CONTENTS

For June, 1963

 

 

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON IN CUBA?   ..................................................................             2

World report   ...........................................................................................................             4

WHAT BEN FRANKLIN SAID ABOUT LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS   ....................             9

A COURSE OF STUDY   .................................................................................................             10

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING   ....................................................................................             12

Poet’s corner   ..........................................................................................................             14

bulletin board   ........................................................................................................             16

 

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THE STAFF

 

EDITOR ........................................................................................... Dr. DANIEL W. FRY

asst. editor .............................................................................   cleve twitchell

circulation manager ...........................................................  edna basmajian

staff artist ...................................................................................  gus tanasale

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UNDERSTANDING

VOLUME VIII                               JUNE, 1963                                                NUMBER 6

Dedicated to the propagation of a better understanding among all the peoples of the earth, and of those who are not of earth.

 

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON IN CUBA?

There are almost always two or more sides to every story. One of the purposes of this magazine is to encourage a thorough examination of all sides of every story in an effort to arrive at a greater understanding of it.

One "story" that certainly has many sides to it is the matter of what is going on inside Cuba today. Following are excerpts from two contrasting reports on conditions inside that nation. First, we reprint part of a United Press International story regarding the arrival of a group of refugees from Cuba at Port Everglades, Fla.

"One of 675 Cuban refugees arriving here Monday said most Cubans are `elated' over Premier Fidel Castro's trip to Russia -- they hope he will stay there forever.'

"But Mrs. Eduard Castillo, an attorney, added that although perhaps 90 percent of the people in Cuba are against the Castro regime, `our only hope is the United States. There is no chance for a successful uprising.'

"Another of the refugees said the tales of horror trickling from the Communist island are 'pallid compared to the truth.'

"The new refugees, who arrived after a wave-tossed crossing

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aboard the U. S. ransom ship American Surveyor, reported that Castro is waging a campaign of `extermination' against rebel bands, and that Russians are `saturating' some parts of the island.

“ ‘The things which have been reported about the situation in Cuba are pallid when compared to the truth,’ said a young husband from Artemisa in Pinar del Rio Province. `Only by terror is Castro maintaining control,' he said.

"The young man and his wife said most people do not go out after nine o'clock at night, and stay `glued to their radios' listening to U.S. broadcasts, including the Voice of America.

"They like many of the others, asked that their names not be used for fear of reprisals against loved ones still in Cuba.

“The biggest problem about living in Cuba today is the terror,' said a rancher from Oriente, `and the constant fear that you are going to end up in jail.' He said he paid for his freedom by signing his ranch over to the Cuban government."

Now, for a contrast, let us examine the following letter, written by a Canadian after a recent trip to Cuba.

"In the last few years Cuba has become a very controversial island. In July, 1959, I visited Cuba very briefly, and this year I decided to return to find out what was really happening there.

"The people's support for their new government is evident everywhere. Prosperity is rising rapidly. Sixty-six percent of those who used to be jobless, under Batista, are now employed. They are confident that unemployment will be eliminated completely within one year.

"I visited many workers' apartments, built since the Castro government was set up. These buildings have been named after heroes and martyrs who helped to overthrow Batista. Apartments and other individual family dwellings now rent for only 10 percent of the worker's wages.

"After twenty years, the apartment or house belongs to the tenant. This 20-year tenant-ownership also applies retroactively: that is, if a Cuban has been paying rent for the past 20 years, he pays no more. The government gives him the house or apartment.

"Up to May 10, 1961, the legal department of Cuba's National Institute of Agrarian (Farm) Reform had handed over, free, to the

JUNE, 1963                                 3

poorest peasants, 31,425 title-deeds to parcels of land which did not exceed about 65 acres. Now no farmer pays rent for the land he tills, as Cuban farmers formerly did.

"There is religious freedom in Cuba. I saw many people going to church. I saw several stores where religious articles were for sale. I bought religious literature in Havana. I met and spoke with a Baptist minister. ..

