Bare Facts
Copyright 2000 Lake Edun Foundation, Inc.
Official Publication of the Lake Edun Foundation, Inc.
February 1, 2002
Box 1982; Topeka, KS 66601 Voice Mail: 785-478-BARN e-mail: benude@lakeedun.com Website: www.lakeedun.com
Jon Mills Reward Fund Established
Shortly after our January Bare Facts was mailed, we learned of the tragic and untimely death of Jon Mills. Jon was a friend and supporter of the Lake Edun Foundation for many years. In addition to his warm smile and engaging conversation, he also played with several of the bands at more than one of our Return to Eduns, including RtE/9.
Our understanding is that the coroner and the police have ruled the death as "suspicious." Because of the circumstances, many of his friends are even more suspicious!
Jon had been visiting a friend. He left on his bicycle, which he rode nearly everywhere. He was found nearby with a serious blow to the head. His body did not have "road-rash" or other markings one would expect if he fell while riding. The coroner found no alcohol or drugs in his system. And, another person in the area reported being threatened with a baseball bat earlier.
In response to what appears to be official apathy toward this very suspicious death, the Lake Edun Foundation has set up a reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for Jon's death.
You can make a contribution to this fund by sending it to our P.O. Box or slipping it through the slot in the barn. Your friends may also support this effort. If they contribute $10 or more, they will receive a visitor pass they may use anytime this year. So far, we have pledges and contributions totaling $500. Please help us reach our goal of $1,000 in order to provide a significant incentive for someone to come forward. Wouldn't it be wonderful if LEF were able to help the police solve this case!
Become A LEF Ambassador
By Bret Greenwood
The Board and I are looking forward to the coming year, and our continuing efforts to make Lake Edun a welcoming place for all. Many of us remember our first visit - maybe we were given a tour, maybe we were given "the Rules". But we still had questions, and were still hesitant about where to go, what to do, and how to behave.
This year, we would like to begin a service of Ambassadors. This will be a special corp of volunteers who are willing to help orient visitors to the property, and be a friendly face when they have questions. Ambassadors are people who are familiar with Lake Edun, and have a desire to serve others and share their experience.
Our idea is to have an Ambassador available any time that visitors may be at the land. I believe there are a lot of us who are willing to serve in this manner and would be effective. The more Ambassadors in the corp means the less time spent any one person spends as an Ambassador, and the better service visitors will receive.
If you have a desire to help in this way, let us know by using one of the many options available. Thank you!
February Party
Eduners have their first party of the new year scheduled for Saturday, February 9. Dizzie and Biology Bill will serve as our hosts. They tell us the party will have an Italian theme. Our hosts will make ravioli, lasagna, spaghetti and provide soft drinks. Everyone else should bring things such as salads, desserts, or bread. If past experience is any guide, this should be a great meal! If you have a special Italian dish that you make, please feel free to bring that too! If it happens to be better than anything the hosts provide, they ask only that you share the recipe.
The party will start at 6p.m.. Our hosts assure us it will continue until the cows come home! (Considering they don't have any cows, that means until whenever!) Members will find directions enclosed. Dizzie and Bill are experienced LEF hosts and their prior parties have been memorable. Hope everyone can be there!!! If you have any questions, you may email Dizzie: kellys1129@yahoo.com
Naked and Free - Mother Mystiam
By Thelma Berry
Did you ever notice that children love the freedom of their naked bodies?
They have no need to hide what lives inside.
The form world, though clothed in secrecy is seen
Through my pure child's mind and today it hears
Her freedom proclamation
I AM NAKED AND FREE!!!
I am free and unashamed says she.
I am so proud of the dwelling place for my soul.
My own reflection both free and whole.
It was never prison for me,
But for fear that you might think it be,
I shall peel back all my outer layers and show my
REAL SELF!
I must strip down to my inner radiance.
I will turn inside out and streak through the skies of
This life
Totally naked and completely free!
