dark skies

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The Dawning of Dark Skies Issue 20 Autumn 2007

Editing and Design: Paul Harrison Associate Editor: Rene Lawrence

Exploring naturalistic spiritualty since 1999

We rarely have an opportunity to realize how the spread of

development and of light pollution has robbed us. Contrasting images (left) taken during and after the great 2003 blackout in North East USA and Canada bring home the loss graphically.

Dark Skies are a central issue for pantheism. They enable us to experience our surrounding Universe directly. Their nemesis, light pollution, makes the experience increasingly diffi cult to come by. On top of that it wastes energy, results in excess greenhouse gas emissions, damages human health and disrupts wildlife. That’s why, last month, the WPM decided to become a supporting organization of the International Dark-Sky Association.

Pantheism reveres the Universe. The impulse for that reverence comes not from scripture or theory, but from what we see and learn about the vast cosmos that envelops us. Today we have astonishing images from the Hubble telescope that show us details of distant supernovae, majestically spiralling or awesomely colliding galaxies. More telescopes are coming on line or planned that will expand that vision. While the ancients speculated on the meaning of those dots of light – Heraclitus thought they were holes in an upturned black bowl – we know what they are.

But to place those images in their living context, to show how they all fi t together and how we and the Earth fi t into that vast picture, we rely on the direct experience of looking up into a dark moonless night. Looking at astronomical imagery, and lying on your back gazing into the heavens, are complementary – one is not complete without the other. Light pollution is gradually diminishing our direct experience. How do we defi ne it? Like other forms of

pollution light pollution is not intended – it’s an unwanted by-product, something that our needed activities spill out onto the rest of the world. It’s light that serves one person or company’s needs, but interferes with many others’ needs. It’s light that strays beyond the area where it’s needed, light that sprays into the sky or strays into a neighbor’s bedroom. It’s wasted light - light that nobody wants, light that wastes money and energy and produces the waste of greenhouse gases.

Stealing the starsThe most obvious effect of light

pollution is to obscure the night sky. It’s somewhat like stretching wrapping plastic over your windows. I lived for over thirty years in London, close to Parliament Hill – with a full horizon all around this would be in theory a superb viewing spot for anything in the skies. But I remember going up there at the peak of meteor showers and seeing maybe one meteor in several hours. The rest of the time there was the same reddish grey-black, with only the very brightest stars visible.

In 2001 Pierantonio Cinzano of the and his colleagues produced the World Atlas of Artifi cial Night Sky Brightness, based on satellite data and accurate modelling of how light propagates in the atmosphere.

This was the fi rst attempt to survey the extent of the problem world-wide. About two-thirds of the world population live in areas where the night sky is above the threshold set for polluted status. The more developed the region, the higher the proportion of people living with light-polluted night skies: in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) and the European Union, 99 per cent of the population are affected. In concrete terms, this means that for eight out of ten people in the USA and two out of three in the EU the night sky is brighter than a full moon

Top: the glorious star-fl ooded skies above an Ontario home in August 2003, during the biggest power blackout in North American history. Below: the impoverished and washed out sky after power was restored.

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Pan Magazine Autumn 2007

The World Atlas of Artifi cial Night Sky Brightness shows the extent of light pollution across the world. We have probably all seen NASA pictures of the earth at night, showing the lights of human activity. Light pollution is brighter than the lights themselves, because it spreads far beyond its sources, diffused by atmospheric dust.The lightness of the image coincides with areas of light pollution and also locates the sites of human energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.In Euope, North America, Asia, South Africa and the coasts of Latin America, the light pollution derives mainly from cities and industries. In the interior of Africa and Latin America and in South East Asia, brightness on this map may indicate forest and grassland fi res, lit to clear land for farming or pasture. In parts of the Arab countries or coastal Africa it reveals gas fl arings in oil fi elds. And in the ocean (eg off the Falkand Islands or in the Sea of Japan) it may represent the presence of very large fi shing fl eets or (in the North Sea east of Britain) offshore oil fi elds.There is almost nowhere in the whole of Japan, Europe or the Eastern USA where pristine dark skies are viewable. This image is based on data from 1996-97 - the situation today is almost certainly considerably worse.

Source: Cinzano et al., World Atlas of Artifi cial Night Sky Brightness

sky woud be in a dark-sky area – what Cinzano calls “moonlight without the moon.” In these areas people never actually experience true night. In the UK almost everyone living in the South East and the Midlands can see less than 400 stars, while in the larger conurbations the total is less than 200. This compares with up to 1300 stars visible with the naked eye in areas with no light pollution.

Probably the single element of the night sky that evangelizes people to pantheism is the Milky Way, revolving above us like some gigantic illuminated Ferris wheel, brilliantly dense and radiant in the constellation of Sagittarius, where the heart of the galaxy resides hidden behind thick veils of dust. Cinzano’s team found that about one-fi fth of the world population have already lost naked eye visibility of the MilkyWay - including over two-thirds of the US population and more than half the population of the European Union.

Another effect of light pollution is to reduce people’s night vision capabilities. Full night vision takes about 30 minutes to set in, in very dark areas. In areas that are not fully dark because of light pollution, night vision is weaker and so even less is seen of an already depleted sky. The Atlas found that about one tenth of the world’s population no longer views the heavens with their eyes adapted to night vision, because of the sky brightness. This is the case with more than 40 per cent of the United States population and one sixth of the European Union population.

These results, based on data from 1996-97, are troubling enough, but ten years later – given rapid urbanization in China and an extra 900 million people in the world – they are probably a good deal worse. The team are now working on the growth of light pollution – results from Italy show an alarming deterioration between 1971 and 1998.

