Here's what happened last Sunday, he explained later in an e-mail: "I relaxed and looked up into the tree. Suddenly, the sunshine coming through the leaves around a branch reminded me of a scene in (the movie) 'The Book of John' when Jesus met Nathaniel." Larsen says he received a message as he looked up at the trees:

"I've been quite disappointed at the slow rate at which names are coming in to get the Personal Choice Party back on the ballot. I am disappointed that my clear logic would not be sufficient to get the City Council to take action on behalf of the Drummers. I was wondering if I should just let it all go and enjoy my life. The message was, essentially, 'You're OK. You don't know how many others are working on the same cause (restoring the freedom of the Founders). Just keep doing what you are doing. You are just fine.' It was like a wink from God."

Larsen's logic goes like this: "If we have the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, as long as we do not cause harm, and if the sole purpose of government is to protect our rights, then whatever we believe can make us happy spiritually is a 'bona fide' religion." He finds it ironic, he says, that a state founded by refugees from states whose governments said Mormonism wasn't "bona fide" is now "persecuting other people because of their religion."

"They're using the no-smoking ordinance to have an excuse to harass us," says Bryan Farnsworth about the police in the park. "They've stepped up their attack." The 45-year-old Farnsworth, once a Marine, now walks the streets of Salt Lake City wearing a sarong and a shawl draped over his head to keep off the noonday sun. He says he feels spiritual when he dances at the drum circle. "I feel like I'm being taken up by the energy of the earth and spreading it around."

Whether that constitutes "religion," and whether smoking cigarettes is a religious practice or just a way to relax, may eventually be up to the courts to decide. Making the whole matter more complicated is Rick Brough, a Hopi Indian shaman who last Sunday brought his ceremonial pipe, packed with herbs and tobacco, which he smoked in the center of the drum circle.

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com; jackerman@desnews.com