`While in Havana I stayed at the best hotel-the Habana Libre. Rooms in this hotel previously rented for $30 per day. That could be afforded only by the rich. Now working people can get a room for $6 per day. Other prices I found to be in line with this. Bus fares in Havana are 8 cents maximum, with an extra 2 cents for a transfer which will take you anywhere in the city.

"There are no parking meters or sales taxes in Cuba. Yacht and country clubs, previously enjoyed exclusively by the rich, are now open to everyone, free of charge. Beach cabins for a couple are only $12 per week. Beautiful parks, playgrounds and resorts have been constructed all over the island by the Castro government.

"Much is said in Canadian and American papers about Cuba being `dominated' by the Soviet Union, China and other socialist lands. Why are we not told of the help these countries are giving the Cuban people? I saw Russian and Czech trucks, jeeps and buses everywhere. On Christmas day my 19-year-old interpreter, Armando, who had just completed a government-sponsored and financed course in administration, and I rented Chinese bicycles and rode around Havana. Armando had a Russian watch, a Czech camera and Chinese pen, all of which were giving good guaranteed service. I met and talked with a Hungarian veterinary, doctor, and three young Russian technicians. I saw many Chinese who were also helping Cuba to rebuild her economy.

"On December 22nd I watched a parade that lasted 3½ hours. This was a parade of 707,000 people! As Castro spoke, they listened attentively, standing in the rain. The enthusiasm of these happy people for their new government, and confidence in their leaders, is amazing. They shout `Patri o Morte!' (Country or Death!) and `Venceremos!' (We Will Win!) and they mean it!

"We are told that the Cuban government encourages hatred of the USA. I found no evidence of that. On the contrary, I saw the

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Stars and Stripes displayed with other flags in front of a public building in down-town Havana. The American flag was also carried along with all other flags in the big parade. Friendly Cuban hospitality is world famous, and they like the American people. However, the Cubans despise and resent the CIA and FBI and the U.S. State Department, sending trained saboteurs and mercenaries into their island to kill and destroy... "

Which of the above reports is correct? Undoubtedly they both are within their own framework. The human mind has an unfortunate tendency to think that if something isn't white it must therefore be black. These two reports are most probably just two small reflections of truth. Reading them reminds us of the story about the five blind men, each of whom touched a different part of an elephant and immediately thought. he knew what a whole elephant was like.

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World report

2,000-Year-Old Electric Batteries Are Found

(From Christian Science Monitor, April 27, 1963)

Electric batteries are one of the engineering marvels that would seem to distinguish modern living from that of ancient times-but are they Archaeologists have found 2,000-year-old pots at the site of old Baghdad that can best be described as ancient batteries.

Within such pots is an upright cylinder of sheet cooper and inside of this is an iron rod showing corrosion due perhaps to some acid. The iron rod was insulated from the copper by pitch. Iron and copper leads were used to carry current to and from the cell. The cylinder seems to have been soldered with a 60-40 lead-tin solder such as is used today.

First discovered in 1936-39, these pots have received relatively little general notice. One of the few experts who has studied them

JUNE, 1963                                 6

is W. F. M. Gray of the General Electric Company's Transformer Division at Pittsfield, Mass.

He says he has no doubt the pots are the remains of ancient electric batteries. He has reconstructed them and obtained electricity. In these experiments, Mr. Gray used copper sulphate as an electrolyte. It served the same current-carrying function as does the weak acid in your automobile battery. The ancients, he says, may have also used this chemical or perhaps citric acid or acetic acid, which were available to them, as an electrolyte.

What the cells were used for is anybody's guess. It is thought that they probably supplied current for electroplating gold and silver onto other metals.

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Mr. Gray says archaeologists have found electroplated materials 4,000 years old in the same general area that yielded the batteries. This implies a very ancient knowledge of some complex chemistry and electrochemistry.

Mr. Gray observes that the way to electroplate gold today is to use the compound gold cyanide. This, he says, is a fairly complex compound to make. Thus gold electroplating, as was done in ancient  times, implies development, of at least this field of chemistry.

