Hi everyone! I wanted to give you all something to listen to, since so much time has gone by, but time is still tight. So the new minisode of Between the Earth and Stars is a bit of an experiment in learning to speak off the cuff into the microphone instead of tightly scripting everything. 

The topic is highly appropriate to the recording method, too – I talk about my recent experience with learning to move forward after making mistakes.

Thanks for listening (and thanks for your patience!)

Bright and dark blessings,
Oraia Helene

Episode 49 of Between the Earth and Stars is now available!  This year-ending episode is full of winter-themed music, plus poetry and a reflection on how the breath connects us with the world.

The music for this episode was provided by Mevio’s Music Alley website, and links to the individual artists’ pages within Music Alley are provided below.  The poem in the Anthology segment, “The Book of a Monk’s Life” by Rainer Maria Rilke (translation by Jessie Lemont), is available at Project Gutenberg.

In the Reflections segment, I mentioned both Joanna Macy (who has also done her own translations of Rilke’s poetry) and Orion Foxwood, both of whom have been big influences on my thinking.

Musical tracks:
“Yule Tides” by More Human Than Human
“Winter Wind” by Jon Schmidt
“Winter Sun” by Cross the Border

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful new calendar year!

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –

Episode 48 of Between the Earth and Stars is finally available!  Thank you very much for your patience; I was sick for a few weeks around the time I would have released the September episode, plus I chose a particularly difficult topic for the main segment this time around: politics.  Or, really, my thoughts on how to handle the topic of politics, which is particularly relevant in the USA right now.

We also take a look at the colors of fall foliage, in a new Reflections segment, and hear promos from Pennies in the Well and Baphmetis Meditation.

Thank you very much for listening!

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –

Episode 47 of Between the Earth and Stars is available now!  As I explain in the introduction, this is a short, weird, eclectic episode collecting an Earth Below segment about stones and the chakras, a couple of poems from Fiona MacLeod, two short segments containing random thoughts I’ve had recently, and some songs from my most recent concert with the Greenfield Community Chorus.

You can read more works by Fiona MacLeod, aka William Sharp, on Google Books and several other places online.

I hope you enjoy it, and please do check out the new HP Lovecraft Live podcast as well!

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –

Episode 46 of Between the Earth and Stars is now available!  In this episode, I share another story from a collection by W.B. Yeats, and then we take a look at apatite in the “Earth Below” segment.  In the main segment, I’ll try to weave together some of my thoughts on family with my experience over the past year overcoming my reluctance toward ancestor work.  I hope you enjoy the episode!

Anthology segment was “The Enchantment of Gearoidh Iarla,” from Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland by W.B. Yeats

Music was “Mary Magdalene and the Song of Solomon” by Ralph Buckley.  Find his work at www.ralphbuckley.com.

Here’s one of the articles I referenced in the main segment; it goes into great detail about some of the computer models used to calculate the Most Recent Common Ancestor:
On the Common Ancestors of All Living Humans (pdf)

Last but not least, I hope you’ll check out Vajra’s work at Conjure Oils!

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –

www.earthandstars.org

Episode 45 of Between the Earth and Stars is now available for download!  In it, I share my experiences and observations regarding coming out of the broom closet, in one long segment.  It’s a really personal episode, and I keep thinking of more things I could have said, or said better, but hey, life’s always a work in progress, right? 

For more information about International Pagan Coming-Out Day, visit www.pagancomingoutday.org.

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –

Episode 44 of Between the Earth and Stars is now available!  It’s a short episode this month, as I explain in the introduction, right after I share some listener feedback.  But in the main segment I talk a bit about my experience watching and meditating with Tibetan Buddhist monks as they created a sand mandala of compassion; I think you’ll like it. 

Find the Gajang Tsawa monks at www.tsawamonksusa.com.

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –

Episode 43 of Between the Earth and Stars is now available!  In this episode, we take a look at sugilite in the “Earth Below” segment, then introduce the new “Anthology” segment with a fairy tale collected by W.B. Yeats.  In the two-part main segment, we look at the value of “I don’t want to” feelings, then share a meditation on mud.  Yes, mud.

You can find the book Irish Fairy Tales by W.B. Yeats in several places online, here is a link to it on Project Gutenberg.

The music for this episode is “The Sidhe Set” by Avalon Rising, from their album Storming Heaven.  You can also find them on the Podsafe Music Network.

Lastly, our promo this month was for Baphmetis Meditation with Chris Orapello.

Don’t forget to contact me if you’d like to join our group for Module 2 of Orion Foxwood’s Fairy Seer Apprenticeship Series this summer! Email oraia@earthandstars.org by the end of April 2012.

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –

Between the Earth and Stars Episode 42 is now available!  In this extra-long “2012 Extravaganza” episode, we take a very close look at a number of the popular predictions and assertions made about the year 2012 and the “end of the world.”

Stars Above Segment: Planet X
Earth Below Segment: Pole Shifts
Main Segment Part 1: Galactic Alignments and Solar Flares
Main Segment Part 2: Mayan Calendars
Main Segment Part 3: Mayan Prophecies and Final Thoughts

Links:

In Part 1 of the Main Segment, I mentioned NASA’s search for Near Earth Objects that might impact Earth.

If you’d like more detail about the Mayan calendars and prophecies, please visit the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican studies, and take a look at the downloadable Presentation on the 2012 Issue.  You can also read this blog post about Updated Theories on the Tortuguero Monument Inscription.

The Sacred Texts Archive has copies of the Books of Chilam Balam – and, specifically, the K’atun Prophecies from the Chilam Balam – and the Popol Vuh, if you would like to read some of the prophecies and mythology for yourself.

Last but not least, I highly recommend that you watch “The Mayan Word” Documentary on YouTube, to hear what the modern Maya have to say, and to learn more about their culture.

This episode’s music was “Only Now” by Gaia Consort; find them at www.gaiaconsort.com.

Promos during the breaks were for The Infinite and the Beyond, Kakophonos, Divine Community, and Borealis Meditation.

Thank you very much for your patience while I finished this very long episode – I hope it was worth the wait!

Bright and dark blessings,
– Oraia Helene –