Feast your single eye on me
The naked truth in spirit free
Born to let this light of mine shine for the world to see
DON'T FORGET
Activities designated HN are sponsored by Heartland Naturists
Feb 8; Fri; 7-9; Sauna
Feb 9; Sat; 3-5; Board of Directors Meeting
Feb 9; Sat; 6 pm; Valentines Day Party
Feb 15; Fri; 7-9; HN Swim in Kansas City
Feb 17; Sun; 7-9; Sauna
Mar 2; Sat; 7-9; Sauna
Mar 9; Sat; 10-12; Board of Directors Meeting
Mar 15; Fri; 7-9; HN Swim in Kansas City
Mar 22; Fri; 7-9; Sauna
June 21-23; Return to Edun/10
Report From The Chair
By Born Nude
Throughout the newsletter, you can see that there are many opportunities for you to become involved with the activities for the coming summer. We need to complete the planning process in the immediate future. Please pick something that interests you and let the committee chair know.
Don't forget that Return to Edun is six weeks earlier this year. We'll have the bands selected within the next two weeks. We also need many volunteers to help with that. Let Dizzy or P.T. Mike know of your interest. And, be sure you mention it to your friends and co-workers so they can plan now to attend.
On a sadder note, you'll see that we have started a reward fund for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of John Mills. We all remember him for his talented performances at Return to Edun. He will be greatly missed this year. Those of us who knew him remember him as a kind and gentle person.
Justice Department Cover-up
Since the 1930's, two partially nude statues adorned the Great Hall of the Justice Department. This writer presumes they were works of art done in the Greek or Roman tradition. The Kansas City Star recently reported that, during this time of economic recession, the Justice Department decided to spend $8,000 of taxpayers' money to purchase expensive blue drapes to hide these two statues.
Why would Justice decide to spend so much money hiding works of art when the rest of the country is struggling just to make ends meet? CNN did a piece to attempt to uncover the answer to this question. They did a number of interviews with Washingtonians and found not one that objected to nude art in that setting. They even showed some nude sculpture in front of the Boy Scout's headquarters in DC. It would seem the administration should take a lesson in tolerance.
In spite of this obvious public acceptance, evidently, someone there considers the statues embarrassing, indecent, or both. Attorney General John Ashcroft didn't take part in the decision, a spokesman was quick to insist. "Obviously, he's got more important things to do." But, ABC News reported that Ashcroft ordered the statues hidden because he didn't want to be photographed in front of them. This kind of Washington double-talk reminds me of the Watergate era.
Keep in mind that while he was a senator from Missouri, Ashcroft often complained about decency issues relating to the National Endowment for the Arts and public funding for the organization. Guess he doesn't have a problem with public funding to cover up art!
It is bazaar! Just as the burkas are coming off women in Afghanistan, it appears their western equivalent is coming to America. Has the Talliban taken over the administration? Now, all concerned citizens should be worried about the "Spirit of Justice," the statue of a woman wearing a toga with one breast exposed. What happens to the country if the Justice Department hides the spirit of justice?
Is The Scientific Method Still Valid?
Five hundred years ago, the west began a period of rapid technological and social change unparalleled in the history of the world. It seems everyone has their own opinion of what precipitated this transformation. However, clearly two events that had a dramatic impact coalesce at about the same time:
In the first half of the 15th century, Guttenberg invented movable type permitting the rapid and relatively inexpensive dissemination of information and ideas over a wide area. About the same time, the scientific method became the standard of inquiry because it permits the "objectivity" of science. Inquiry became free from personal or cultural bias or partiality. Even more important, knowledge claims of science were capable of test, and confirmation or refutation by any person properly equipped with intelligence and the technical devices of observation or experimentation.
