Supernova
darkstaronline.com Newsletter
Issue # 10 |
 Capricorn /  Aquarius
December/January/February
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Hello
The Holiday pressure is off. Yeah! Now we can sit back and get back to life. Fun the Winter Holidays might be, but I always like to return to normalcy - although I am not sure you can call my life anything even approaching “normal” :-)).
Winter is a favorite season of mine. A time to think things over. To re-evaluate, and to prepare for the coming year. It’s so full of potential and promise. Since life on Bearskin Neck is a decidedly seasonal affair, we are acutely aware of such variations here.
And so we offer you our winter newsletter. It’s a laid-back affair. My friend (and employee), Laurel is making a contribution this month, in the form of a review of The Stone Lady’s Dark*Starry*Night. I know Terry very well, and this was Laurel’s first real exposure to her magic. She was delighted, and it shows in her review.
Enjoy...
Dark*Starry*Nights:
| The Stone Lady's Dark*Starry*Night |
December 1, 2004. It's 7 pm, starless, very dark, the wind is howling around the chimneys of Bearskin Neck. It's cold and the people arriving at Dark Star Philosophia for DARK*STARRY*NIGHT are glad for a cup of steaming Tibetan tea. The lights are low. Logs in the woodstove crackle and spit. The woodsy aroma blends with the smell of incense, so much a part of Dark Star Philosophia. Gathered in a large circle on the lower level, people look expectantly to Terry Milton, "The Stone Lady," as she rearranges on her table the more than 50 stones she has brought with her.
Terry is known in this country as well as in parts of England and Wales as "The Stone Lady" because, over decades of study in most areas of metaphysics, she keeps coming back to stones as her tools for knowing. Her "Stone Readings" are famous, and everyone present on this blustery Wednesday night harbors the hope that he or she will have a taste of what it's like to hear the stones tell their truths.
To each of us the wish is granted. Terry is a generous soul. She not only speaks of how she came to know the power of stones, and which ones especially attract her, and where she has picked up some of the most unusual. She also offers everyone a chance to pick two stones (one with their eyes open, one with their eyes closed) and gives every person a short reading. Because she is so deeply attuned to stones, her intuitive reading of each person's talents and life's work, challenges and achievements is based on the person's choices.
Some of us look hesitant when Terry speaks about what our stones say. Our friends laughingly assure the group that Terry has hit the nail on the head. Others of us confess we came as skeptics but have changed our minds. The group takes its cue from Terry's style of reading -- everything said is friendly, accepting and encouraging. There is lots of laughter and also a sense that all of us are in the presence of a remarkable master.
Keep an eye out -- Terry is considering doing another stone evening in the spring.
~ Laurel
Click on the picture for more info.
| Book Signing - Rizwan Virk |
 On Saturday, December 11th, Rizwan Virk, author of Zen Entrepreneurship, came to Dark Star Philosophia for a Book Signing. Riz 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. He is an “MIT Whiz Kid.” Zen Entrepreneurship is his own unique tale of spiritual awakening in 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.
Having Riz at Dark Star Philosophia for a Book Signing was a lot of fun. He is an uplifting soul – puts a smile on your face. Our customers are interested in his book for a variety of reasons, but mostly they are anxious to carry their spirituality over into their business lives, where it can be a positive influence, both in their own lives and in the world at large.
And so, with a complimentary cup of tea from Dark Star Philosophia, our weekend visitors had a chance to chat with the author, and to get their books signed. We were most pleased with this event, and hope that Riz will return for another Book Signing in the Spring. Of course, in the meantime, you can still get an autographed copy of Zen Entrepreneurship by clicking here: Zen Entrepreneurship.
| Book Signing - Bill Montague |
 Bill Montague was here on Sunday, December 19th for a Book Signing. Having him here was a special pleasure, as he is a good friend of mine.
(I think I may have mentioned this once or twice, as Bill was the force behind the creation of our website, www.darkstaronline.com).
Bill was here to autograph copies of his books: Little Mouse: The Mouse Who Lived with Henry David Thoreau on Walden Pond, and Little Mouse: A Picture Book (it’s a coloring book). Little Mouse is the story of the mouse who lived with Henry David Thoreau on Walden Pond.
There is little doubt that Bill carries Mouse Medicine (don’t laugh – it’s potent medicine!). He has a wonderful website, The Concord Mousetrap, www.concordmousetrap.com, featuring the Wee Forest Folk. Wee Forest Folk are tiny little handpainted mice from a small family business in Carlisle, Massachusetts. I have already told you the tale of the mouse that posed for him outside his shop in Concord, in the exact same pose that he had put onto the cover of his book several years earlier. (see last month’s newsletter).
