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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

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of different decks in print at any given time, and there are surely many thousands if one includes self-published and unpublished decks as well.. . .

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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. . . .

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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...

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.

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"

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.

Blogbits

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

April 15: My Neighbor Totoro
April 21: 
The Horned God
April 30: 
Beltane, the Revels of Spring
May 10: 
Archetypes or Stereotypes?
May 11: 
Rune Magic
May 20: 
Timely Thoughts
May 26: 
Working with Mercury Retrograde

Check it out

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. . . .

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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. . . .

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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

From the Hearth: Enchiladas and Spanish Rice

In the Garden: The Best of Thymes

The Imaginarium: Valiel, Lady of the Seas

Copyright © 2007-2008 Tom Waters