No one knows how widespread this ancient electrical know-how may have been. However, Mr. Gray notes that the people of the area where batteries have been found were the metalsmiths of their day. Electrical knowledge may well have been limited to them, a closely guarded trade or community secret.

(And some would have us believe that ours is the highest civilization ever achieved on earth? -The Editors)

Stones Believed Thrown By `Spirit in Tree Trunk'

(From New Zealand Herald, Auckland, N. Z., April 2, 1963)

Mr. R. A. Beatty, the owner of Ohiro Lodge, in Ohiro Bay, Brooklyn, which was peppered with stones and pennies four nights last week, said yesterday he believed the attacks were made by an evil spirit hidden in a huge tree trunk eight feet from the house.

Hitherto a firm unbeliever in spirits and poltergeists Mr. Beatty said certain happenings over the past four days had shaken his disbelief.

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He said that about midnight on Thursday a Samoan called and insisted on speaking to him alone-there were police in the house at the time.

"The Samoan told me I had made a terrible mistake when l cut the trees down in front of my house. He explained that I had left the trunks far too high and they could be seen from afar.

"My visitor said that the tree trunks represented one of three things-a monkey sitting in a tree, a mother with a child in her arms, or a person praying.

"These things represented something evil, my Samoan visitor added, and he implored me to have the tree trunks cut down to ground level.

"Prepared at this stage to try anything, I finally arranged for the trunks to be cut.

"Then a very strange and significant thing happened to us.

"An elderly Maori woman and a youth arrived at our house and told us that they came from a long way to rid the house of the evil spirit who was throwing the stones.

"The woman gave us exactly the same explanation as the Samoan. ' The trees had to be cut to ground level for the evil spirit hid in the trunk ... "

Bohmohs of Malaya Have Strange Powers

(From Grit News Section, Jan. 6, 1963)

A wiry old man walked around an empty soccer field at Kuala Lumpur, in Malaya, waving a handkerchief at the sky and chanting incantations to Allah. He was praying for good weather.

The next day, with the giant stadium filled to capacity for an international soccer match, it rained throughout the rest of Kuala Lumpur but the stadium remained dry.

And it stayed that way for the following 11 days of the soccer tournament. A month later, as the annual rainy season pushed its forerunners into the Kuala Lumpur valley, the same man mumbled the same chants at a nearby cricket field, waving the same handkerchief at gray skies.

For 3 days-the duration of an international cricket match-the grounds stayed dry while sheets of rain drenched other parts of the city and came within 500 yards of the stadium.

JUNE, 1963                                 7

Black magic? Supernatural powers? Or just coincidences? Foreigners in the country are puzzled, but to many natives these were incidents that proved the special powers of the Bohmohs, miracle men who deal in business predictions, heal the sick, and make good weather in a country where the annual rainfall averages 100 inches. Superstitious by nature, apparently the remnant of a distant past in which religious belief centered on demons and evil spirits, Malayans are easily swayed by soothsayers to buy protective charms. For the Bohmohs, it means a wide open field of practice. And there are hundreds in the country, many devout Muslims who use the Koran to drive out demons, give advice to the lovelorn, and make sport fans happy.

Other less reputable characters deal in shadier matters, Malayans say. For example, they can be hired to put the hex on enemies.

Universe May Be Much Older Than Believed, Says Astronomer

(From Pasadena, Calif., Star News, April 20, 1963)

TUCSON-The universe may be much older than believed, a prominent astronomer said yesterday.

Dr. Fritz Zwicky of Caltech told the American Astronomical society that, rather than the 10 million years age assigned to the universe, it may be "a million million years old."

Zwicky said he had been studying the matter since he decided some time ago that the time scale for the universe used by most of his colleagues might not be accurate.

George Herbig of the University of California's Lick Observatory told the delegates a new system for dating stars was developed at the observatory. He said the new technique, which may provide clues to origin and rate of formation, is based on measurement of the element, lithium, the lightest known metal.

89-Year-Old Water Dowser Tells How It's Done

(From Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1963)

SANTA ANA-For many of his 89 years, C. F. Mowrer has been spying out nature's secrets with the air of a couple of ordinary looking sticks.