Leaking energy and pollutantsVirtually all of the light that causes light pollution is

unwanted and wasted. Apart from air raid wardens, the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas and a few special events, nobody wants light to leak skyward. The Environmental Protection Agency has made rough estimates of the cost of the wasted light in the United States, where lighting accounts for up to a quarter of the electricity used annually. Lighting for industry, stores, offi ces, and warehouses represents from 80 to 90 percent of the total lighting electricity use. If energy effi cient lighting were used everywhere that it was profi table, the electricity required for lighting would be cut by at least 50 percent. This reduction would free up $18.6 billion for investment. It would cut carbon dioxide emissions by 232 million tons a year - equivalent to taking 42 million cars off the road – and also reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which cause acid rain. The production of this wasted light means an annual waste of at least six million tons of coal or 23 million barrels of oil, with all the acid rain, air pollution and greenhouse gases that these imply. In reality all these fi gures are probably serious underestimates.

Damaging human and ecosystem healthLight pollution also has effects on human health – excess

lighting in workplaces can increase stress. Poorly shaded security and street lights can scatter light into homes and bedrooms, interfering with sleep which is essential for good physical and mental health.

So far we have been seeing light pollution from a human point of view, where only stray light is considered as polluting. From the point of view of other living creatures and ecosystems, any artifi cial light is light pollution and can have complex effects

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What you can and cannot seeExcellent dark sky site

Zodiacal light and zodiacal band visible; M33 directly visible to naked-eye; many Messier globular clusters are distinct naked-eye objects; Sagittarius region of the Milky Way is complex and casts obvious shadows on the ground; clouds visible only as dark holes

Rural sky Near horizon, light pollution is evident and clouds are illuminated; the Milky Way still appears complex; M33 is visible with averted vision; nearer surroundings are vaguely visible.

Rural/suburban transition

Light pollution domes are visible in various directions over the horizon; Milky Way above the horizon is still impressive, but lacks most of the fi ner details; clouds are illuminated in the directions of the light sources, but still dark overhead.

Suburban sky

The Milky Way is very weak or invisible near the horizon and looks washed out overhead; artifi cial light sources are visible in most, if not all, directions; clouds are noticeably brighter than the sky.

Bright suburban sky

The Milky Way is visible only near the zenith; the sky within 35° of the horizon glows grayish white; clouds anywhere in the sky appear fairly bright; surroundings are easily visible.

Suburban/urban transition

The entire sky has a grayish-white hue; strong light sources are evident in all directions; Milky Way is invisible; M31 and M44 may be seen with the naked eye, but very indistinct; clouds are brightly lit; even in moderate-sized telescopes the brightest Messier objects are only ghosts of their true selves.

City sky The sky glows white or orange - you can easily read; even with a telescope, only a few bright Messier objects can be detected; stars forming familiar constellation patterns may be weak or completely invisible.

Source: Simplifi ed from Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, Wikipedia

that are only just beginning to be investigated. Among moths artifi cial light interferes with mating, dispersal, and migration. It diverts moths into traffi c, and burns or desiccates moths that fl y into lamp housings. One of the best-known effects is on hatching sea turtles. They normally head towards the sea, which under normal conditions will be lighter, while things in land are darker. With artifi cial lights land is lighter and sea darker, so the turtles head inland - towards predatory gulls and roadways with traffi c.

Some animals use changed light levels to their advantage. Harbor seals congregate under lights to eat juvenile salmon as they migrate downstream. Crows prefer to roost near lights, where they can spot owls. Artifi cial light has important effects on predator-prey relationships. Moths and other insects such as lacewings, beetles, bugs, caddisfl ies, crane fl ies, midges, hoverfl ies, wasps, and bush crickets are attracted to lights and may be killed by the heat, or exposed to higher predation by bats and insect- eating birds. Light may affect reproductive behavior - frogs in one study stopped mating during nearby night football games. Male choruses tuned up again only when the frogs were shielded

from the light. Artifi cial light can change whole ecosystems. In the ocean

many creatures descend to lower depths in daylight hours, to avoid predation, and rise again at night. Many zooplankton forage near the surface during dark conditions. Artifi cial light can reduce their rising, which may result in population increases in the algae they normally eat, leading to algal blooms.

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First Dark Sky ParkEarlier this year, in April, the IDA recognized Natural Bridges National Monument as its fi rst International Dark Sky Park. The park, already one of the darkest in the USA, shielded more the 80 percent of their light fi xtures so all the light points downward. Most of the fi xtures now use 13-watt compact fl uorescent light bulbs that reduce light from the park buildings straying into the campground and backcountry. In summer, the park provides astronomy ranger programs under spectacular starry skies.The whole US National Park Service is now committed to protect natural darkness and other components of the natural lightscapes of parks. UPS Management Policies of 2006 describes natural lightscapes as “natural resources and values

that exist in the absence of human-caused light.” The Service will minimize light that emanates from park facilities, and seek the cooperation of visitors, neighbors, and local government agencies to minimize the intrusion of artifi cial light. The Service will avoid artifi cial lighting in areas such as sea turtle nesting locations where the presence of the artifi cial lighting will disrupt a park’s dark-dependent natural resource components; restrict artifi cial lighting to areas where security, basic human safety, and cultural resource demands it, and use minimal-impact lighting techniques.

First International Dark Sky City: Flagstaff ArizonaThe title was awarded in 2001 to Flagstaff, Arizona, which has advanced municipal lighting policies such as replacing of high-pressure sodium and mercury vapor roadway lighting with fully shielded low-pressure sodium. The city distributes Dark Sky brochures with all building permits, and funds an innovative program to help businesses replace obsolete lighting. It was aiming to bring all city-owned facility lighting completely into compliance with the lighting code by the end of 2002. All Arizona counties now have outdoor lighting control ordinance.

First Dark Sky Country: Czech RepublicIn 2002 the Czech Republic became the fi rst country to bring into force national legislation aimed at eliminating light pollution, and mandating the use of the use of fully shielded light fi xtures that emit no light above the horizontal direction. Italy has also made considerable progress: 15 of the countries’ 21 regions have Dark Sky laws and seven of these have the best-practice laws recommended by anti-light pollution organizations. At least eight US states have regulations to restrict light pollution - Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Maine, New Mexico, Texas and Vermont.

