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Welcome
Welcome to the personal web
site of Starweaver, Wiccan priest, tarot and
astrology practitioner, and dabbler in the visual
arts. This site is an expression of my own
personality: sometimes focused, sometimes fanciful,
always fluid. I hope you find this a place of
beauty, wisdom, and warmth.
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Feature
Article
 The
Second Door: Everything is Alive
Life,
personality, and passion are everywhere - if we
choose to see them
My
parents' approach to sex education at home was to
read me biology textbooks as bedtime stories. I
learned all about meiosis and mitosis, dominant and
recessive genes, and sperm and egg cells. I also
picked up a very scientific, reductionist
perspective on the nature of life. In our home, we
didn't give much credence to the idea of a soul or
spirit animating living beings, and looked back
through time with a smirk at the quaintness of
ideas such as vitalism, which holds that living
beings contain some vital essence beyond the simple
material components of their bodies.
When
my first child was born, I had quite a revelation.
All that biology hadn't really prepared for the
reality that a new person had come into
being. Even during the pregnancy, my mind had
remained mostly rooted in those biology textbooks.
But when I held my daughter in my arms and
recognized her as a personality, as an independent
being experiencing life for herself and already
gifted with an individual identity and inner
nature, all those biology lessons seemed to be
missing the point, somehow
.
. .
Read
More
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 Celestial
Gossip for January, February, and March
Starweaver's
down-to-earth look at the doings of the heavenly
gods and goddesses in the months
ahead.
In
the last episode, we left Saturn somewhat thwarted
in his plans to teach us how to manage time and
obligations, his allies Mars and Mercury being much
to moody and morose to be of much help. Encouraging
news came at the end of December, though, when
Jupiter, Sun, and Mercury ended their adventuresome
jaunt in Sagittarius and moved into Capricorn,
ready to take on a productive project or
two.
Saturn,
therefore, is changing his strategy. Being
retrograde now, he is much less bossy and easier to
get along with. He's taken to working less
conspicuously, and being helpful more often than
punitive . . .
Read
More
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Subscribing to
Starweaver's Gems from Earth and
Sky
If you enjoy the material
presented here and would like to receive each new
issue as it becomes available, you are invited to
subscribe to Gems from Earth and Sky. There
are three formats available:
- email
notice: you will
receive a short text-only email eight times a
year to let you know that a new issue has been
posted on this website (no charge)
- email
newsletter: you will
receive a condensed version of each issue,
including graphics, one or two articles, and
summaries with links to full articles on this
site (no charge)
- print
edition: you will
receive a print copy of the entire issue by
mail. The cost is $20 per year (eight issues) or
$10 for four issues.
To subscribe, send email to
starweaver at thekashi dot net, indicating which
option you would prefer. If subscribing to the
print edition, also include your mailing address
and send payment to
Tom Waters
P O Box 201
Tesuque, NM 87574-0201
USA
Of course, your contact
information will not be shared with
anyone.
If you
intend to read this website regularly, please do
sign up for the email notice - it's simple, free,
and gives me important information about the level
of interest in this project. Thanks!
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In the next
issue...
The next
issue of Gems from Earth and Sky will be
published on Imbolc, February 4. Look for a Seasons
of the Goddess story, Moon Magic, Tarot Wisdom,
Sacred Space, Earth Powers, Rune Lore, and
more.
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Pilfered
Wisdom
all that
dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again -
beauty the brave, the exemplary,
blazing
open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror
beneath?
-
Mary Oliver,
"Peonies"
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Starweaver's
Gems
from Earth and Sky
Yule
2007 Issue
The Winter
Solstice is the time of greatest darkness. Daylight
is short, and we gather indoors to build fires,
light candles, and celebrate with family and
friends, making our small enclaves in the midst of
the long night.
This issue
revisits Celestial Gossip, Tarot Wisdom, and Seven
Doors. Seasons of the Goddess / Seasons of the God
continues, as do the Imaginarium and the cooking
and gardening features.
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 Yule,
Light in the Darkness
In the midst of winter,
King Hollyhorn celebrates with feasting and
revelry, while somewhere in his kingdom, a
golden-haired child is born.
Winter
had come and the nights were long and dark and
cold. Snow fell softly over the fields and houses,
and between the clouds the stars shown like cold
and distant flecks of silver in the pitch black of
the sky.
King
Hollyhorn had grown heavy with the passing years,
and his beard was thick and there were threads of
white in his black hair. Each evening, a fire would
be lit in his great hall. Torches hung from the
walls, and there were many candles burning on the
tables. He would order his servants to bring out
bottles of wine, and roasts, and root vegetables
from the stores. Fresh loaves of bread were baked,
and apples brought up from the cellars. At
Hollyhorn's feasts, the people could forget, for
awhile, the dark winter outside their doors .
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Read
More
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 The
Empress
For
the second in our series of ramblings on the major
arcana of the tarot, we move to The
Empress.
This
card is traditionally seen as a symbol of
creativity, fertility, nurturing and nourishing -
the Earth-mother.
Psychologically,
she represents the Mother archetype.
Just
as I regard the Emperor as connecting Younger Self
with Thinking Self, I see the Empress as connecting
Younger Self with Feeling Self. I use "Feeling
Self" to refer to our emotional consciousness, the
state of being we partake in when we have strong
feelings, such as love, desire, fear, or sadness.
Whereas the stereotypical father is concerned with
enforcing norms and imposing rule-based thinking,
the stereotypical mother is concerned with
happiness, harmony, and being the emotional
caregiver of the family. On first take, most of us
probably see that as a positive archetype . .
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Read
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Upcoming
Events
Ritual
for Solitaries
a weekend workshop
with Starweaver and Rowan
February 9-10, 2008, $110
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
The Art
of Divination
a weekend workshop
with Starweaver and Karen Waters
March 15-16, 2008, $110
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
The Ways
of Magic
a weekend workshop
with InaraMichelle and Starweaver
April 12-13, 2008, $110
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Rhythms
of the Sun and Moon
a Saturday workshop
with Starweaver
May 10, 2008, $60
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
House
Blessings
a morning workshop
with Starweaver
May 11, 2008, $35
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Meditation
for Discovery
an afternoon
workshop with Starweaver
May 11, 2008, $35
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Astrology
for Pagans
a weekend workshop
with Starweaver and Rowan
May 24-25, 2008, $110
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Whole
Expo Santa Fe
Metaphysical/Wholistic
Conference and Exhibition
May 31 and June 1, 2008,
$10
Museo Cultural de Santa Fe
Read
More
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From
the Hearth: Mulled Wine
In
the Garden: Winter Planning, Spring
Planting
The
Imaginarium: An Invitation to
Greenhall