"Truths" accessible only to privileged individuals, such as mystics or visionaries, which by their very nature can not be independently checked by anyone else, are considered outside the realm of scientific knowledge. Religious ecstasy, the elations of love, the inspiration of the artist, even the flash of insight on the part of a scientific genius are not in themselves scientific activities. Beliefs transcending all possible tests by observation, experiment, measurement, or statistical analysis are recognized as theological or metaphysical and therefore devoid of the type of meaning we associate with the knowledge claims of common sense or factual science.
As we enter a new century, we are increasingly abandoning our belief in the advantages of scientific inquiry for a reliance on personal intuition. "Political Correctness" seems to have replaced scientific veracity as the standard.
Two years ago, these pages documented that the American Psychological Association was forced to take unprecedented measures when an article that appeared in their scholarly, peer reviewed publication Psychological Bulletin offended certain segments of society. Now, in addition to reviewing articles for their scientific merit, they also evaluate them for their "social policy implications."
We also see this in our dealings. People often just assume activities at Lake Edun are somehow less-than-wholesome; that the atmosphere is not healthy for children; or that it should be an "adults only" venue. They make these assertions without bothering to learn the facts or consult the research. If we allow these spurious statements to go unchallenged, the public assumes they are factually accurate. This is what makes our educational mission so important.
We know that a wholesome, clothing-free lifestyle is beneficial, not only because of the way it makes us feel as an individual, but because there is factual research conducted rigorous scientific standards that supports our claims. Our detractors must rely on their "feelings" or opinions.
As we enter a new century and a new millennium, it is important that we, as a society, do not forget the lessons we learned over 500
years ago. The scientific method was developed because it leads to truth. We should not be quick to forget this lesson.
Speakers Available
by Dee Merrifield
Do you belong to an organization, a club, civic group or adult Sunday School class at your church? Perhaps you have friends that do. Those groups are always looking for speakers for their meetings. This would be a great opportunity for us to talk about the benefits a clothing-free lifestyle offers.
Ask your club or your friends if they need someone to speak. We offer a great presentation about Lake Edun and living a clothing-free lifestyle. Or, we have a video that can do the talking for us. Either way, it is sure to be remembered.
Keep in mind, if you help us with our educational goals, you earn a $25 discount on your membership.
Random Thoughts & Reflections
Thanks Big Mike for keeping us in wood for the sauna and a new hand ax. It is comforting to know we have a good supply of firewood available, and that we won't cut off our hand when we split it.
It looks like winter is finally upon us. We have had some wonderful saunas so far this season. Somehow they seem to be even more
enjoyable when the weather is cold and miserable outside. Do not let this season pass without taking advantage of a sauna at our
special place.
From The Mail Bag
Dear Lake Edun;
I enjoyed my 4 visits to Lake Edun (3 in 2000 and 1 in 2001) and the newsletters I have received during that period of time. I appreciate the conservative (good behavior) atmosphere at Lake Edun , balanced by your acceptance of single people. I also like the rusticness of Lake Edun.
I came to Lake Edun as a single person because my family did not wish to accompany me. If nudist/naturist organizations had been more open to singles years ago - when I was really single - I would not have missed years of participation, and probably would have a participating family today. I'm convinced that a lack of foresight 30 or 40 years ago that excluded so many potential participants is responsible for much of the resistance to the nudist/naturist movement today.
In about a week I will be leaving for a new job in Savannah, GA. I wish you success in the future and thank you for being there. - James
Dear Lake Edun,
After receiving your newsletter I glanced through it and put it aside to read later. I came across it the other day in my pile of papers. After reading it, I've decided that I would like to be a member of Lake Edun. Although I may not visit very often, I believe everyone has the right to decide whether a place like Lake Edun is for them. Good luck in the fight for our rights. - Dale
The Naturalist Naturist
By Biology Bill
This month, which is typically the last winter month in Kansas, I'll comment on some of the challenges that animals and plants have during the winter and how they cope with them.
Several major changes that animals have to adapt to are caused by a major plant adaptation to cold: dormancy. Most plants drop their leaves in the winter because the tissues are damaged by freezing, and because the short days make it difficult to soak up enough sunlight to stay active. This sets off a chain reaction of effects for other species, since almost all land animals use plant leaves as food or shelter.