National Dark-Sky WeekIn 2002 a 15 year old student, Jennifer Barlow, began campaigning for a US National Dark-Sky Week (NDSW), and the fi rst such week was held in April the following year. It’s now endorsed by the American Astronomical Society, Astronomical League, International Dark-Sky Association, and Sky & Telescope magazine. It is held in the week of the new moon in April, and people in the US are encouraged to turn out their unnecessary outdoor lights. In 2008 NDSW will be April 6-12. Visit http://www.ndsw.org/

What’s being done

© 1997 Terry Acomb/John Chumack/PhotoResearchers: vwww.galacticimages.com

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Many modern outdoor light fi tments direct the light where it’s wanted, and keep it away from where it’s not wanted. Usually this involves fairly simple techniques like shades that point the light downwards, or in a limited pool, rather than through all azimuths and all degrees. When light goes only where it’s wanted, much less light is required to do the job, resulting in savings in cost, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. These four light fi tments are produced by Architectural Area Lighting (http://www.aal.net), and are approved by the International Dark-Sky Association. In addition, many of the fi tments are produced in environmentally friendly ways and use low-energy bulbs and tubes.

What you can do

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● Think in terms of conserving the natural lightscape, conserving energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and restoring natural diurnal rhythms for yourself and for nature.● Consider your human and non-human neighbors, and the effect your lights may have on them.● Design your outdoor lighting system based on what light is actually needed. ● Use light sources no stronger than is required for your purpose.● Improve your fi xtures and shades, so they direct more light where you need it, and less light strays where it may harm or annoy others or pollute the night sky.● Adjust the type of bulbs and tubes used, to ones that emit light waves less likely to cause problems and that use less energy.

● Turn all lights off using a timer or sensor or manually when you don’t need them.● Ask yourself if you really need to illuminate that tree or that fountain after dark!● Join the International Dark-Sky Association at http://www.darksky.org/● Invite your friends and neighbors to star parties for events such as meteor showers, in dark sky locations so they see the difference.● Celebrate and promote Dark Sky Week and the peak of the Perseid shower (August 12).● Write to your local papers about local light pollution issues such as gas stations and excessive street lighting.● Lobby your local representatives and offi cials to introduce and enforce Dark Sky policies.● Enjoy the peace of darkness.

Star-friendly lighting

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For as long as I can remember, I have been graced with fabulous

“aurora karma.m” For example, one beautiful summer night at Lenox in western Massachusetts, a group of us were listening to Rachmaninoff on the lawn of the Tanglewood Music Center, far from the lights of Boston. As the music swelled, a spectacular auroral display erupted overhead. Perfectly choreographed to the music, it danced above us for perhaps 20 minutes, creating for us all a truly unforgettable experience. The friends with whom I witnessed this are at this very moment sailing down the eastern seacoast and will arrive in my neighborhood this weekend. As sailors, they have a great appreciation for the skills of dead reckoning and celestial navigation.

My point in relating these anecdotes is that the dark night skies play a dual role in our lives with both practical and spiritual or artistic aspects. Dark skies form a perfect yin/yang duality with the blazing sun of daytime. The sun brings energy to life and creates a merry campfi re around which we gather, while the dark night skies behind us reveal the cold vastness of the universe as well as the infi nity of other distant campfi res.

My own interests in astronomy and space began as an interest in physics and the Earth, including “meteorology”, the root of which refers to all that lies above and beyond the ground. When Carl Sagan asked whether life on Earth could be detected through a telescope trained on us by an alien culture, I was astounded by the audacity of his perspective. But my interest was cemented by experiences as a young teacher of math and physics, from which I drew energy when teaching those topics. Watching Star Trek and reading Carl Sagan led to daily discussions with students that ranged far and wide over topics including the origins of life on Earth and perhaps elsewhere in the cosmos. At that time, the fi rst experiments were reported suggesting

that organic molecules, and by fearless extrapolation perhaps life itself, could be produced by energetic processes such as lightning, acting upon ordinary atmospheric constituents. All this led me to a fresh view of the skies, which were crystalline as seen from my home in northern Vermont, far from the city lights of the seaboard.

Leaving teaching to pursue research training that would be applicable to these interests, I landed in a program with a focus on the contents of our own solar system. With no illusions that life on Mars was likely, these interests seemed like a call to study how our solar system came to be as it is; ready for life on Earth, at least. Still, the Viking landings on Mars in 1976 had me glued to my telescope, imagining those dauntless robots trying to sniff out life in a red desert.

Faced with an opportunity to build a scientifi c instrument and fl y it on a sounding rocket above an aurora, I guessed that the auroral assault of the solar wind on the upper atmosphere might well be relevant to the composition and stability of our atmosphere over geologic time. So soon I was treated to the very clearest

of skies anywhere on our planet, in the long cold arctic night of winter, where aurora is a nightly occurrence.

When my own children developed interests and school assignments relating to the skies, we lived in Huntsville, Alabama. Though the south is not renowned for clear skies, and Huntsville suffers from widespread use of sodium vapor lamps, dark skies do occur during dry air periods. Indeed, auroras are not unknown in Huntsville, though they tend to be huge red blobs rather than the rayed green and pink draperies of the polar aurora. Later, in Maryland, likewise prone to murky skies, we sought at one point to watch a meteor shower in the early morning hours. We fi rst tried a nearby highway intersection that is surrounded by farm lands. However, there were so many others already there by the time we arrived, that it was impossible to

Fogged In on the Shores of the Cosmic Ocean

WPM Vice President Tom Moore lives with his family near Annapolis, MD, where he enjoys the seafood and walks along the woodsy shore, but misses the clear skies of his New England youth. He has worked as a landscaper, engineer, teacher, homebuilder, executor, landlord, writer, and for the past 25 years as a heliophysicist studying the effects of solar and interstellar winds on our cosmic shoreline. He recently joined the ranks of NASA’s middle management.

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fi nd a parking place or darkness! We then resorted to an incomplete subdivision lacking street or home lights and had a beautiful head-on view of the incoming meteors. Of course that subdivision has since been completed and would be brightly lit at this point.