A devotee of the ancient art of "dowsing," (a term he objects to, by the way) Mowrer, of 1065 W. 3rd St., says he can locate oil

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or water below the surface of the earth and determine at what depths they lie.

For locating, he has the traditional forked stick which dowsers have used for centuries.

With the small end of the fork held upright, Mowrer walks slowly along until the fork turns downward, to point at the ground. Many dowsers claim the stick turns with such force they cannot resist it.

Once the water is located, Mowrer holds the straight stick parallel to the ground over the spot where the fork dipped. The straight stick begins to bob gently up and down. The number of times it bobs, Mowrer says, indicates the number of feet to the deposit of water or oil.

Mowrer says he has located water from 13 to 925 ft. below the surface. He says the only way he can differentiate between oil and water is its underground conformation.

"Water," he observes, "generally runs in true directions; north south or east-west, while oil lies in pools."

Like many another dowser, Mowrer can't explain why he can make the sticks work. None of his four sons and daughter, nor any of his grandchildren have the knack.

Kennedy Orders Steps To Reduce Pesticide Hazards

(From United Press International, May 17, 1963)

WASHINGTON-President Kennedy has ordered immediate government steps to cut. down the health hazards resulting from the widespread use of pesticides.

Kennedy Wednesday night revealed a 46-page report from his Science Advisory Committee warning that the environment is suffering "increasing contamination" from chemical poisons.

The scientists said pesticides have been a great boon to mankind and their "judicious" use must be continued. But it urged prompt steps to "minimize risks" to humans resulting from "continued exposures to small amounts of these chemicals."

The committee made a study of pesticides following the controversy that arose around Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring." In a statement accompanying the report, Kennedy- said he had ordered federal agencies to carry out the committee's recommendations within their authority, and to prepare legislation for Congress where warranted.

JUNE, 1963                                 9

A senate subcommittee begins hearings today on pesticide hazards. Dr. Jerome Weisner, chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee, will present the committee's report formally to Congress at the opening session.

The committee agreed with Miss Carson that there was "evidence of increasing environmental contamination."

The committee said there is urgent need for more research to determine how much pesticide is reaching human beings through food, water and air, and what "long-term impact" small quantities of these poisons may have on health. It recommended that the Department of Health, Education and Welfare undertake "comprehensive" studies. of these questions.

(Better late than never! - The editors)

Huge Unseen Planet Discovered

(From United Press International, April 21, 1963)

TUCSON, Ariz.-Astronomers were told Thursday of the discovery of an unseen planet 500 times larger than the earth.

Peter Van De Kamp, director of the Sproul Observatory at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, told 300 delegates to the American Astronomical Society the planet. revolves around Bernard's star which is six light years distance from the earth.

Van De Kamp, in describing the method of discovery, said that if a star doesn't have a companion, its track across the sky will be a uniform motion. But if there is a planet going around it, the path of the star will wobble. The amount of wobble is a measure of the mass of the unseen companion.

Loch Ness Monster Declared Visible

(From United Press International, April 22, 1963)

LOCH NESS, Scotland-"Up 'til now we have been skeptical about the monster, but it's there all right," Mrs. Hilda Hitching said of the Loch Ness monster Sunday.

She claimed she and a friend, Mrs. Vera King, spotted the monster while driving along the lake's east shore, and stopped to watch the creature cavort about 400 yards out. She said she could see the monster's three humps clearly.

"We watched the monster in the still waters of the Loch for two

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minutes. It moved very slowly, with scarcely any wash and gradually submerged leaving hardly a ripple on the surface," she said.

Camera Confirms Mystery Object

(From Otago Daily Times, Dunedin, New Zealand, Feb. 14, 1963)

A photograph at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research auroral station, Lauder, confirms that Mr. C. B. Taylor, who was at Cape Hallett last June, saw a "mystery object" traveling across the sky.

A scientist at. the station, Dr. M. Gadsen, said a long-exposure photograph taken on the all-sky camera showed the object's trail. It was not a meteor, and there were no reports of a satellite burning out in that area at the time.