Most species of animals rely on either insects or green plants for food in the summer. Since most insects depend directly or indirectly on plants, they mostly die back or are forced into dormancy, which in turn makes most animals that like to eat insects for a living out of luck. Some animals are forced to travel to look for insect food, for instance migratory birds such as warblers and flycatchers which go south for the winter. Most other critters can't fly long distances, however, so they need to go dormant themselves or find something else than bugs or green leaves to eat.
Reptiles and amphibians and other cold-blooded animals sit quietly in holes or in mud for the winter. How can they go all winter without eating at all? Well, their metabolism is slowed down so much by the cold that they barely burn any energy at all. This apparently is a convenient system, because some warm-blooded animals like ground squirrels and bats turn their metabolisms down so low in the winter that they can live off their last meals in the fall as well.
The rest of the animals that are awake all winter need to change their diets, or just work much harder to find food.
Seeds are a good source of food for a lot of animals in the winter. They were produced by plants last summer, and are just waiting around until the warm weather returns to start growing. Seeds don't usually go bad quickly, and they also contain a ration of food for the baby plant, so they're full of energy for a predatory animal. Many of the birds that come to your feeder in the winter are switching their diets to seeds for the season; chickadees and other species are taking advantage of your handouts, although they could easily manage without them. Similarly, mice and other small mammals that like to eat insects and greens during the summer go for seeds in the winter. If you're a tricky animal like a squirrel, you can even hide caches of food to eat later. Blue jays and a few other birds also cache food. But look out, any other critter might find your stash and eat it first!
Meat-eating animals like foxes or bobcats can't really change their diets, so they just have to look a lot harder for food in the winter. The fact that so many prey species are dormant or gone for the winter cuts down on the potential targets. Relatively big plant-eating animals like deer or rabbits have to munch on shoots and tree bark, or scavenge old food from the previous summer. The short days of winter may make it even tougher to find enough food.
Finally, the lack of green leaves not only has effects for the food chain, but has major repercussions for animals that like to hide in vegetation. Some species change the coloring of their fur coats to match the snow. Others spend a lot of time hiding underground, both because of the cold and because they are vulnerable to predators above ground. Most animals and plants find life a lot easier once winter ends, because the food will again be plentiful, light and warmth available, and shelter possible amongst the newly grown leaves of spring.
Items We Need
Now, Nakedness is a delightful condition. And it keeps you very pleasantly cool - especially, I suppose, if you happen to be a man. But as I walked on eastward that afternoon through my private, segregated, Tonto world (exercision due care at first for previously protected sectors of my anatomy) I found I had gained more than coolness. I felt a quite unexpected freedom from restraint. And after a while I found that I had moved on to a new kind of simplicity. A simplicity that had a fitting, Adam-like, in-the-beginning earliness about it.
- Colin Fletcher
The Man Who Walked Through Time
Naked Beneath Your Clothing
By John Veltheim parama.com/naked.htm
[A continuation. Additional installments will appear in the future.]
Metaphysics and nudism
Wei Chi (protective energy)
Extending on our concept of energy in the body, we can now look at one of the high frequency energies. The wei chi is a superficial energy that runs over the surface of the body just inside, and above, the skin. Some people can see it in certain light as a etheric whitish glow that can extend perhaps half an inch out from the body. (This should not be confused with the human aura that is an even higher frequency and extends much further.) It is classically referred to as our protective energy although, as we will see later, it has more far reaching effects. It is really a mixture of frequencies, each controlling different aspects of protection - physical, climatic, emotional, psychic, etc. One can have strong physical wei chi but weak emotional wei chi.
When we are injured, the wei chi is the first energy to arrive in force and plan our defense and repair. It encourages the flow of meridian energy, nerve impulses and, eventually, the biochemical agents necessary for repair.