Increasing light pollution and sub/urbanization are rapidly consuming the dark skies that have been a source of inspiration, information, and meditation for humankind since our appearance on Earth. Instead of studying the skies as we guard our fl ocks at night, we now deploy more and more lights in hopes of deterring vandals as we sleep under roofs, behind blinds and draperies. We have to place our telescopes in space, or in the few clear spots on the ground where (so far) light pollution is not a factor. Cameras on these telescopes bathe us in views of the universe that are far more revealing than the human eye could ever be in both sensitivity and detail. And rather than the stars, we use GPS systems to navigate in these days of cheap complex devices. Why then should we care about our loss of dark night skies?

It seems universal that humans feel somewhat

oppressed by a night sky that is actually or effectively closed in by a cloud deck, as if we were fogged in and thereby prevented from leaving harbor. A view of the infi nite is something we all treasure and from which we draw endless pleasure and inspiration. We are willing to go far out of our way to fi nd places where we get that view, in place of the glow of nearby civilization. It is equivalent in some sense to the climbing of a mountain at the seashore, from which we can obtain a commanding view of all reality. Dark skies are valued because bearing witness to the infi nite is a spiritual experience. Perhaps this speaks of a universal pantheism of the human heart, widely felt if not acknowledged. In Carl Sagan’s words, from the shores of the cosmic ocean:“Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us. There is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if of a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know that we are approaching the greatest of mysteries...We are made of star stuff... Some part of our being knows that is from where we came. We long to return... We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.”

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Where I live, the city lights pollute the natural dark sky and its

magical perspective of the universe and our relationship to it. I am often robbed of the balance it would provide me.

And so if I want that feeling, I have to drive into the Santa Monica Mountains, which I try to do as frequently as possible. I immediately relax into the lush darkness. I’m drawn into the natural beauty, like huge black arms surrounding me, excited about the surprise that I know awaits me. I fi nd a clear spot, lie down on my back and feel pulled into the biggest, most mysterious journey

possible, into the infi nity beyond me.My eyes lustfully drink it all in.

As I look up I’m always startled by the torrent of lights of other galaxies, other worlds. I quickly become totally absorbed by this overpowering force which goes on and on. I’m fi lled with awe and wonder. I feel intensely humble as I realize my oneness with this powerful immensity. My own problems and anxieties shrink into nothingness as my perspective of my own tiny existence becomes very clear. I tell myself to hold on to this awareness and use it to guide me in the future and ease my sensitivity about my own life’s path.

As I drive home back into the blindness of light pollution I feel angry that so many of us are deprived of this mighty reminder of our true place in the universe, and of a much larger, wiser perspective and guidance of our own lives and actions. Sheila Rosenthal

If there is one thing that sparks my

“inclusivity” with the Universe, it is standing and looking up into the vastness of space, the dark night sky, especially when I am skyclad. It is both humbling and awe-inspiring. I fi nd it a great leveller and a deeply calming infl uence in today’s madness to see and absorb the immenseness that surrounds us and of which we are an integral part. If I have a “church,” then being free in Nature and connected to that awesome majesty is “it” for me. Luckily, we live far away from city

lights, in the “boonies,” so a simple step outside the door enables me to connect. I fi rst became aware of the vastness of our Universe when at sea as a young mariner. Long night watches during the wee small hours amidst the deep oceans permit much time for calmer and quieter thought, and a growing connection to the limitless scope of our existence. It is both amazing and comforting, to be faced with that infi nity. George Mycroft

I don’t have kids at home, and where I live close to the Smoky

Mountains National Park I don’t have big problems with light pollution. But I will say that looking at the night sky fi lled with stars from my hilltop (especially in the winter) makes me feel more at home in the vast universe than just about anything I have experienced. I still haven’t gotten a telescope yet, but that’s ok. There’s something about going out on the porch and just looking up with my own eyes that seems right. It makes me feel really small and kind of huge at the same time. It makes me feel like I belong. It makes me just feel. I don’t use the word awesome much, but one dark night my daughter and I were riding down the road and with the curves and hills, all of a sudden the full moon was straight ahead of us and absolutely huge, and I could swear that we were going to ride right into it. That was truly awesome. That was three or four years ago and she and I still talk about that even now, it was so amazing. I guess I’m lucky that I can see the sky and the stars so clearly from where I live - in fact, in the past relatives from a big city visited here and actually complained about how dark it is! I can’t imagine a life without that, so I think our joining the International Dark-Sky Association is defi nitely a worthy pantheist cause if it means more people can have that experience. Sharon Wells

Members write about the spiritual meaning of dark skies

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Though the night skies did not fi gure much in my childhood, I

have been lucky enough to travel into remote rural areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and there I have had the joy of seeing the Milky Way in all its glory. I wantd to make sure my two sons had the same experience. In London you could only see a pathetic scattering of the brightest of stars, but we used to holiday on the island of Tresco, 30 miles from the English mainland. On the night of the Perseid peak, around August 12 we used to turn off all the lights, and lie back on deckchairs, staring in the direction of Perseus. I am sure my boys will remember those nights and I hope they will pass the tradition on.

These days I live in a canyon backing onto 60 square miles of wild lands. I see more stars than London, but because of a haze of light pollution from Los Angeles and the Valley it’s not possible to see the Milky Way here either. One of the worst sources is an auto-mall in Thousand Oaks about ten miles from here, where dealers leave half a mile of fl oodlights switched on all night long. Light pollution like this is a crime against human wonder.

While the solstices and equinoxes are theoretically important, Nature does not provide any fi reworks to mark them. So for me the Perseid shower is one the high points of the pantheist year. This year I headed for the nearest wild area, Malibu Creek State Park, surrounded by steep hills. Even here, shielded from all nearby artifi cial light, light pollution from Los Angeles was bad, so I headed further West, where there are fewer houses. As I got deeper into the darker areas there were people by the roadside out to watch the show - a family with

kids hanging backwards out of their windows, a bunch of bikers, a young couple, a man fl at out on his back on his car roof, another guy on an air mattress with pillow.

