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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
Fourth Door: Change Complements
Form
Building
structures and removing them is the rhythm of
growth.
One
of my favorite pastimes is creating tarot decks.
Every so often, I get an inspiration about a tarot
deck concept, plan out some of the details, and
start making cards. Not that I manage to
finish any of these decks, mind you. I can't seem
to get through 78 cards before being distracted by
a new inspired deck concept, or some other
project that draws my attention.
I'm
obviously not the only person who gets inspired by
the idea of making a tarot deck: there are
hundreds of different decks in print at any given
time, and there are surely many thousands if one
includes self-published and unpublished decks as
well..
. .
Read
More
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 Celestial
Gossip for July, August, and September
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 the Sun and Venus
settling down and attending to domestic
relationships, with Saturn providing some helpful
advice on keeping the nest running smoothly.
Mercury was happily glib and articulate in Gemini,
and Mars was having an exciting time in Leo.
Jupiter's gifts of opportunity seem to have run out
for the moment, and the Sun and Venus are eyeing
him suspiciously across the zodiac, feeling that
their interest in hearth and home is not something
he cares for.
Mars
enters Virgo at the beginning of July, losing his
sense of direction and power, and becoming
single-mindedly focused on details. He approaches
Saturn for work, and is immediately hired on. He
becomes the quintessential tyrannical bureaucrat,
exacting extreme penalties for the smallest of
transgressions against Saturn's procedures. The two
of them reinforce each others' uncompromising
qualities, and only those who know the rules inside
out get through the office without grief. This all
reaches a crescendo in mid-July, with Mercury
getting in on the act too, barging in to the cosy
comfort the Sun had been enjoying, carrying
Saturn's instructions from office to
home.
. . .
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...
I'm sorry
for the delay in posting this update. I guess I
never really got out of the "summer vacation" habit
from my childhood. The next issue of Gems from
Earth and Sky will be published two weeks after
Lughnassad (trying to get back on schedule!),
August 20. Look for a Seasons of the Goddess story,
Moon Magic, Sacred Space, Earth Powers, Rune Lore,
and more.
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Pilfered
Wisdom
Before I
built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.
-
Robert Frost, "Mending Wall"
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Starweaver's
Gems
from Earth and Sky
Litha
2008 Issue
Litha, the
summer solstice, is a time of maximum sunlight
(although not yet maximum heat). Modern people
almost instinctively use this time to get together
or get away for vacation, to put toil aside and
enjoy the long evenings outdoors. In earlier eras,
though, this was a time of hard work and long,
toil-filled days tending crops and preparing for
harvest.
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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 Litha,
Darkness in the Light
Goldhelm, having imposed
order on the land, becomes stern, humorless and
unforgiving under the harsh light of
midsummer.
The
summer had come at last, and the light of the sun
bleached the earth and sky. Grain grew in the
fields, and vegetable vines spread their leaves
like lizards soaking up the heat.
King
Goldhelm was now at the height of his power, having
rebuilt his realm to his liking. There was peace,
and there was order. If there was not much
laughter, it was a deficiency seldom discussed or
debated. The crops were growing lushly, and
although the people ate Spartan meals at the king's
insistence, the promise of plenty to come kept all
hopeful and obedient. . . .
Read
More
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 The
Priestess
The
tarot called now usually titled “The High
Priestess” was traditionally named “The
Papess” (female pope). The card is an enigma
for tarot historian. Did it represent an actual
female pope (perhaps the legendary Pope Joan or the
heretical Guglielmite pope, Sister Manfreda)? Or
did it represent a generic archetype of female
religious authority, completing the symmetry of
Emperor and Empress in the ecclesiastical domain?
Or does it reflect influence of some other
religious tradition, now obscure or
uncertain?
Whatever
the original motivation for this card and image,
The Priestess is undeniably one of the most
evocative and fascinating tarot symbols for us
today. Modern Pagans see her as a symbol of goddess
spirituality and pre-patriarchal religion.
Psychologically astute tarot readers see Carl
Jung’s “anima” archetype: the
feminine alter-ego dwelling within a man’s
personality. . . .
Read
More
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Upcoming
Events
Rune
Wisdom
a Saturday workshop
with Starweaver
August 16, 2008, $60
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Introduction
to Qabalah
a Sunday workshop
with Starweaver
August 17, 2008, $60
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Whole
Expo
September
6-7
Durango, Colorado
The Ways
of Magic
a weekend workshop
with InaraMichelle and Starweaver
September 13-14, 2008, $110
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Science,
Metaphysics, and Magick
a weekend workshop
with Starweaver
October 18-19, 2008, $110
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Ardantane
Samhain Ritual
Saturday, November
1, 6:00 pm
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs
Read
More
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From
the Hearth: Enchiladas and Spanish
Rice
In
the Garden: The Best of Thymes
The
Imaginarium: Valiel, Lady of the
Seas