Lots of children, as well as grown-up children, found Little Mouse under their trees this Christmas – with special autographs just for them! (We especially appreciated the woman who ordered a copy for her son’s teacher, who had her class read Walden this year.) Bill, who enjoys chatting with people from all walks of life, had plenty of opportunity to do just that as he signed copies of his book for holiday shoppers. Bill plans to return in the Spring for another Book Signing at Dark Star Philosophia. Meanwhile, autographed copies of Little Mouse are still available. Click here: Little Mouse.
Bill’s new website is www.montaguegallery.com. Bill is the proprietor of the Montague Gallery in Concord, Massachusetts. The website is only a bare outline at this point - he and Anna (our webmistress too) are still working on it. The Montague Gallery will soon be one of the pre-eminent galleries in the field of Bronze Sculpture. He has bronze statuary from some of the most prominent American sculptors of the past century. This is worth a special trip to Concord.
Dark*Starry*Nights will resume in the Springtime.
Walking In The Woods - It's a Moving Picture
Have you seen Robin Williams’ movie What Dreams May Come? Do you remember the scenes where Dr. Nielson walks in paint? Taking pictures for Rockport Through the Seasons has made me aware of Life creating itself as we go along. It really is like being in a moving picture. Every time I lift my head I see a new picture. Three more steps down a path and all the world is different.
Life in the movies can have nothing to compare to a walk in the woods.
Which is, I suppose, an appropriate observation to follow up on Bill Montague’s Book Signing, featuring Little Mouse: The Mouse Who Lived with Henry David Thoreau on Walden Pond. Probably not a coincidence.
St. Brigid’s Day
Click for more info
St. Brigid’s Day is February 1st. Midwinter. The turning point. Holy Time. Goddess of the Hearth, the ancient Celtic Goddess, Brigantia, personifies the fire and burning coals of the hearth buried deep in the cold of winter. We just happen to have a wonderful porcelain Celtic pendant: Brigantia. She was designed in Nova Scotia, where Celtic blood runs strong.Click on the picture for more info.
Rock Your World
Terry has written this month about Lodestone (aka Magnetite). Neither pretty nor expensive, Lodestone has some very desirable properties. You will enjoy reading about Lodestone in this month’s Rock Your World.
Dichroic Glass Pendants
We carry Dichroic Glass Pendants. They vary in size, shape and colors. In fact, each one is unique. Dichroic Glass is a Space Age Glass (it was first developed by NASA). It makes for a striking piece of jewellery. Click on the picture for more info.
Addendum to Who's Worse Off,
You Or I? (from Issue #9)
This reminds me of something else I knew in childhood (but I’ll bet I get arguments on this one!), and that is that nothing is either difficult or easy. Things just are.
Many say math is hard. Or that Life is hard. Or that this is hard or that is hard. I say that’s only because we think so! (I am no math genius, believe me. And Life has thrown me my fair share of curve balls.) There is nothing really very hard if (as they say in the 12-Step Programs) you take things one day - or one step - at a time.
When you feel inspired, of course, everything is easy!
Hindu Altar: Ganesh
(Created by Nancy Strisik)
Last month we introduced you to one of Nancy Strisik’s Hindu Altars - Lakshmi.
We have another one for you this month – Ganesh. I have a little story to tell you about when I broke her Ganesh statue.
Other Altars also available for special order:
· Saraswati
· Durga
· Shiva
· The Hindu deity of your choice
As well as non-Hindu Altars, which Nancy will be happy to research for you.
Click on the picture for more information.
Rockport Through the Seasons
Click for more info
This winter has been – so far – much warmer than last winter. As beautiful as last winter was, I am ever so grateful for the milder weather this year. Still, we have had a snowstorm or two, as you can see by looking at this picture of The Rockport Lighthouse Company. (** Ooops! I spoke too soon! New England just got walloped with one of the biggest snowstorms in years. Real winter has returned!)
The Holiday season is one of Rockport’s most picturesque times. We have hayrides with Belgian horses, Santa giving gifts in Dock Square, and, of course, our Christmas Pageant. My pictures of the Pageant are not the greatest – I’m not good with shots in the dark – but you can see a little bit of its beauty just the same.
I want especially to mention the picture of Kwan Yin. Our new neighbor put this statue out on his steps when he moved in. He gets to keep her 1/3 of the year. He has 2 friends, each of whom gets to keep her for one of the other two thirds of the year. They divide the time up that way because together, a number of years ago, they fished Kwan Yin out of Old Harbor. That’s our harbor, right outside our window. She was broken into pieces, and they put her back together. Now she is back down here on our little corner of Bearskin Neck – on Old Harbor once again. Imagine finding a statue of Kwan Yin in Old Harbor.
Rockport Through the Seasons
Finale
Your comments on our newsletter, Supernova, are always welcome. Send them to info@darkstaronline.com.
This concludes the 10th issue of Supernova. Thanks for listening. Namaste.
~ gera
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