Finally I got to a place high above the Pacifi c about 15 miles from my home. It was quite dark and the Milky Way was strong and clear, rising out of the ocean and soaring vertically overhead with its dust clouds and millions of stars. A big hill blocked off the view of the shower’s radiant, but I could see some of the larger meteors that got further, some of them heading to plunge into the Pacifi c. With one sweep I could see the earth’s ocean and land, and the earth’s place in a solar system still full of debris from its formation and later collisions, and in the wider circling galaxy. Life is wonderful and has many wonderful moments, but for me few of them embody and reward the pantheist view better than this. Paul Harrison

I have a place in the country where I can get away from the lights of

the city and really see the night sky. Unfortunately my neighbors on both

sides of me have big bright security lights. If I look at them they affect my night vision so I must fi nd a spot to sit where I will not see them. Those spots are not the best ones to view the heavens. Their light pollution, like all pollution, does not recognize property boundaries. I sometimes get the urge to bring along my rifl e but don’t because temptation may get the best of me. A full moon is light enough. Jerald Robertson

I live in a development of condos which has several hundred lamp

posts spaced about 20 feet apart, and lamps outside each garage. These lights are left on all night. The whole place seems fl ooded with light like a high security jail, but most of it is unnecessary for visibility or safety. We could manage with half the number of lampposts, while the garage lights are redundant since everyone drives up with their car headlights on. The lights waste energy, and glaze over the night sky. I just love the nights when some malfunction blacks out the outdoor lights – the place looks so much more cozy, with warm little lights emerging from scattered windows, like a village

Van Gogh’s Starry Night expresses the most intense emotional response to the enveloping night sky.

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in a forest.I am a light sleeper and easily awakened by dawn or

other lights, so these lights constitute “light trespass” and for a long time I found them intrusive and distressing.

One day I took matters into my own hands and unscrewed the bulbs outside my own townhome. There was plenty of light from the adjacent lamps. I had a quiet agreement with the maintenance guy that he would not screw them back in again. Then one of the homeowners’ board noticed, and I got a letter from the association to screw them back in again, with threats of fi nes if I did not.

My latest trick has been to insert aluminum foil shaped to the lamp glass, cutting out the light that points at my unit while increasing illumination on the path. It works a treat and I can sleep peacefully again. Don’t tell anyone! Mary Wild

I have enjoyed looking up at the night skies, away from the city lights, since I was a child. My family used to go camping in the San Bernardino Mountains, and I remember singing songs around the campfi re, dazzled by the number and brightness of the stars in the sky. When I was a senior in high school, my father and I took a long trip around California, visiting various college campuses I might attend, and one night we camped out in Yosemite park, in sleeping bags under the open sky. I remember how absolutely silent it was that night, how cold, and how bright the stars were. I later learned that the expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating, and eventually (millions of years from now, at least) the galaxies will all be

separated by so much space that when we look up in the night sky, we will see very little other than our own galaxy, and less and less of that. We are very lucky to live in the present time when so much is still visible in the night sky. Our great, great, great . . . . nth great grandchildren may not be so lucky. Dave Kiebert

I’m a New York City native, so I grew up only knowing about the few stars we could see. I was lucky enough to go pretty often to the Hayden Planetarium. Not quite the same, though. A few years ago I was on the beach at night on Koh Samui, Thailand. The stars covered ever inch of sky, and they seemed as big and heavy as ripe fruit waiting to be plucked. The experience felt almost hypnotic. A few days ago, I was watching a movie about Beethoven. One of the climactic moments is the performance of his 9th Symphony. The old man, now deaf, climbs onstage and recalls his life as a boy as he hears the music in his head. His memory takes him to a time when he climbed out his window to escape a beating from his abusive father. Then he ran through the woods to a pond and, with the night sky refl ected all around him in the black water, he fl oats on his back. The famous, powerful Ode to Joy plays in his mind, and camera pans out, showing how tiny he is among the vast expanses of the galaxy, until the boy becomes only a few little stars among all the others. Zen

At France’s Mont St Michel, light illuminates buildings tastefully but does not stray beyond their margins.

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Every now and then we send out a message to encourage people to post to our lists. We know from the join form statements that our members are intelligent, sensitive and profound people. All of you have experiences and insights or inspiring and

enlightening stories that we could all benefi t from hearing. So please don’t be shy, let’s hear them. They will broaden, inspire or inform us or simply help us all feel that we are not alone in our positive, life-affi rming, nature-valuing, reality honoring viewpoint.

I know that for new members the lists can seem daunting, especially the Ideas list. It can sometimes feel like you have just entered a room where a private conversation is going on among a group of people you do not know. Try to overcome that feeling and just jump in. Remember that every frequent poster was once a fi rst-time poster just like you. If you don’t like the threads that are running, you can always start a new thread. It may seem that you need a high level of writing skill, or scientifi c or philosophical expertise in order to post. On most of our lists, what counts above all is not not rhetoric or expertise but sincerity and experience: everyone is the world expert on their own experience and feelings. On the Ideas list it is preferable if people are cautious about posting on topics with which they are not at all familiar – but with the Internet it’s easy to get at least a general idea of most things rather quickly. It may also appear sometimes that if you stick your head above the parapet, you may get it cut off. That should not be the case and if that happens to you and we notice it, we will be on your side. If you think we haven’t noticed it, write to one of the moderators (see the table opposite). We have fi rm rules to encourage mutual respect and we enforce them. Please remember that our major lists are not censored in advance, we don’t control what goes in, we can only deal with things after the event. Posts (other than WPM announcements) represent ONLY the opinions and character of the person who posted them. Paul Harrison

Choosing your listsIn the fi rst few years of our existence, we used to have just one list for everything from philosophical and scientifi c ideas to feelings and experiences, poems and ceremonies. This “Big List” started out with 35 members and eventually grew to almost 1000. But there was one big problem that kept recurring every few weeks. Debates on political and philosophical issues would get heated, two or three individuals would start baiting each other, a fi ght would break out, everyone else would go silent, and good feelings and sharing would vanish. This interfered seriously with our efforts to build up a community spirit. So we divided the Big List into two – one for the kind of topic that led more frequently into adversarial debate (the Ideas list), the other for sharing feelings and discussing pantheist living (the Community list.) These days we have four major lists and one safety valve list. Each has its own special niche. Here’s a brief guide to give you some idea of which list to choose for your post, or which you might be interested in reading. You can belong to all four.