A person who has low or weak physical wei chi bruises or cuts easily. Whereas a person with strong wei chi, such as a top athlete, tends not to bruise and cut as easily. Martial artists develop the art of strengthening wei chi so they can take powerful blows or deflect sharp objects and not damage their skin.
Wei chi protects us from our environment. A person with strong wei chi can withstand sudden changes in climate and temperature. A person with weak wei chi suffers from sudden climatic change even to the point of serious health problems.
Part of our environment includes the bombardment from energy fields around us. This includes negative energies from electrical appliances, power lines, radiation and numerous other man-made hazards. We can also be attacked by the negative output of people who are very emotional. Emotions are energy frequencies that, when experienced reactively and uncontrolled, can affect all the people around the emotionally charged person.
Wei chi depends on its ability to flow smoothly through the skin and over the body in order to function optimally. As mentioned earlier, wei chi is not like the aura. It appears as a thin film or envelope of glowing energy around the body of a healthy person. In some people it is only just above the skin. In others, it can radiate from half an inch to an inch. (In extreme cases - three inches.)
Clothing impedes wei chi
People who can see wei chi notice that it doesn't flow through the clothing as well as it flows along bare skin. It tends to dip into the body rather than tackle the fibers, colors, synthetics and electrical charges of clothing. For example, if I look at a naked person clothed only in a pair of pants, I will see the wei chi above the surface of the skin disappear where the pants are, and then reappear where the pants end. This means that the area of the body where the pants are is not being protected by the wei chi anywhere near as powerfully. That makes that area of the body more vulnerable to negativity. This is important because, if the wei chi flow is being impeded in any way, it reduces our ability to respond to life, and to respond to the damaging things that happen in our life.
The liver and the Soul
Wei chi has very strong metaphysical connections and implications. In natural (Chinese, Indian, Sharmanic etc.) medicine, if the wei chi needs to be strengthened, the organ that we have to treat is the liver and its associated energy systems.
In metaphysics the liver is the organ associated with the soul. There are many interpretations of the soul. Simply put, the soul is the part of our body, or energy presence that helps us to process life and records the processes of our life. (Whether it be just this life, and/or past lives.) Medically, the liver is the central processor and chemical warehouse of the body. Most cultures relate to the old concepts of cutting out a man's liver to take his soul and various other similar stories.
The soul processes life, sorts out our karma, and is constantly synthesizing all the events that are happening. It is also involved with the process of planning and making decisions. In Chinese medicine, each organ has a yin and a yang component. This is seen in other systems as well. (They just use different terms to denote the duality principle of yang - yin; male - female; positive - negative; expanding - contracting, hot - cold, etc..)
The yang aspect of the soul is the wei chi that is found on the surface of the body. Our wei chi is not only there to protect us from life but it is also our first contact with the world around us. All the inputs coming from our environment, people and events make contact with the wei chi first. Although some of it penetrates directly into the body through the five senses, most of the input is processed by the wei chi. Healthy wei chi determines how well we can process and digest our life on a psychological, physical and energic level.
This processing in the wei chi builds up during the day. When we go to bed at night a procedure occurs between 1am and 3am whereby the wei chi withdraws from the surface and travels internally to the liver and other major organs to synthesize and 'pass on' this processed information. (This time relates to the Chinese clock that demonstrates the internal concentrations of body energy according to the time of day.) That is why when we lie in bed at night (even on a warm night), our wei chi withdraws, and we feel more vulnerable, and often feel colder and need to cover up for protection. This also explains why shift workers who work through the night can often have many problems processing their lives and making plans and decisions. It also accounts for many of the negative effects of jet lag where the Chinese clock is disturbed, and the wei chi travels inside at the wrong times.
Healthy wei chi means healthy processing of life. Earlier it was stated that wei chi is best treated through the liver. In a practical, clinical situation it is very difficult to obtain significant results in this way. What works in theory doesn't always work in practice.
