Dodona Update
Zip Dobyns
We have had a quiet summer at Dodona, but some excitement in the fall while I was away. Jim had his monthly class at home and met L.A. church members in other locales. He also conducted a wedding for friends of a church member. Our Minister from Roanoke, VA visited us. I did a half-day workshop for ACS. Maritha and I drove to L.A. for an interview on astrology which was videotaped and will be on cable TV in the L.A. area on the evening of October 1, 1995. I did a lecture in Santa Monica. Maritha, Bill, and I taught the seminar in Montana for the 20th and last year, at least for a while. Maritha ranged farther afield, speaking at a conference in Moscow and in two other cities in Russia in addition to Kiev, Ukraine.
Mostly, I just enjoyed a chance to be at home, swimming, reading, playing with the asteroids, and exchanging astrological ideas with people all over the world via the Internet. I was a beta tester for a new program called the Electronic Astrologer which is being offered by ACS. Rique wrote the program and Maritha wrote the text interpreting charts. It runs under “Windows” and produces a beautiful color chart. I also acquired a water bed which is on my screened porch, so I am reveling in sleeping outdoors again as I did in L.A. for years.
The excitement apparently involved some of the illegal aliens who have been coming across the border in larger numbers since Mexico’s financial crisis began last year. Jim’s car was stolen, spotted by a county sheriff who called Jim at 3 in the morning and woke him up in time to stop others from stealing my car which they had turned around in preparation to drive off. The sheriff recommended lights on at night in the parking area or a guard dog. Jim’s dog is obviously not one since he seems to have slept through the excitement. So now we have a light that turns on at dusk and off at dawn, and a motion sensor that turns on a siren if anyone comes close to the cars after it is turned on.
It is sad but not surprising to watch the increasing desperation of the people trying to survive in a world that grows increasingly heartless, a world in which they are unneeded “surplus.” Yet people who call themselves religious still fight birth control. In spite of the need to be realistic about protecting our vehicles which are really essential when one lives in the country, and in the midst of chaos in the world, Dodona remains a small paradise. I hope that our readers are also able to maintain their center of peace.
With the end of our Montana seminars, I hope to teach more mini-seminars at Dodona. As I have written before, any interested students can organize their own, to cover any topics in astrology for however many days they wish. $300 a day will cover bed, food, instruction, and a daily swim in a heated pool. We can also pick up students at the airport or train in San Diego for no additional cost. We can accommodate up to five or more people, but I think that two to four would be best. If four friends wanted to share the experience, the daily cost would be only $75 for each. These days, one can hardly get a hotel room for that, much less all the food one can eat plus morning, afternoon, and evening classes with friends and so few that it is practically private tutoring. I hope that our readers will share the news with their friends and want to visit Dodona.