However many you belong to, cross-posting between the lists is not a good idea. We do this only for WPM-wide news, to make sure everyone sees it. There is a considerable amount of overlap in membership, so a large proportion of people will see the same post twice. People may cross-post their replies. And fi nally, cross-posting blurs the distinctions between the lists and confuses everyone. It’s best to get to know the differences between the lists and to choose the most appropriate list. If it’s a borderline subject, ask yourself: is this likely to create adversarial debate? If so, then post to the Ideas or Spirituality lists.Community List: This list is for sharing experiences and feelings about nature, discussing everday problems of pantheist living, suggesting ways of celebrating life’s stages and the seasons, inspirational quotes, and developing the World Pantheist Movement and its local groups. As it’s title implies, this is the place where we stress community and cooperation and sharing rather than adversarial debate. We emphasize mutual respect, sharing and patient listening to each other, warmth rather than heat. We want everyone to feel totally safe to post without anxiety, regardless of age, gender or level of education.

Ideas list: This list is mainly for discussing pantheist and related beliefs, and also discusses science, ethics, philosophy and comparative religion related to a reverent naturalistic life-view. These are topics where opinions may differ, and where people may challenge each other’s ideas. It’s a list primarily for people in sympathy with the WPM belief statement: people who feel a deep religious reverence for the universe and nature, who generally do not believe that mind and matter are two separate substances, or that supernatural phenomena exist. If you want to challenge these viewpoints, then the place to do that is the Pantheist_Spirituality list where you will fi nd more supporters for alternative versions of pantheism. Here too we encourage people to be friendly, cooperative and constructive. Since ideas can only be developed if debated, be prepared, if you raise a pet idea, for someone else to offer a (hopefully constructive) critique. Pantheist_Spirituality: This list was the fi rst generic pantheist forum on the Internet. Although the WPM set it up, it is for all types of pantheist to communicate and share experiences and ideas. This is the place to post if you don’t agree with the WPM’s form of pantheism. There are natural/scientifi c pantheists there along with dualists and so on. For that reason there may be disagreements at times. As always we encourage people to remain respectful, and this list usually is.Intro list: Our only fully moderated list, this is for people interested in getting to know the ideas and practices of the WPM before becoming supporting members. All posts are moderated, and there are a number of experienced WPM members who can discuss pantheism and answer questions. Hot Topics list: This list is a kind of safety valve where high pressure steam can be let off. It fused three of our prior lists: Politics, WPMVocabulary and the adversarial aspects of our vegetarian lists. Hot Topics covers two kinds of topics:Those that often generate an unusual amount of heat, such as vegetarianism v meat eating or discussion of national or international political issues and political systems. [Note: as a charity the WPM may take positions on issues core to us, but we do not endorse any particular political group or candidate.]● Those that have come up dozens of times on the Ideas list and that frequently hinge on the defi nition of terms, such as “Is pantheism a philosophy or a religion?” or pantheist usage of the word “God.”

Our lists need your thoughtOur lists need your thought

12


Mailing List Active moderators

Ideas ([email protected]) Eljay Love-Jensen, Tom Moore

[email protected] Tom Moore, Sharon Wells

[email protected] Paxdora, Sharon Wells

[email protected] Eljay Love-Jensen, Paul Harrison

[email protected] Elay Love-Jensen, Paxdora

Rules of the gamesThe basic rules apply to all our lists, and are designed with two goals in mind. The fi rst is to maintain a civilized, positive and friendly atmosphere in which open-minded exploration and mutual development can thrive. The second goal is to keep mail volume within digestible limits. Many people are busy, and some sign off a list if confronted with excess volume. The rules about privacy are also important. A few rules apply to all of our lists. The most important is mutual respect and avoidance of insults directed at persons or groups of persons on our lists. Mockery and put-downs are also strongly discouraged. Adversarial style – eg point-by-point refutation – may sometimes be necessary on the Ideas or Pantheist_Spirituality lists, but hopefully rarely.

Ethos: Generally write your messages in the tone you would talk to friends.

Assume that all your readers, even if they disagree with you, are intelligent, sensitive people who have joined the WPM because they want to interact positively with like-minded folk.

Experience has shown that adversarial

attitudes do not help to advance any subject. They take attention away from the content, turn discussions into brawls. Reason is replaced by posturing. Outbursts of fl aming, hostility or hand-to-hand combat monopolize attention, focus interest on personal clashes, close off intelligent exchange and drive good people into silence or even departure. If you want to lose respect and credibility, and divert attention from the content of your message to your personality, this is the way to go!

So no personalized attacks are allowed against individuals or sections of the group, whether targets are named or can be easily inferred. Ideas may be criticized or disagreed with, but persons should always be treated with respect. Please also try to avoid racist, sexist, obscene or foul language. Remember we have members aged between 13 and 93 so consider your content and language accordingly.

Privacy issues: We know that our members’ value their privacy, and

we will defend it vigorously. So please don’t cite people’s private posts to the list without the author’s permission. Don’t send private mails to other list

members with chain letters, advertising, commercial approaches, fl aming, threats, harassment or calls to leave the list. Anyone found to be breaching these rules will be expelled from all our lists. Names and contact details on the geo-database must not be divulged to people who are not members of the WPM.

Volume and focus: A maximum of two posts per person per day are

allowed on our busiest lists. That allows for corrections and responses to later posts. It is designed to prevent what often happens in no-limits lists, that just one or two individuals with a lot of time on their hands post massive numbers of emails and drive most people away. Try to be concise and avoid rambling. Reliable research shows that shorter letters are far more likely to be read than longer ones. Also turn off your email program’s options for automatic quoting or posting HTML along with text – these massively pump up volume without adding to content, and make lists harder for people to read. To complain about a rule breach or private mail harassment, please email [email protected].