Denying our soul
Wei chi is most profoundly affected by the attitudes of each individual. This is what we talked about at the beginning of this article.
When people are in denial of their body, when they are closing down their emotional and psychological body and need to hide behind a
mask of clothing, they are also suppressing their wei chi. Their wei chi hardly extends above their skin. It is thin and very weak. As a
result of that denial and shutting down of the body, they are also closing down the processing of life.
Our ability to process and synthesize the events that are occurring in our life is heavily dependent on our healthy attitude to our body and our openness to allowing our body energies to be 'out there' to do that processing. When people expose themselves to the world, they are opening up their wei chi and opening up to the processing of life. When people who can see wei chi observe people undressing, they can see the wei chi expanding as they undress.
'Baring the soul'
Throughout history in many different cultures, there has been a term relating to somebody going naked publicly. We talk about them 'baring their soul' to the world. This is linked directly to the wei chi being on the surface of the skin and it being the yang of the soul. When a person 'bares their soul' by going naked publicly, they are opening themselves up to the process of life, they are allowing themselves to synthesize life in a more powerful way, metaphorically, psychologically, spiritually, and physically.
When people are experiencing major traumas or events in life and find that drugs or alcohol only result in their shutting down the processing of the event, they often pass through a period where they feel compelled to take their clothes off. It's as if the shedding of clothes represents the shedding of the problems of the world. Many naturists talk about the feeling of leaving the world behind them once they have removed their clothes and mingled with other people similarly naked.
Many non naturists in society have that inner urge to 'bare their soul' and take of their clothes, because at some level their subconscious is saying that they need their wei chi out there so that they can process what is going on in their life, and clear it all out. In general, people in a crippled 'mask' orientated society do not handle life well. They deny themselves the ability to process life, and proceed through the highs and low of living in this world in an unhealthy way.
In 'new age' terms, many people want to realize their karma and purpose in life. They go to seminars, read books, have realizations and paradigm shifts that they simply can't synthesize into reality. This is because their wei chi is so withdrawn it cannot perform its function of metabolizing and digesting those experiences. This is particularly important when therapy is involved.
- Walt Whitman
A Sun-bathed Nakedness
Lake Edun Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 1982
Topeka, KS 66601-1982
(785) 478-BARN
Membership Application
Change of Address Form
Please Print
Name: First MI Last
Address:
City: State Zip
Phone: DOB E-mail Address
All information provided is strictly confidential. If you are joining as a couple, include names for both people. If, you are a couple not living together, you may make a copy of this form for the other member of the couple. (NB: a couple is defined as one male and one female.) A $50.00 membership discount is offered to those willing to assist with upkeep a minimum of 10 hours per
year. One subscription to our newsletter Bare Facts is included with membership. Some may wish to receive Bare Facts without becoming a member. A subscription only is available for $20.00. New members will receive a Waiver and Release which must be completed before membership is finalized. Restrictions apply to Associate Membership.
Membership Fees: Single Couple Amount
Lake Edun Foundation Membership 250.00 300.00
Associate Member (Over 125 miles away) - deduct (100.00) (100.00)
Working Membership (Discount) (50.00) (50.00)
Assist with educational mission (Discount) (25.00) (50.00)
Student Membership (full-time student) 150.00 200.00
Separate Mailing Address for members 12.00
Lake Edun Exposed - Video 35.00
Return to Edun/6 Documentary - Video 35.00
Naturist Society Membership 45.00
Subscription to Bare Facts only 20.00
Return to Edun T-shirt (large logo or small logo) (L, or XL) 12.00
Return to Edun T-shirt (large logo or small logo) (XXL) 15.00
Return to Edun Ballcap 7.00
Tax Deductible Donation - Jon Mills Reward Fund
Tax Deductible Donation - Legal Defense Fund
Total Enclosed - Check, Money Order, or Credit Card
Please charge my Visa; MasterCard # Exp. / $