"We are puzzled by it," he said.

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WHAT BEN FRANKLIN SAID ABOUT LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS

One of the most frequent statements made by persons in condemnation of those who believe that life exists on other planets is that only gullible little nobodies could hold such an opinion. We have pointed out on previous occasions that if you do have an interest in life on other planets, you're in pretty good company, because many noted persons throughout history have had such an interest. One of them was Benjamin Franklin. For a look at what he thought about life on other worlds, we offer the following excerpts from the book "Seeds of Liberty" by Max Savelle. This incidentally is not an occult book. It is a book of speeches made by early American patriots.

"Franklin, as usual, writing in the proslavery world of 1751, approached the problem in an offhand mood of whimsical utilitarianism: `It is an ill-grounded opinion that, by the labor of slaves, America may possibly vie in cheapness of manufactures with Britain. The labor of slaves can never be so cheap here as the labor of workingmen is in Britain. Any one may compute it . . . Why then will Americans purchase slaves! Because slaves may be kept as long as a man pleases, or has occasion for their labor; while hired men are continually leaving their masters ... and setting up for themselves.'

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"As a matter of fact, he says: ` ... the number of purely white people in the world is proportionately very small. All Africa is black or tawny; Asia chiefly tawny; America (exclusive of the new comers) wholly so. And in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, and Swedes, are generally of what we call a swarthy complexion; as are the Germans also, the Saxons only excepted, who, with the English, make the principal body of white people on the face of the earth. I could wish their numbers were increased. And while we are, as I may call it, scouring our planet, by clearing America of woods, and so making this side of our globe reflect a brighter light to the inhabitants in Mars and Venus, why should we, in the sight of superior beings, darken its people? Why increase the sons of Africa, by planting them in America, where we have so fair an opportunity, by excluding all blacks and tawnys, of increasing the lovely white and red? But perhaps I am partial to the complexion of my country, for such kind of partiality is natural to mankind.' "

The above was taken from the chapter entitled "OF SOCIETY AND SOCIAL FREEDOM: SOCIAL THOUGHT." Pages 276 and 277.

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Max Savelle graduated in 1925 from Columbia University, where he took his Master's degree in history the following year and his doctorate in 1932. From 1926 to 1932, he taught at Columbia; he was at Leland Stanford until 1947, when he went to the University of Washington, where he is now professor of History.

The book, "SEEDS OF LIBERTY," was printed in 1948, by Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

It is interesting to note that Franklin's statement took three things for granted: 1. that there were inhabitants on Mars and Venus; 2. that they could observe earth; and 3, that they were superior to earth's inhabitants.

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A COURSE OF STUDY

The individuals who read this magazine compose a group with a tremendously wide range of interests who have absorbed an enormous amount of information when considered collectively. It is the editor's hope that from time to time we can pass on some of this

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data either in the form of articles or in the form of suggested books for interested persons to read.

Kerttu Campbell, Understanding's hard-working treasurer, has submitted the following bibliography which she made when she first started studying New Age ideas. We hope our readers will find it of interest and perhaps get some ideas for reading material:

First:

Sugrue, Thomas, There is a River

Story of the clairvoyant healings and life-readings of Edgar Cayce.

Cerminari, Gina, Many Mansions

The case for reincarnation, based on her study of the Cayce records.

Then, from the following:

Bailey, Alice A., The Reappearance of the Christ

Explanation of the New Age which is already upon us, and the work of the New World Servers in preparation for the Christ.

Beck, L. Adams, The Way of Power

Fascinating account of the author's experiences toward an understanding of occult forces. Gives many stories from the past. Reads like a novel and is a good introduction to this field of study.

Besant, Annie, The Ancient Wisdom

An outline of theosophical teachings. Gives background for an understanding of physical, etheric and astral vehicles; the nature of their survival and development after death; simplified version for discipleship and initiations. Good basis for understanding of H. Blavatsky.

Clymer, Rev. Dr. R. Swinburne, The Teachings of the Masters: The Wisdom of the Ages

A Rosicrucian text on the Esoteric teachings of religion; man's efforts toward spiritual enlightenment, reincarnation. A general scope volume, simply written to explain the nature of spiritual evolution.

