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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

Moon Signs for Ritual

Learn to use the Zodiac signs to plan your Full Moon rituals

For many Pagans, the Full Moon is the most magical of times, the ideal occasion for ritual and for creating change. Although any Full Moon can be used effectively for ritual, it is helpful to know which sign of the Zodiac the Full Moon is in, and how that effects the energies at work. This article introduces the basic concepts of the Moon signs and their implications for magic and ritual.

As the Moon moves through the signs of the Zodiac, the quality of its energy changes. Just as our personalities can be described in terms of the position of the Sun and Moon at the time of birth, the changing moods and energies of our daily lives can be correlated with the passage of the Moon through the Zodiac each month. . .

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Moon Magic for August, September, and October

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 Leo, August 1, 4:14 am

Best evening for ritual: July 31 (Thursday)

Theme: Penning the Proclamation

The Sun, Moon, and Mercury are closely conjunct at this Dark Moon, which occurs on the traditional date of Lughnassad. The Sun's power is in its full force now, during the culmination of summer. Take this time to reflect on your own personal power, and how your light and warmth spread out into the world. If you were Sun King, what proclamation would you write on this day?

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The Spirit of Water

Water is one of the four classical elements (air, fire, water, and earth). Liquid water, more than anything, sets our planet apart from the lifeless worlds elsewhere in the solar system. Most of our planet's surface is covered by water, and we ourselves are mostly water. Life first emerged in the seas, and we carry that watery legacy with us in our bodies and our physical memories.

Water in nature is a rich and varied thing. From the enormity and power of the ocean, stretching farther than our eyes can sea, and crashing to shore with a great roaring power, to the tranquility of a mountain stream or quiet pool, water is a substance of many moods. As a vapor, it permeates the air we breathe and condenses into clouds. As ice, it covers the lands and oceans of the poles, and the peaks of mountains. . .

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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!

Starweaver's
Gems from Earth and Sky

Lighnassad 2008 Issue

Lughnassad is the first harvest of the Pagan year, associated with grain and bread. It is named for the Celtic god Lugh; games were held in his honor at this time of year.

This issue revisits Sacred Space, 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.

Blogbits

Drop by and visit my blog, Starweaver's Corner

Lughnassad, a Tale of Reward

As summer reaches its culmination, Halekern finds unexpected rewards for his labors.

A man labored in a large bare field, chopping and turning the earth with a crude metal blade attached to a long stick. He wore a simple tunic, with a cord around the waist. The sweat dripped from his brow, and the Sun moved steadily westward as he worked. Evening was at hand, and he was exhausted, hungry and thirsty, but he labored on, hoeing the hard earth until it was too dark to see.

The man's name was Halekern, and he had worked this field for many years. This year, though, things were different. It had begun late last autumn, when sickness had taken four of the other villagers. Then came a strange winter, wet and mild. The stores of grain the village had kept for the winter became moldy and foul, and much of it was lost. It would be a cruel season, with little bread to eat and with memories of the untimely deaths shrouding the village like an overcast sky. Halekern came to understand that with less grain to plant in the spring, and fewer able-bodied men and women to work the fields, the village might not survive another year. . .

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Rune Lore: Uruz

Uruz (pronounced OOH-rooz) was used to represent the u sound in runic writing in all the Germanic languages. The name signifies the aurochs, an enormous form of wild cattle, now extinct. The Anglo-Saxon rune poem sums up the qualities of this creature well:

The aurochs is proud and has great horns;
it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;
a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle.

Of the various animals connected with the runes, the aurochs is the most fierce, the most primal, the most massive. It is the power of the wild earth incarnate: strong and determined. It is unstoppable in motion, and immovable at rest. Today, with most animals that humans find threatening being driven to extinction, it is becoming hard to project ourselves back to a time when we were often at the mercy of the animals that roamed the Earth, rather than the other way around. . .

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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

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Pilfered Wisdom

Our bread need not ever be sour or hard to digest. What Nature is to the mind she is also to the body. As she feeds my imagination, she will feed my body; for what she says she means, and is ready to do. She is not simply beautiful to the poet’s eye. Not only the rainbow and sunset are beautiful, but to be fed and clothed, sheltered and warmed aright, are equally beautiful and inspiring. There is not necessarily any gross and ugly fact which may not be eradicated from the life of man.

- Henry David Thoreau

In the next issue...

The next issue of Gems from Earth and Sky marks the one year anniversary of this site in its present form. Expect a new look and some changes in the content as well!

From the Hearth: Mushroom Ravioli in Garden Herbs

In the Garden: Garden Esthetics

The Imaginarium: Daylands Portrait Gallery

Copyright © 2007-2008 Tom Waters