“It’s possible that while we were dreaming,
-A. Machado
The hand that casts out the stars like seeds,
Started up the ancient music once more.
Like a note from a great harp,
And the frail wave came to our lips,
In the form of one or two honest words.”
This is a unique offering that takes the latest in cultural astronomy, the evolution of the world’s mythologies & cross-cultural star lore, and weaves it all together with ancient astrology, ancestral perceptions, commentary on current happenings, and an embodied ritual relationship to the starry heavens. As always, we will begin and end with mystery. No screens. No artificial lights. Not on these nights. Just a straight-up, unadulterated narrative-skygazing experience.
We will sojourn to the edge of the human imagination, and dwell in that threshold place that was home to the bewilderment and wonder of our stargazing ancestors. Come inoculate your soul with the old images, remember some of the old stories, and learn a little about courting the old gods. These nights are an anamnesis, an anecdote to our modern sky-amnesia, and a recollection & testament to the nightly mysteries. These offerings are meant to be a little humble thread stitching back together some of our deep humanity.
This is no ordinary storytelling. We’ll learn what it really means to get oriented here on Earth. It’s a mythopoetic cartography: a map-making and time-telling of the soul. We’ll learn a little about celestial navigation skills and the star-infused journey of human culture-making. We’ll travel around the globe and through the great vault of the heavens, and along the way we’ll hear some of the big old stories and trace them as they moved and shapeshifted with human migrations. These nights are doorways into an animate cosmology. They are a pivot towards deeper belonging in the Universe. They are a mystical, archetypal homecoming and step out of exile.
As always we’ll start just as the dark tapestry gets pulled over our little patch of Earth. We’ll constellate and re-imagine the sky, the great storehouse of myths and images, following the celestial sphere as it rotates around the World Tree, around the Spindle of Necessity herself. We’ll go…well, we’ll go as far as we can. We’ll stay awake as late as we can, noticing and listening. If we greet the Morning Star with story and song that will be just great. And if you fall asleep and dream as myth & starlight illuminate your dreamscape & landscape, well, that will be just fine too.
For Details
Contact me via email or 828- 206-2337 to discuss details/pricing & to book ‘Stories from Stardust’ for your private event, gathering, or festival. Or to find out when will be the next time I host one of these special evenings that are open to the public.
Logistics for a Storied Night Under the Stars
A few times a year I will host an all night stargazing storytelling ritual during the warmer seasons. And a few other times throughout the year I will host a shorter version that begins at dusk and goes for a few hours. These will usually occur near my home outside of Asheville, NC. These events will happen around the New Moon. Due to the potential of cloudy skies the exact date may be subject to change, but in general we’ll do it on that night or one of the surrounding evenings. If you book this for a gathering or festival we will look at the weather at the beginning of the week and choose whatever night or nights look best. We simply can’t do this in cities or in a place where there is an abundance of light pollution. Ahh, limits…Om Sham Shanicharaya Namah (A tip o’ the hat to Lord Saturn)
Pricing for an Offering Like This
Figuring out compensation for an offering like this is a curious thing. In general it’s best to have a decent sized group to do this. If you book this for a gathering or festival I am happy to take a flat rate and accommodate however many people show up. Contact me and we can discuss what that looks like based on the time of the year, potential travel costs, how many evenings we might go for and how long those evening(s) might be. If you are organizing this for a private group, class or personal gathering the larger the group the less each person would have to chip-in to make it worth my time. In general, as far as financial compensation goes, I feel good about $600-1200 dollars to stay up all night long and facilitate this offering (+ any travel costs). If you get even 10 people to chip in this is an extremely affordable offering. I can easily accommodate 50-60+ people when doing this.