How list moderation worksOur lists have different levels of moderation. The Ideas list is not moderated at all, except for a limit of two posts per day of 130 lines or less. This limit is enforced robotically by the software – if you exceed these your post will not get in. So please post in text only, not in HTML, and please don’ t quote the whole of the digest you are replying to.

All our other lists are at Yahoo groups and they are set to moderate new members for a few months – Yahoo’s soft-ware decides how long. That’s because there are tons of spammers out there, many of them automated, who keep pouring in with new IDs and when allowed post a message every day. Lists with no moderation quickly get fl ooded with spam. For everyone who is past this introductory period, the Community list and the Pantheist Spiritual-ity list, like the Ideas list, are not moderated before the event. That provides freedom of expression, but it also brings risks. A few times a year someone comes along who just can’t stop themselves insulting or mocking or putting down other people. That kind of behavior is not compat-ible with a friendly environment where people feel safe.

Who moderatesEach of our major lists has at least two moderators (see box) to make sure that pending messages are dealt with promptly. For any stage beyond informal warning, or if either has doubt about an informal letter, both

moderators must agree. If not, then they bring the case to the moderators’ committee which consists of all the main list moderators, and a majority decision there decides the appropriate action.

How we deal with rule breachesModeration is usually very light. Off-topic stuff gets in, as long as there is some kind of link with pantheism. When someone violates the more important rules – usually the one against insults - we follow a set procedure. We send a private informal and friendly warning to the person con-cerned. Most people respect these. However, a few people do not. If they repeat the behavior, then they get a formal warning, also in private. Any breach following the formal warning may lead to the person being set to moderated, or in extreme cases (which are very rare) they may be sus-pended from all our lists. We don’t discuss specifi c cases in the lists to avoid embrarrassment. However we may is-sue a very generalized reminder to the list about the rel-evant rules. If the person concerned discusses the modera-tion in the list, then we will respond to that in the list.

13


The World Pantheist Movement recently moved into the top ten of all groups saving land at EcologyFund, taking over tenth position from the Green Party. We have also saved more than WWF and Sierra Club supporters or any other environmental organization! We have been the biggest land saver among just the religious groups for quite some time - we save more than Buddhists, Catholics, Unitarians, and than the largest pagan group. Our group now has 306 members and has saved almost 53 acres. We have saved an additional 75 acres through sponsorship of click schemes. Most of this land is rainforest brought under the protection of conservation organizations in Central America.

Why does this matter?If the state of the planet bothers you, then this a contribution that makes a really worthwhile difference. It costs half a minute of your time per day. It’s not an alternative to greening up your life but it’s a valuable addition. Each person who clicks the buttons every day, at the current total of 63 sq ft per day, can save at least half an acre of wildlife habitat per year from development or exploitation. That’s almost 22,000 sq ft - half a small soccer pitch. Rainforest is the most biodiverse habitat on earth. Just one acre contains around 300-400 individual trees of 20 to 80 different species, and each tree is home to thousands more species. The photograph on this page show some of the hundreds of plants growing up a single huge tree in Costa Rica, each one with their own attendant court of fungi and animals. One tree in Peru was found to house 43 different species of ant. There are benefi ts for the climate as well as for biodiversity. If this area were cleared for farming, which it might well be if not protected, it could emit up to half a year’s average carbon dioxide emissions of an American – or a year’s worth for a European. So your daily clicking is helping to prevent that from happening.

How can it be that easy to save land?After you click on a button, you are shown the next page which includes ads for eco-friendly companies and non-profi ts. The payments from these advertisers go to fund nature conservation organizations. These organizations in turn spend the funds on buying up private land in sensitive areas to dedicate in perpetuity to wildlife habitat. Basically then your clicking is stimulating organizations and companies to spend money on conserving wildlife habitat. The World Pantheist Movement has direct experience that this works, because we advertise with EcologyFund from time to time. When we advertise, our check is made out to and posted directly to the conservation organization we wish to sponsor – in our case it has been the World Land Trust USA. EcologyFund does not take a percentage cut. World Land Trust undertakes to preserve one acre of habitat for every $100 donated.

Why is the WPM so keen on this?For the WPM, preserving the diversity of life has always been a top priority. As our belief statement says:

We are an integral part of Nature, which we should cherish, revere and preserve in all its magnifi cent beauty and diversity.

Conserving wildland is also a survival issue for millions of humans threatened by sea level rise or climate change. Being in a team that can show visible collective results is a motivator to stick at it and not forget. It gives the excitement and satisfaction not only of your own totals but also those of the group.

WPM joins the top ten groupsWPM joins the top ten groupssaving wildlife habitatsaving wildlife habitat

14


Support WPM’s cause at Facebook

When Facebook opened itself up to developers earlier this year, one of the best new applications was Causes, which allows people to sign up for their favorite causes, spread these to their friends, and if they are so moved, donate. Very soon after this became possible the WPM set up a cause to sponsor our advertising at EcologyFund. Each $100 we collect helps the World Land Trust to preserve 1-2 acres of wildlife habitat, depending on the region. Causes includes a built-in mechanism for secure payments.You can check out and donate to this cause at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/4632

• Jocotoco Reserve in Ec-uador (home to nearly 1,600 species of birds)

• Reserva Comunal Tam-shiyacu-Tahuayo in the Peruvian Amazon, home to pink river dolphin, manatee, jaguar, ocelot, margay, giant otter, and over 700 bird species.

• Sabalillo Forest Reserve in Peru – with diverse habitats such as fl ooded forest, upland forest and sandy ridges which shelter many extremely rare species.

• Atlantic Rainforest of Paraguay, home to more than 310 species of bird and 40 species of large mam-mal.

• Mkwaja-Saadani National Park in Tanzania, East Africa, a project to pur-chase a 280 sq km ranch and donate it to the Tanzanian Government. The park contains a mosaic of distinctive and rare habitats including fi ve woodland types, two forest types, coastal thicket, scrub, grassland, wetlands, saltmarsh-es and mangroves, along with one of the last signifi cant breeding beaches in East Africa for the green sea turtle.

