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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.

Feature Article

New! Beginner Tutorials

This issue of Starweaver's Gems from Earth and Sky launches a new feature of this web site: beginner tutorials. Each tutorial will be a short course in one of the major subject areas of this site. They are intended to be accessible to everyone - no prior knowledge of the subject is needed. Although these tutorials will not make you an instant expert, they should give you some basic vocabulary and concepts, so that the things you read here and elsewhere will make sense.

The first tutorial is Help! I'm Clueless about Astrology. It's an illustrated beginner's tour of astrological concepts, presented in five succinct lessons.

Read More

Moon Magic for May, June, and July

Starweaver's look at upcoming full moons and dark moons and the energies they have to offer for magic and ritual. Astronomical Moon data now included.

Dark Moon in Taurus, May 5, 6:19 am

Best evening for ritual: May 4 (Sunday)

Theme: Listening to your Body

This is an especially magical Dark Moon, coinciding almost perfectly with astrological Beltane. Mercury is in rulership in Gemeni at this time, adding some verbal energy to what is otherwise a very physical, sensual atmosphere. Use this Moon to question your relationship with your own body: sex, diet, health, comfort. Pay attention to yourself . . .

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The Spirit of Air

Air is one of the four classical elements (air, fire, water, and earth). It is a messenger element, carrying sounds and scents from near and far. Psychologically, it is the element of communication and thought. Physically, of course, it is essential to life. This is bound into the metaphors of our language: breath is synonymous with life itself, and the words for spirit and breath are connected in most languages.

These days, we spend so much time in climate-controlled environments that we may take the air for granted. Outside air is full of personality and changefullness - stormy, gusty, breezy, heavy, hot, cold, dry, moist, fragrant, silent, whispering, howling, swirling. . .

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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!

In the next issue...

The next issue of Gems from Earth and Sky will be published on Litha, June 20. Look for a Seasons of the God story, Tarot Wisdom, Seven Doors, Celestial Gossip, and more.

Pilfered Wisdom

The question of love is one that cannot be evaded. Whether or not you claim to be interested in it, from the moment you are alive you are bound to be concerned with love, because love is not just something that happens to you: It is a certain special way of being alive. Love is, in fact, an intensification of life, a completeness, a fullness, a wholeness of life.

- Thomas Merton

Starweaver's
Gems from Earth and Sky

Beltane 2008 Issue

Beltane is the height of spring. The weather has warmed, and the earth has now returned to life again. For Pagans, this is a time to celebrate sensuality, fertility, and living in the fullness of joy and desire.

This issue revisits Moon Magic, Rune Lore, and Earth Powers. Seasons of the Goddess / Seasons of the God continues, as do the Imaginarium and the cooking and gardening features. This issue also launches a new series of beginner tutorials, starting with a short astrology course.

Blogbits

Here are a few of the best recent articles from my blog, Starweaver's Corner:

March 23: Making the Case for Naked-Eye Astrology
March 27: 
Should Pagans be Vegetarian?
April 1: 
Tarot Reading Styles
April 3:
Living Anecdotally
April 7: 
Elemental Directed Placement Spread
April 9: 
Saturn in Virgo: Productivity School
April 11: 
When One God Just Isn't Enough

Beltane, a Tale of Love

With spring in its fullness, Ashling and Alderleaf encounter a power even stronger than the doubts and fears that fill them.

Warm days had come at last. Ashling was at work in the fields, planting beans in the dark earth. He heard the voices of girls in the distance, bring water back from the river. As they drew near, he glanced in their direction, casually, not wanting to stare. Alderleaf was there, her soft white skirts shifting in the breeze. His eyes were drawn to her partly bare legs, smooth and shapely. He longed to touch her, and he thought she was beautiful.

But she would reject any attention from him, he knew. They had grown up together in the village, and he knew she saw him the same way all the others did: an unattractive, unmanly youth, too serious and moody. . .

Read More

Rune Lore: Mannaz

Mannaz (pronounced MAHN-nahz) was used to represent the m sound in runic writing in all the Germanic languages. The name means man. Although the Germanic word, like its modern descendant, implies male sex, it is interesting to note that none of the rune poems contrast man and woman when speaking about this rune, instead offering words that seem to apply to human beings generally. The Icelandic Rune Poem reads

Man
delight of man
and augmentation of the earth
and adorner of ships.

Human beings are social creatures. We are defined as much by our culture as by our biology, and live in a network of relationships and responsibilities. The symmetrical shape of this rune suggests the reciprocal nature of our relationships with each other, and our interdependency. . .

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Upcoming Events

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

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

Science, Metaphysics, and Magick
a weekend workshop with Starweaver
October 18-19, 2008, $110
at Ardantane near Jemez Springs

Read More

From the Hearth: Homemade Falafel and Summery Salsa

In the Garden: The Self-Creating Garden

The Imaginarium: Faith of the Ancient Earth

Copyright © 2007-2008 Tom Waters