King, Godfre Ray, Unveiled Mysteries

Very stimulating and powerful book on the teachings of the

JUNE, 1963                                 13

Masters, particularly as revealed by St. Germaine to the author.

Lewis, Spencer H. Mansions of the Soul-The Cosmic Conception

Rather elementary but has interesting schematic representation of the Soul to Oversoul, and reincarnation cycles, and of Ego or personality to physical body and its aura (Rosicrucian text.)

Miller, Mattie Storm Infinite Wisdom

Excellent presentation of the spiritual philosophy with practical guides toward enlightenment. Good introduction to occultism.

Olivers, T. S., (amanuensis for Phylos, the Tibetan) A Dweller on Two Planets or The Dividing of the Way (1899).

An account of the civilization of Atlantis and the reincarnation of Zailm in modern times. Fascinating story in its implications.

Scott, Cyril, An Outline of Modern Occultism

A good, concise resume of occult teachings in various aspects, with explanations of Theosophy, Christian Science, Anthosophy, etc., in their relationships to the whole of occult revelation. Also gives practical applications of Karma, Therapeutics, etc.

Spalding, Baird T. Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East (5 small vols.)

Inspirational. Account of the experiences for 3½ years of the author with Christ conscious people, or Masters, in the Himalayas. Endeavor to show that Christ is within each of us and when found will provide us with powers which now seem miraculous.

Trine, R. W., In Tune with the Infinite

Excellent for personal philosophy.

(The editors invite other readers to submit bibliographies of texts they have found useful, with their own comments on each book as Mrs. Campbell has done.)

UNDERSTANDING CONVENTION                                                                    Saturday and Sunday, June 29-30

Harmony Grove                           Escondido, California

Everyone Invited                          Bring Your Friends

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

(Understanding magazine exchanges subscriptions with numerous other publications. Following are some items of interest gleaned from recent issues of these magazines and newspapers. The Editors would like to thank Irma Enochs of Merlin, Ore., for her effort in compiling these excerpts.)

From THE UFO INVESTIGATOR, NICAP,1536 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington 6, D.C., Jan.-Feb., 1963:

"Space probes are now being prepared to determine whether the Mars moon Phobos actually is a huge orbiting space base, according to a high official of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration.)

"The disclosure that NASA is seriously considering this possibility was made by Raymond H. Wilson, Jr., Chief of Applied Mathematics at NASA, in a discussion with members of the Institute of Aerospace Sciences. Wilson revealed to the group that investigation of Phobos, long an enigma because of its strange orbit, is one of the main purposes of the Mars probes . . .

"After stating that Phobos might be artificial, Wilson said Mars probes would contain spectroscopic equipment to determine whether  Phobos gives off absorption lines of aluminum. If so, he said, this would be a `most interesting discovery.'

"The NASA official said that the Space Agency's decision to investigate Phobos was based on the fact that it goes around Mars faster than the planet turns on its axis. This could not occur naturally, he stated, according to accepted ideas of planetary function. Phobos, he said, is the only satellite in the solar system to have a period of rotation shorter than its main body. (About one-third the time of Mars 25-hour rotation.)

"The first suggestion that Phobos was artificial was made in 1959 by Dr. I. S. Shklovsky, a leading Soviet scientist. Using calculations by Dr. Bevan Sharpless, U.S. Naval Observatory, Shklovsky said Phobos was being slowed by air and electromagnetic drag and tidal friction far more than a solid moon would be. He concluded that Phobos, which is about 10 miles in diameter, actually is a hollow sphere equipped for the survival of a colony which fled Mars when the planet began to lose its oxygen."

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From Panorama, Kilburn, South Australia:

"General L. M. Chassin, of Air Defense Co-ordination of Allied Forces in central Europe, wrote that if we persist in refusing to recognize the existence of these unidentified objects we will end up one fine day in mistaking them for guided missiles and the worst will be upon us.