Among the large mammals found are the rare Roosevelt sable antelope, wil-debeest, zebra, and eland, and beaches, elephants, buffaloes, large antelopes, and the very rare Giant Brown Bat.

In each case EcologyFund chan-nels the donations through respected conservation charities including the World Land Trust, the Rainforest Con-servation Fund, and Rainforest2Reef (formerly friends of Calakmul).

Rare green sea turtle, protected by an EcologyFund sponsored project in Tanzania

Some projects funded via EcologyFund’s click site

15


We know for sure than a very signifi cant proportion of people who are clicking are not getting the credit of that for themselves or for World Pantheism. The reason lies with cookies. EcologyFund uses cookies stored on your computer to confi rm who you are, and to link up your daily clicks with your EcologyFund identity. They need this so they can add your clicks to your own total and that of the group you belong to. Without the cookie, your clicks will still save land – so you are not wasting your time - but they will not count towards your own achievements or the WPM’s. In this era of fi rewalls and browser security settings and ad and popup blockers, it’s very easy indeed for cookies to get disabled or deleted. So it’s really worthwhile for everyone to check regularly that things are as they should be. Here’s information on what you should see if everything is working properly – and how to put it right if it’s not.Check regularly that your clicks are countingLook in the left-hand pane on the Save Land page.Everything is good if you can see● Your name and totals under under “My EcologyFund”,● The WPM name and totals under “My Group Info,” and● They both increase each time you click on the save buttons.If not, then try these remedies● Allow EcologyFund to set a persistent cookie.● Don’t set your browser to delete all cookies when you exit.● Are you registered at EcologyFund and signed up for the WPM group? (See “How to join?” above)● Are you logged in? Check the left hand pane.● Did you already click in the last day? Bear in mind that EcologyFund’s “day” may not coincide with yours and try again

tomorrow.If these measures don’t work, maybe your cookie has been deleted or messed up.Then you have a few extra steps to take. Bear with us here, this is all worth while. Ask a friend to do this for you if you have computer-phobia.1. Delete the EcologyFund cookie.Internet Explorer: Go to Tools/Internet Options/General/Under “Browsing history” Choose Settings/View FilesSort by site, fi nd ecologyfund.com or www.ecologyfund.com and delete all ecologyfund cookies. OK out of all the dialogue boxes.Firefox: Go to Tools/Options/Privacy, click on the “Show Cookies” button, fi nd ecologyfund and delete all ecologyfund cookies. Close out of all the dialogue boxes.2. Re-register with EcologyFundJust your name and email. Make sure you use the same email you used when you fi rst registered. Click the “Register” button down at the bottom.3. When it tells you you are registered, MAKE SURE you click on the link “Click here to return to Ecologyfund’s home page to begin free donations.” This is VERY important.4. If the above steps don’t work, make sure your browser allows cookies from EcologyFund.Internet Explorer: Go to Tools/Internet Options/Privacy/Sites, paste or type in http://www.ecologyfund.com/ and click Allow and OK.Firefox: Go to Tools/Options/Privacy, click on the Exceptions Button, paste or type in http://www.ecologyfund.com/ and click Allow and Close.If all else failsWrite to webmaster@EcologyFund.

How to join our Save Rainforest group1. Register with Ecology Fund2. Join the WPM group.[Scroll down to us, click JOIN]3. Start clicking and clocking land. Make the Save Land page your fi rst Web visit of each day.4. Remember to keep clicking. Make Ecologyfund your home page so it’s there fi rst thing every time you go on the Internet, or make a bookmark.5. If you think you might forget, write to [email protected] to ask for a daily email reminder.Visit our page for the links:http://www.pantheism.net/EcologyClick.htm

WPM membership: Join or RenewThe World Pantheist Movement depends on the generous sup-port of its members to sustain, improve and expand its activities and services. If you would like to join or renew by check in US $, please fi ll in the form below and mail check and form to us. Oth-erwise please renew at http://members.pantheism.net/imdms/ or join at http://www.pantheism.net/join.htmPlease tick as applicable if this is an address change and if you wish us to correct the database entry for you.

Name

Address 1

Address 2

City

State etc

Zip code

Country

New? Yes No

Change it? Yes I’ll do it

Membership level:

Basic ($30) Family ($60) Low Income ($12)

Other amount

Please mail this form with your check (US $ only) to:World Pantheist MovementP.O. Box 103, Webster, NY 14580, USA

Make sure your landsaving clicks add up

16


November1 All Souls/Day of the Dead16 International Day for Tolerance21 World Television Day [Switch it Off]24 Spinoza born [1632]30 John Toland born [1670]

December 1 World AIDS Day2 International Day for the Abolition of Slavery3 International Day of Disabled Persons10 Human Rights Day25 Birth of Isaac Newton [1642]29 International Day for Biological Diversity

January11 International Laughter Day16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Religious Freedom Day22 Surrender of Native lands by Chief Seattle

Full Moons

Calendar & AlmanacCalendar & AlmanacSpecial events

Equinoxes & Solstices

Winter solsticeDecember 22 06:08

Spring EquinoxMarch 20 05:48

November 24 14:30 December 24 01:16January 22 13:35 February 21 03:30

All times Universal time = Greenwich Mean Time

In Memoriam Sondra LebostOn behalf of the whole WPM we would like to offer our sincere condolences to Barry Lebost on the loss

of his wife Sondra, and our gratitude for the generous donation of $500 for a posthumous membership in her memory.

With Barry’s agreement we will be using this donation to sponsor an ad with EcologyFund.This amount will sponsor the saving of at least 5 acres of wildlife habitat –

some of the sponsored projects are described on page 14.

Neither the WPM nor Ecologyfund take any percentage from the donation, which therefore serves a triple purpose:

1. Making people aware of pantheism and the WPM 2. Helping to keep the EcologyFund site going and encouraging

people who click to think about conservation every day 3. Protecting private wildland from development

and preserving it forever as wildlife habitat.

Barry has also become one of our seven life members, joiningRené Lawrence, Walt Mandell, James Poole, Loren Salmonson, Peter Schogol and Phillip Steinbachsl

dark skies

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