Sandy Koph was a friend of mine for many years.  She was both loveable, and annoying as all hell.  She had a way of getting me to share things that I would otherwise have kept hidden. The Bright Vision described in the following post of hers would have been lost had she not kept it and kept encouraged me. On July 11th, 1999 she died in a tragic automobile accident. I miss her.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: a dream/vision
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 01:24:17 -0800
From: Sandy Kopf

Hello all,

      I am posting because I think I have something to share. I think it is something important. This is about a vision Joseph had during the time I was with him in Temple of the Elder Gods. I happened to find it today. It seemed important then and it seems important now. Here it is:

      "I saw a rounded hill covered with dry brown grass. There were no trees and there was no wind. The sky was a clean blue and there were four small white clouds above the hill. After a while, I sensed movement and saw that people were coming up the hill from the four directions.

      "From the west came a red man and woman, from the north a white man and woman, from the east a yellow man and woman and from the south a black man and woman. All of the men and women were naked and they walked side by side. Each person carried a large stone.

      "As they came close to each other at the top of the hill, they stopped, then began to walk sunwise in a circle. Every once in a while, they would stop and one of them would set down the stone he or she was carrying, then they would walk around the circle again. The red woman set her stone down at the southwest, the red man his to the west. The white woman set her stone down at the northwest, the white man his at the north. The yellow woman set her stone down at the northeast, the yellow man his at the east. And the black woman set her stone down at the southeast, the black man his at the south.

      "Then the people stepped inside of the circle of stones and joined hands. I heard a drum beating and they began to dance sunwise around the circle. It was a fun dance and they would laugh occasionally as they danced.  I could feel love and caring radiate from the circle. Every once in a while the drum would sound one loud thump and stop and the people would stop. Each would be at one of the stones. The first time they stopped they were all at the stones which they had set down. Each time after that they would stop at the next stone sunwise from their previous position. Then the women would move around the circle sunwise to the next woman's place. The people would join hands again and dance around the circle until the drum thumped loud again. This continued until each woman was back at her original place. Then they danced again and this time when the drum thumped once loudly and they stopped, the men would go sunwise to the next man's place. Again, this continued until each man was back at his original place.

      "Then they held hands again and the people drew close to the center of the circle where they put their arms around the people at their sides. I could feel joy. They sat down and the dry brown grass turned fresh and green and flowers grew around the circle."

          'From Joseph Wilson, Night of January 19, 1985 C.E.'

At the time, Joseph commented:

      'I see this dream as a hope for the future and as an outline for a ritual we hope to be able to do this summer. The people's nakedness seems to emphasize not only equality but, also, a removal of our self-protective armor, indicative of true trust of each other.'

      'We did do the ritual that summer and we did it in the mountains. I'll never forget it. We were in a campground with 150-200 people. They all gathered round and clapped and drummed and danced. We wore tabards of red, white, yellow and black to represent the people in the vision. It was an experience I will never forget.'

Thank you Joseph, for sharing it then and for allowing we to share it now. In the next day or two, when I have more typing time, I would like to also share a vision of my own that followed this one of Joseph's by only four days. Til then,

Brightest Blessings,

Sandy
FFF
-------- End of Original Message --------

Recently, when I think about this vision, I see something that either I didn't notice at the time, or is new.  

In the center of the circle, a sapling is pushing up through the ground.

Blessings,
Joseph