"The British Association for U.F.O. study may be of considerable service to humanity, and the turning point in the flying saucer affairs. lie said he hoped the British U.F.O. Association would be the precedent for an international organization which would mean a centrally directed effort on a global scale, perhaps gaining the recognition and patronage of UNESCO."

———

From Saucers, Space and Science, March, 1963-17 'Shetland St., Willowdale, Ontario, Canada:

"The Weather Engineering Corp of Canada have found that snowflakes that fall in Montreal, Quebec, have a chaotic pattern that doesn't look anything like the traditional picture-postcard flake ... Bell Aerospace Corp. has patented a "zero gravity belt" intended to enable an astronaut to leave an orbiting vehicle and perform outside inspection, repair and assembly jobs ... Radar experiments at Goldstone tracking station in the Mojave desert show a large feature on the surface of Venus, previously unknown, that reflects radar more strongly than its surroundings. It could be an ocean or a mountain range ... Four mysterious "hot spots" have been found on the moon by a new telescope high on a California peak.. . The world is due to be hit by a mile-wide meteor, says Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, chief of the astrology branch of the U.S. Geological Survey."

———

From The Little Listening Post, Washington, D.C.

"England's Prince Phillip is on record as defending Flying Saucers. At a dinner party given by the Queen, he told friends, `I am sure they exist; all the evidence points to it. So many people say they have seen them. You should read the book, "Flying Saucers Have Landed." '

"For many years, Prince Phillip has been a close student. of the UFOs, along with a number of other high European echelons, which include Lord Mountbatten, Lord Dowding, and General Chassin ...

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"British Editor Waveney Girvan says the American role of pioneering in this farthest out of all fields is in grave jeopardy RUSSIA MAY TAKE THE LEAD. An official campaign is being conducted to prepare the Russian mind for the truth. The Government controlled press declares first, that ‘other-world intelligences might have visited us in the past; next, that they might visit us in the future, and finally, that they might even be visiting us NOW.' "

——— ♦ ———

Poet’s corner

 

 

"Song of Choosing"

Out of the jumbled scrap heap of daily events

Each human being gathers his chosen fragments

And assembles them into his Structure of Life.

One chooses only the heavy fragments of stone

And toils under their burden, minutely, endlessly;

His every effort is to make his building big,

An imposing structure that shall proclaim

By sunlight reflected from its mirror-polished surfaces

To generations that shall pass on the trail of life

That he, The Builder, has lived and struggled.

He builds a monument, awe-inspiring in size,

And he gives all the hours of his life

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To make it ever larger, loftier, and more glowing

And to be certain it is more cunningly and

More lastingly constructed than that of his neighbor.

 

Another whistles as he selects his fragments

From the piles and piles of daily events

He gives the world a snatch of song, a smile,

And leaves his work to help his neighbor

Hoist a heavy stone to the top of his overwhelming pile.

His breath is caught in ecstasy

And he straightens his back to watch the

Virtuous old maid clouds blush to see

The sun prepare for his nightly plunge Into the sea.

His heart is light with song,

The joy of Living shines from the depths

As a soul reflects through the eyes.

His heart responds to the rhythm of nature,

He glows to the fullness of the moment,

He lives for love and for beauty and happiness.

His life-structure is gleefully made

From seashells and bits of gaily colored stone.

Chosen for its many shades and tints.

But the stones represent hours of laughter and tears,

And the shells still whisper of a mighty ocean,

Upon whose glorious beaches they have lain.

For ages yet to come they will whisper stories

Of laughter, life, happiness and sweet sorrows;

Forever they will whisper vividly

Of cream-yellow moons that rise over rippling water,

And tell how finger-beams of the rising sun

Paint the canyon depths with streaks of

Many colored light. And most surely

The hearts of those who pass shall be made lighter

By the glowing radiance of his small but vivid Life-Structure.

 

You who are passing on the trail-ways of eternity,

Which pattern have you chosen for your life?

-Eugene E. Whitworth

San Francisco, Calif.

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Understanding Unit Forms in Sweden

The Editors take great pleasure in announcing that Understanding, Inc.'s first organized unit outside of North America has been formed in Sweden.

