Supernova
darkstaronline.com Newsletter
Issue # 8 |
 Scorpio
October/November 2004
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Click to enlarge
Hello
It is November, and the Holiday Season is just about here. In addition to this regular issue of our newsletter, for the next several weeks we will be sending you special shopping “vignettes”, with spotlights on some of our not-exactly-ordinary gift possibilities. New at Dark Star Philosophia are Woodland Faeries and Faerie Wishing Coins, as well as Smudging Feathers, Choice Sticks, and much more. We have too many things to show and tell you about in this one issue of Supernova. So watch for our special seasonal emails - Subject: Holiday Gift Extravaganza. (If you don’t want to receive these, there will be a place to let us know.)
Meanwhile, we are very excited about our new Dark Starry Nights series. Read on:
Dark Starry Nights
We are very pleased to introduce our new evening series, Dark Starry Nights. These are free public events to be held through the off-season at Dark Star Philosophia. We are planning to offer you performers, artists, authors, philosophers, environmental caretakers and healers.
Already Mary Shallbetter, creator of our marvelous and wonderful Fairy Houses, together with her husband, created a magical evening for us, telling us stories of faeries (and others), while dressed in her Goddess Gown. (Goddess Gowns will be available at Dark Star Philosophia in the near future.) Click on the picture for more information.
Mary Shallbetter's Dark Starry Night
 On Wednesday, October 6th, Mary Shallbetter and her husband Joseph (Joseph and Mary), created an intimate and magical evening for their listeners at Dark Star Philosophia. Mary told tales of The Lady of the Lake, from the King Arthur Legends, stories of shapeshifting and of fairies. She taught a little too – Mary holds a master’s degree in Mythology. Using a tale of the Egyptian Goddess Isis and the God Osiris, she held her listeners spellbound even while teaching.
Joe Shallbetter lightened up the evening with a fish tale – with a surprise ending. I told this story as best I could the next day, and had fun in the telling of it. Joe says there is not a better compliment than to have a story repeated.
We had a wonderful, enchanted evening. The Shallbetters plan a return visit, perhaps in the Spring. Hope you will come! Click on the picture for more information.
Geshe Gendun Gyatso's Dark Starry Night
Now, we are very pleased to inform you that, on November 3rd, our friend Geshe Gendun Gyatso taught a class on Love and Kindness: Happiness. Geshe Gendun is a Tibetan monk whose monastery in exile is in Southern India. He spends ¼ of his year in India, and ¾ in the United States, where he is currently running a retreat in Colorado. Geshe Gendun is as well qualified as anyone I have ever known to teach such a class. He is very loving, and he is happy. He really means it when he says “I’m good” when you ask him “How are you?” How very refreshing.
I met Gendun through my friend Ann – who can attest to the effectiveness of Gendun’s teaching. Having born a deep sorrow for many years, she is a much transformed and happier person since knowing him.
We were amazed at the number of people who showed up for Geshe Gendun’s class. I began to be concerned a couple of days before the actual event – I was getting a lot of inquiries. When Wednesday arrived, the phone rang off the hook, to the point where I started answering it with: “Grand Central Station”. We had over 30 people jammed in to listen to Geshe. I was so nervous with such a great attendance that I forgot to take pictures for you.
But I don’t think anyone minded the crowded room. Geshe Gendun was a total delight. He is wise and practical and mature and childlike – all at the same time. Gendun talked about some of the simple things that we all know but forget to do. Like taking into consideration the other person’s (or animal’s!) feelings, and always considering where the other guy might be coming from. He talked about how we are all interdependent. And he talked a little bit about meditation, and how to practice.
I like to listen to Geshe Gendun. He talks on many levels at the same time. So much of what he says sounds so simple – and it is. But all the complexities of one of the most intricate religions on Earth are behind everything he says.
We are thrilled with Geshe Gendun’s Dark Starry Night. He promises to return for more. :-))) If you missed this one, I hope you will be able to make it when he comes back.
Upcoming Dark Starry Nights:
Terry Milton, The Stone Lady
My good friend Terry Milton, The Stone Lady, will be at Dark Star Philosophia on Wednesday, December 1st. You know Terry from her column at darkstaronline.com Rock Your World. Terry has spent 25 years working and meditating with each of the stones on her beautiful tray.
Terry does readings with these stones. People pick stones, and she tunes into them through the stones that they pick. I have watched her readings grow and deepen over the years. Her insights are amazing, interesting (to say the least), and enlightening. She leaves her clients with new insights into their lives, insights that leave them empowered to handle life in new ways, if that’s what’s appropriate. And a reading with Terry is always fun. Do come. Maybe she will give you a free reading! Click on the picture to enlarge.
Book Signing - Rizwan Virk
 Rizwan Virk is the author of Zen Entrepreneurship, which we are proud to offer at Dark Star Philosophia. Zen Entrepreneurship is a unique tale of spiritual awakening set in an unusual place: the business world. When Riz Virk was in his early 20's, starting a high tech business, he was exposed to a series of techniques to bring the magic and mystery of the "hidden worlds" into his work. His book chronicles his experiences of starting and growing a company, while bringing these techniques to life to show each of us how to bring spiritual awareness into the business world.
Rizwan Virk is an entrepreneur, author, teacher, and computer scientist.
