"The Gods Must Be Crazy" THE POSSIBILITY OF A CONTINUING CONSCIOUSNESS Catherine Dees at the Continuum Center November 15th, 2002

Soft spoken, cultivated and compassionate describe author Catherine Dees, who is also a documentary film producer and sponsor of archaeological digs in Egypt. Co-creator of an exhibit which debuted more than two decades ago about eternal consciousness called "Continuum: The Immortality Principle," Dees presented a talk titled "The Gods Must Be Crazy" co-sponsored by SJA at the Continuum Center Gallery on 26th and Hennepin this November 15th. Discussing the origin and development of this exhibit, which also spawned a published book version in 1982, Dees finds inspiration from science, philosophy, art, religion, psychiatry, parapsychology and technology.

"It is interesting that we are born with no fear of the invisible from which we have come, and yet that unknown realm is just as dark to our senses as the one to which we go at death. The whispering voice of wise old Lao Tsu says, 'There is a reality prior to heaven and earth.' Could there also be a reality beyond it?" writes Dees.

Twenty five years ago, this mother raising two daughters(now a lawyer and a chiropractor) in Pasadena, started a writing career. Planning to write about spiritual common sense, what piqued her interest were books by classicists with an esoteric thought. All around her, issues involving mysticism, destiny and spiritual enlightenment seemed to stir up a real hunger in peoples' hearts. Why even "physicists started talking like mystics," recalled Dees. She wanted to write about something that involved "a new way of thinking yet somehow was ancient, asleep and now was waking up." Two specific themes emerged from her research: immortality and consciousness. Deciding to combine her writing with illuminating photography and illustrations, she and co-creator Kay Croissant devised display panels for an art exhibit.

Her thesis for the exhibit would include four concepts:

• that matter is not limited to the perceptions of the five senses;
• that energy is indestructible;
• that consciousness can exist independent of the physical body;
• and that there is no proof that consciousness ends at death . . . and much evidence that it continues.

This inter-disciplinary artist went to the science museum in Los Angeles to fund her ideas for an exhibit. Well, the show received the green-light when Dees was promised $20,000 from a "psychic surgeon" who insisted a pet project of his own be included in the exhibit. His entry was a simple block of wood in the shape of a female torso with the inscription "touch me." Well, this gave an unintentional response of aroused passion from a few spectators. But more disturbingly, some entries like a hologram display about suicide made a few people nervous. "I got some public flack for doing a tight-rope walk through peoples' religions," she summarized, but nearly one million people saw the exhibit and a lasting impression of expanding one's awareness led to the publishing of the book.

Dees wanted this exhibit to be a journey through time, death and consciousness, something that suggests that we are all connected. Something that offers compassion as a practical working principle, forever unfolding, continuing. "We have to reach back and reach ahead. We are all teachers and learners," offers Dees. Legend has said that the ancient symbol of immortality, the Sphinx from Egypt, asks a riddle of those who view him. Dees writes, "Could the riddle of the Sphinx have been this: WHAT IS IT THAT LIVES WITHIN TIME AND YET LIVES IN ETERNITY? The answer may be . . . MAN.

You can purchase Catherine Dees and Kay Croissant's book "Continuum: the immortality principle" by calling or stopping by the Continuum Center Gallery (2538 Hennepin Ave., Mpls. 612 374-4948).

Michael Reinbold, a continuing web reporter, freelances as a writer and banquet caterer. A passionate believer in SJA's mission of social justice and collaborative ministry, Michael is an SJA Choir member, mass reader, Team Oz AIDS rider and Grace House volunteer cook. With an extensive background in theater, photography and fundraising, he relishes all aspects of the arts, staying fit and inspiring and working with people.

Peg LaSota comes from a photography background. She now works in the digital world, computer instruction, and with "videography" and the restoration of family films. She is enthusiastic about capturing family memories and preserving them digitally. Along with that, her time is spent with her family and her love for learning Spanish, piano, recorder.....and of course singing with the choir!