We have many individual members in many nations around the world, but up to now all of the units have been only in the United States and Canada.

The first Swedish unit has been formed at Stockholm. President is Sven-Erik Asklund, and his address is Skyllbergsgatan 18, 7 tr., Stockholm, Bandhagen, Sweden. Members of Understanding and readers of this magazine are invited to correspond with him and welcome our Swedish friends into the organization. Other officers are Kerstin Janssen, vice president; Ing-Marie Asklund, secretary; and Erik Fredriksson, treasurer.

Members of the new unit write that they are meeting many wonderful people in their work. Some of their future plans include starting a library.

Stickers Are Still Available

Understanding still has a plentiful supply of the small stamp-size stickers bearing the insignia used on the cover of this magazine. These stickers are excellent for putting on the backs of envelopes about to be mailed and are good for other purposes as well. A sheet of 104 stickers may be ordered for $1 from Understanding, P.O. Box 22, Station C, Pasadena, Calif.

JUNE, 1963                                 19

Convention At Harmony Grove June 29-30

An Understanding convention will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30 at Harmony Grove, located near Escondido, Calif. Bob Crichton of the Vista unit will again serve as master of ceremonies. Speakers who are scheduled to appear on the program include Col. Arthur Burks, Roland Hunt, Frank Stranges, Hope Troxell, Calvin Girvin and Fern Schaeffer.

Coming Lectures

On Saturday, June 15 the Inglewood, Calif., unit of Understanding will present an evening of "UFO slides and tape recorded `Voices From Other Planets' " at 8 p.m. in the Business and Professional Women's Clubhouse, 820 Java St., Inglewood.

Sunday, June 16, Col. Arthur Burks will speak for the Merlin, Ore., unit. The location where his talk will be presented had not yet been announced at press time. Further information may be obtained by writing to the Merlin Unit of Understanding, Box 105, Merlin, Ore.

News of the Units

Santa Cruz unit #9 reports a recent election of officers. Ruby Strong of 4340 Scotts Valley Drive, Santa Cruz, Calif., has been reelected president. Other officers are Karl Schaaf, vice president; Connie Schaaf, recording secretary; Helen Anderson, corresponding secretary and treasurer. At its March meeting, the unit enjoyed a talk by D. B. Fairfield on The Great Pyramid. Mr. Fairfield then returned in April and presented an evening of New Age entertainment.

During May, San Francisco, Calif., unit #11 presented C. A. Honey of Anaheim, Calif., who since 1957 has been assistant to George Adamski, author of "Flying Saucers Have Landed," "Inside the Space Ships" and "Flying Saucers Farewell."

Michael V. Barton addressed Inglewood, Calif., unit #15 during May on the subject "Forever Young, Forever Immortal."

The unit at Merlin, Ore., has now become Understanding Unit #1, and the unit at El Monte, formerly #1, has now become a study group of the Merlin unit. During April the discussion group hosted Mrs. Georgia Gecht in a talk on the Urantia book. A speaker on the Bahai faith was invited to meet with the group last month. Understanding Unit #46 of Sacramento, Calif., has been quite

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active during the past few months. Numerous speakers have appeared before large audiences, among them Bob Hansavelt, Dr. Frank E. Stranges, Major Wayne Aho, Mrs. Kathryn Wickey, Ray Tippett, George Lutz and Durward Fairfield. A workshop class on metaphysics is being held every Sunday night in the basement hall at the home of the President and Mrs. Steele Goodman. During the month of March, Gustav Estergren was named vice president of the unit.

True Day of San Jose, Calif., reports that the four Understanding workshop sessions held in that city recently were a success. The four workshops were on the themes "Health," "Wealth," "Love" and "Joyful Expression." She now plans to present further work under the name Understanding Fellowship, to meet the fourth Monday of each month at 8 p.m. in the Friendship room of the Citizens Federal Savings and Loan building, 50 N. First St., San Jose, Calif. (entrance through parking lot at rear.)

UNDERSTANDING STICKERS

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