He started his first company on a shoestring budget at the age of 23 and rapidly grew it into a multi-million dollar operation with offices around the country. He has been featured in Inc. Magazine, The Boston Globe, and has written numerous articles on and given speeches on meditation, entrepreneurship, and spirituality. Riz Virk is a graduate of MIT. Some of his writings include Zen Entrepreneurship: The Path of the Career Warrior, Using Dreams to Find a More Soul-ful Career, Myths for Financing a Company, and the Dreaming Practices of the Maricopa Indians.
Chatting with Rizwan Virk promises to be interesting to business people - as Riz is a very successful entrepreneur - as well as to “Terra Novans” (people interested in Spirituality) - who will find encouragement in Riz’s success in bringing Spirituality into the business world.
On Saturday, December 11th, from 1:30 until 5:00pm, Riz will be autographing copies of Zen Entrepreneurship
here at Dark Star Philosophia. This is not exactly a Dark Starry Night, as he will be here on a Saturday afternoon.
We will be sending you an announcement. There will be plenty of opportunity to talk with Riz. Zen Entrepreneurship is no longer available.
Stained Red Glass Dragons
As I was taking pictures inside the Philosophia the other day, the dragons hanging from the beam on the ceiling caught my eye. The camera produced dramatic pictures! Click on the picture for more information.
Holiday Gift Extravaganza
Faerie Wishing Coins
 This is one of the loveliest additions to our collection of Faerie “Paraphernalia” here at Dark Star Philosophia. Each Faerie Coin comes in a pouch, with a complete description and instructions for use. Small coins, with tons of Faerie Lore to go with them. :-)))
Faerie Stained Glass Window Panel
 Just one look at the picture tells you all you need to know. The artist who created this panel has retired – there will be no more like this. Click on the picture for more information.
Woodland Faerie Dian O'Fay
 Oh what a find! Recently our Faerie collection has exploded with “wonderfulness” – We have the Faerie Houses we introduced in the last issue of Supernova, we’ve just added our Faeries Wishing Coins and Stained Glass Window Panel, and now we have a series of Bronze Resin Faeries - equally beautiful in your house or in your garden. We would like to introduce you to the first of our Woodland Faeries: Diane O’Fay of the Oak Trees. She comes with a Faerie Coin of her own, and a poem.
Watch for Diane O’Fay’s companions in the coming weeks.
Serpentine Necklace
 A new and different necklace of Russian Serpentine,
recreated for us by Bridget Verga of Valentine Jewelry in Gloucester,
Massachusetts.
Fall
Here we are in October. As I walk in the woods, I am most aware of the air full with the smell of leaves, and vibrant with color. This is the richest time of the year. A walk in the woods will put your values in perspective. Richness has nothing to do with money.
And yet this is the time of year when everything is dying. The growing season is over. For those with crops and gardens, the harvest is in. For plants free and wild, now is the time to either hunker down for winter or die.
And so I concluded that those who die leave us rich with gifts beyond measure.
A Further Take On Living In The "Eye Of The Turtle"
In Libra’s newsletter, we told you a bit of the geological history of Cape Ann and of Avalonia. And we talked about Cape Ann as The Eye of the Turtle (Turtle being the Native American name for this continent). Recently I realized a bit of the importance of living here, in The Eye of the Turtle. The eye, of course, is an organ of vision. As we see, so we are. And, vice versa: as we are, so it is that we see. We cannot perceive – or understand – that which is beyond our ken. And how we see, of course, determines how we act. All of which, in turn, further determines who we are. This is a great circle, or spiral, of creating ourselves – of creating who we are.
Sometimes I wonder if I make sense when I talk like this. Am I getting too wordy?
Back to the subject at hand. Each and every person in each and every place has their very important work to do in these times of change. For those of us in Rockport and Gloucester, living in The Eye of the Turtle, it is important to live well. To allow the vortex here to spin out our hidden distortions, to look them in the face, and to allow them to pass away. The clearer we can be here, the clearer the vision for all of Turtle Island.
I know lots of people who live elsewhere, but return here regularly. They need to get their “fix” of Rockport – some actually phrase it that way. They mean something more than just coming to a beautiful summer resort – although certainly we are that. They recognize that they can get something here that they can get nowhere else. I think it is a spiritual “boost” they are seeking. (Many, many places offer opportunities for a spiritual boost – Tibet, Lourdes, Wales, Sedona, Peru, and oh so many more. In fact, each and every place offers something unique.) Here we get a chance to see more clearly.
Rock Your World
So very sorry. Terry has been ill, and unable to write a column for this month. But she is on the mend, and plans to make up for lost time in next month’s column.
Rockport Through the Seasons
I had thought to give you pictures of our Fall Foliage. But the colors have been quite subdued here on Cape Ann this year. Beautiful, but missing most of the bright reds and oranges that make New England’s foliage famous. This year is notable instead for surf and storms. It is the ocean that gave me the best pictures. And so it is the ocean shots that I pass on to you. As well as pictures of Mary and Joe Shallbetter’s Dark Starry Night, and a welcome to Bearskin Neck’s newest shop, Historical Ships Unlimited.
Rockport Through the Seasons
Finale
Your comments on our newsletter, Supernova, are always welcome. Send them to info@darkstaronline.com.
This concludes the 8th issue of Supernova. Thanks for listening. Namaste.
~ gera
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