeering, serving alcohol to minors, or illegal parking. Obviously, you can't be in the business of letting white people go nude but not black people. You can't let men go nude but not women. You can't let churchgoers go nude but not heathens. And you can't let beachcombers go nude but not strippers -- unless you can explain why those nasty strippers should be treated differently from all the nice sunbathers on the beach.

Which is exactly what the lawyers for the City of Erie tried to do when they found their law up for ultimate review before the United States Supreme Court in November.

Back in 1994, as the city's attorneys explained to the assembled justices considering the case of City of Erie v. Pap's A.M. (dba Kandyland), lawmakers in Erie were not interested in banning all public nudity in their questionably fair city. (Why Erie didn't ban public nudity outright is not clear. Perhaps there are more than a few naturists who enjoy sunning themselves au naturel on the shores of the Great Lake best known for its rampant pollution -- chemical, not moral.) According to attorney Gregory Karle, the eerie Erie ordinance was written with the goal of prohibiting only that public nudity -- pay attention, class -- that had the explicit intent of sexually arousing someone. What's more (lest the ordinance take the fun out of the sex lives of every married couple in town), the law only prohibits nudity designed to sexually arouse someone other than the nude person's spouse. Thus, when Justice John Paul Stevens inquired as to whether the law would apply to someone simply walking down the streets of Erie nude, Attorney Karle responded that law would only apply if that person were intending to sexually arouse someone other than their spouse.

"All right!" I smiled to myself when I read this particular news clip. "Now we're down to the heart of the matter." This is, after all, what lies at the crux of all the less straightforward legal maneuverings of a hundred similar cases presently working their way through the courts. It's not really nudity that offends those who find nude erotic entertainment objectionable, it's what they experience as the insult of sexual arousal -- the blatant, unapologetic intent to be sexually arousing, to be sexually arousing to people they don't even know, to be sexually arousing to people who pay money for the privilege of being sexually aroused. What's getting all the Good People's dander up is the intrusion of deliberate, somewhat impersonal, mercantile sexual arousal across the supposedly sacred erotic boundary of the martial threshold. Amen.

It appears that, thanks to the efforts and, indeed, the honesty, of the casemakers from Erie, it has become time for the white-haired ultimate arbiters of American legal standards to take this particular judicial bull by the horns. The justices are expected to issue their ruling this Spring.

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>>> Momomoto, famous Japanese, can swallow his nose <<<
 
FEBRUARY 2ND: IMBOLC
(received from Betka, edited)
 
February 2nd, known as Imbolc/midwinter on the old Celtic calender, and recognized by Druids, Wiccans and Pagans worldwide, is a time of celebrations, prophecy, purification and initiation.  Originally celebrating the lambing season, Imbolc is particularly associated with the pagan Irish goddess Brigit, who later became a Christian saint, but retained her responsibility for the dairy.  It corresponds with:

-- Candlemas (Christian),
-- New Years (Tibetan, Chinese, Iroquois), and
-- Ground Hog's Day (American).


IMBOLC
by Collette Gardiner
(c) 1999

Imbolc is a holiday celebrating quickening. The water in healing wells may boil and rise. Our projects and visions conceived or birthed at [winter] solstice are rising up out of the well of our creativity, starting to take shape. They are moving upwards with the sap, like children starting to reach out to the world. The flame of inspiration burns bright. It's time to initiate our reborn selves into the community.

Our challenge physically is to help our bodies adapt to the slightly quickened pulse of budding spring. Spring tonics are traditional in many cultures. Greens such as Chickweed and Bitter Cress (actually spicy, not bitter) nourish the blood, are mildly laxative and help us move with the flow of the seasons. Using spring greens and new shoots in salads and teas helps us release winter sluggishness and take in the earth's vital force.

Our emotional and spiritual challenge is to start to put our ideas into reality, to move out of inner contemplation and into healing and regeneration, to speak our truth with passion and move forward. Use Violet flowers to help our hearts move out from under winter's examination of self. Add them to salads or eat them fresh. Coltsfoot blooms in late winter before the leaves appear, showing an indomitable spirit. Place the flowers on your altar or dry and use as incense.
 
Lyrics last issue by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
 
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