Dark Moon

From National Geographic News:

The Hollywood writers’ strike may be over, but perhaps the best prime-time show this Wednesday night is in the sky: a total lunar eclipse.

The moon will be completely submerged in Earth’s shadow from 10:01 to 10:51 p.m. ET.
“It’s very well placed for the U.S.,” said Fred Espenak, an astrophysicist and eclipse expert at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The celestial spectacle is visible throughout the Americas as well as during the wee hours of Thursday morning in Europe, most of Africa, and western Asia.

All told, well over a billion people will have the opportunity to view the show, according to Espenak.

Eclipse Dynamics

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth, and moon form a nearly straight line in space. The alignment causes the full moon to pass through Earth’s shadow.

The moon doesnt completely disappear, because some sunlight scatters around the edge of Earth’s atmosphere and reaches the moon.

“It usually glows as an eerie, coppery red disk in the sky,” Sky and Telescope magazine explained in a media statement.

NASA has more information about the eclipse here.

Happy Birthday, Pamela Colman Smith!

Pamela Colman Smith — the artist who painted the Rider-Waite Tarot deck — was born 130 years ago today.

You Are Now Under My Control

Here’s my new favorite possession: a “Controlling Amulet” I picked up in Chicago for a mere $4.95. You heard right: $4.95, for the power to work my will upon another! How could I resist?

It really does work, too. The first night I had it, some friends and I were waiting for a table at a Chicago restaurant. After an hour had passed, I pulled out my Controlling Amulet and started willing that table to become available. A mere 30 minutes after that, we were seated!

The Eye of Horus looks at “Tall Dark Stranger”

The Eye of Horus bookstore is featuring a nice review of my book, “Tall Dark Stranger: Tarot for Love and Romance.”

You should totally go to the store (or the website) and buy a copy for Valentine’s Day!

Black and White

Here are three of my recent beading projects: a long hematite and pearl necklace (it’s magnetic), a black and white bracelet done on memory wire, and a little beaded bracelet I made for my five-year-old, complete with tiny silver flower spacers.

Photo credit: Katherine Kenner

A Catalog for Collectors

The 2008 tarot catalog from U.S. Games Systems has just been released, and it’s a must-have for tarot enthusiasts and collectors.

Seriously, this thing excited me so much I started to hyperventilate a little when I got it in today’s mail.

For starters, the cover is gorgeous:

And inside, you’ll find all of U.S. Games’ tarot decks, listed alphabetically.

My own deck — the Epicurean Tarot — is on page 15.

I think I might need to do some shopping this afternoon.

Beaded Tarot

Check out the beaded tarot deck by Connie Lehman!

Beadsotted

Tarot used to be a hobby for me. So did writing. Over time, however, both pursuits turned into a career … and while I still like them a lot, they don’t represent “down time” for me anymore.

After a long winter of sick children, bad hands, and general malaise, I took a 10-day vacation to visit my parents in Texas. That’s where I noticed an ad for a beadwork class.

You know, I’d been thinking about taking up beadwork for the last couple of years. I have a few friends who bead, and I envied their designs and creations. I just didn’t know where to start. Beading looked so complicated, and I felt like I didn’t have time to learn something new. I also had a three-year-old at that point, and I didn’t want to fill my house with little choking objects and sharp needles.

Well, she’s five now. She can watch out for herself.

I took that class in Texas, and I loved it. The instructor, Sue, actually came over to my parent’s condo and taught five of us how to make bracelets: my mom, my three daughters, and me.

Here’s a vignette, with the rolling surf of the Gulf of Mexico just barely visible in the background.

Here’s the first bracelet I made that morning:

It’s a red, white, and blue flag bracelet made up of tiny Delica beads in a peyote stitch, linked with Swarovsky crystal spacers. I feel fancy just for knowing all those new terms — and for knowing how to string them together in a sentence.

After that first lesson, I bought my own beading supplies, beading tools, beading books, and beads. I’ve signed up for a couple of classes at Beadhive Beads, not far from my house in Minneapolis. It’s a lot of fun to be learning something new.

Plus I’m already on the lookout for beading patterns that look like tarot cards.