SEERS OF CELESTIAL LIGHT!

WOW. We are IN IT aren’t we? Earth’s New Moon just crossed the Sun in the Tropical sign of the Warrior. Many of us saw it with our own shielded eyeballs or watched shadows grow long and strange across the ground. Others honored ancient/ ancestral advice to avoid making contact and have asked us not to share direct images of the moon on socials. Whether or not you found yourself near the path of totality, eclipse energy is far reaching - read about how one caught up with me at the bottom of the Adriatic in 2017!

(Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for some layered reflections on themes of resistance and the recent eclipses)

And what a perfectly absurd Mercury-RX-AF snafu I must share… Just as I’d finished HOURS of labor on a crisp spring newsletter, one that centered a cosmically-aligned event I’ve been excitedly promoting, I received word that…

TRISKELES & THE MONSTER’S TOOLS Premiers on the big screen in its second festival since its October release. This past January the film debuted in a beautiful San Diego Cathedral thanks to the film’s co-director, camera manager, editor, animator, composer Ash Capachione and Project Blank’s Working Title Festival. This April, GRRLHAUS Cinema has curated a rad program of short films by women, trans and nonbinary artists- our film’s FIRST HOMETOWN DEBUT! Get your tickets for several hours of excellent radical cinema- Thursday April 18th, 8pm- Brattle Theatre (Cambridge, MA).

ABOUT THE FILM:

Our short film features a ritual performed on the Summer Solstice when my Greenway commission, the hand painted groundwork Gateway to Infinity (An Anti-Monument) was revealed to the public in Boston’s historically Italian-American North End neighborhood (Massachusett + Pawtucket Land). Myself with collaborators Ash Capachione, Laura Campagna and Vin Caponigro - all queer non-binary/ gender expansive Italian-American witches- center the myth and legacy of Medusa as a symbol of survival and transformation in the face of patriarchal violence represented by the formerly beheaded Columbus monument. On the longest day of the year, the artists invited guests to enter the artwork and participate via light-sensitive paper talismans, collective movement, and personal family heirlooms. Activating the work with stones, fire, smoke and bells they walked the triple spiral labyrinth together. Three gorgons called upon the beaming sun, salty ocean, and three conjunct planetary bodies to aid in a regenerative alchemical process, connecting the head to the heart. We invoked Medusa Consciousness in the place of Columbus’ head and legacy.

SOME REFLECTIONS…

It’s wild to think that I sent my last newsletter on October 8th.

This was just days before the New Moon solar eclipse in Libra (the 14th) and my 40th birthday (the 20th). I don’t think I have to remind anyone what else happened that week.

I wrote, in sync with my fellow collaborators, to release our new film and zine that grew out of the Gateway to Infinity (An Anti-Monument) project + our Call to Dethrone Columbus Day. We shared these works and writings in the spirit of resistance. We shared in the spirit of reclamation and reflection. We shared in the spirit of contrition and accountability. We shared in the spirit of unlearning and deprograming and reparation. We called to resurrect the Monster’s Tools and reawaken Medusa Consciousness. We petitioned as critical, now privileged, descendants of immigrants to this country who were not originally welcome here, who were not seen as white or civilized or more than “monsters” until they were asked to sign the book of the beast of colonial white supremacy. They were asked to trade genuine cultural identities for association with an abusive colonizer who had little to do with their people, but great business in terrorizing native lands and its stewards.

For more nuance, heart, and historical context, please read the essays we wrote in our zine- Medusa ~ Myth, Memory, (Anti) Monument- which pairs with the film and public artwork. It tells it all better than I could summarize in a newsletter. Included are the following short essays: Introduction by art historian Liz Andres, Triskele & The Monster’s Tools: Resurrecting the Anti-Monument by Maria Molteni, Medusa & the Radiance of the Night Sect by astrologer Laura Campagna, and Myths, Rewritten Histories, and the Power of Decapitation by artist Vin Caponigro.

The zine can be purchased here and the B&W PDF is still posted to our project page for free.

MONSTERIZATION & INJUSTICE

Below are a couple of spreads from my essay: Triskele & The Monster’s Tools: Resurrecting the Anti-Monument (pages 24-27) which felt stingingly more relevant as the month of October blazed forward- as terror was unleashed upon thousands of Palestinian civilians in the name of decades of settler colonial domination, racism, islamophobia and a desire to monsterize a whole people with massive material, financial and ideological support of Israel by the United States. This propaganda campaign, weaponized to justify genocide, contains sharp parallels to the Medusa myth- by which the victim of a violent assault is punished rather than protected, by a fellow goddess who’s chosen to protect the patriarchy rather than a fellow fierce matriarch. The only way she’s managed to maintain her position of power is to uphold the violent supremacy of war and domination. However, while frozen in her point of trauma, Medusa’s image retains its strength and ability to protect others. One drop of her blood destroys, the other restores

(for those aware of Chiron’s involvement in the April 8th eclipse, Medusa also carries traits of a wounded healer)

SIX MONTHS OF TERROR & RESISTANCE

The world changed since that October eclipse. Many of you know that the effects of an eclipse are known to last 6 months. Whatever comes or blows up around the time of an eclipse might come to a head or resolution of sorts by the next major eclipse season. But who could have imagined that the cruelty and violence would persist this long, through this many massacres, global protests, bodily sacrifices, menstrual cycles, waves of gaslighting, slaughters of children, vibrant neighborhoods razed to the ground, and international humanitarian courts and councils.

I’ve been posting for months- nervous reflections of my own, educational words and images of others, powerful action steps, numbers to call, spells and prayers to plug into. I mounted epic pilgrimages to seven mountain Madonnas in Campania, petitioning for miracles (something I’ll share more about later) and saw many brave friends handcuffed for peaceful disruptions in my city. I can’t possibly capture it all in one newsletter. I’ve felt frozen in my throat, broken in my heart, and debilitated in the studio. Many of us have felt this way. But it’s so important to keep the pulse of hope, anger, and focus pumping. Human beings are complex systems of interconnection, like constellations. We may seem far from acute points of trauma, but we are affected, implicated, responsible for the safety and “humanity” of all beings and lands of this planet.

Feel free to check my instagram @strega_maria for various writings as well as story highlights where I’ve saved useful information. I continue to be most active in my stories (which Instagram is certainly suppressing) - sharing the advice and news of others has felt most appropriate at times. I can feel the repercussions in my professional life of speaking out, but there’s so much more to lose by staying quiet. My soul and integrity are more valuable than my reputation by institutions I don’t trust or respect, those that don’t value human life or call ethnic cleansing what it is. And the more of us who stand together, the more protected we all are. I trust that we will have one another’s backs- we have to.

ECLIPSES AND THE NODES

I wanted to highlight one perception from an older post in the context of these celestial shifts. The eclipses always align with points called the North and South Nodes. Some personify the nodal dynamic as a dragon’s hungry head and tail. In brief, the North Node (currently in Aries, for Tropical astrologers) is what we’re evolving toward, as an individual or collective. The South Node (currently in Libra) is what we’re releasing. At the time of the October 14 eclipse, the North Node was conjunct the dwarf planet (aka “asteroid”) ERIS, the goddess of strife and discord. If y’all have followed me on socials or received my past newsletters, you know that I’m obsessed with Eris. I’ve incorporated her into my deck of cards- Stelle Scopa- as well as my series of Asteroid Goddetc Jerseys. Eris also happens to be conjunct my own natal moon, so I have a deep emotional connection with her archetype and may even be called to embody her energy at times.

READ ABOUT ERIS HERE / OR HERE / OR HERE

I also shared the slide below - a take on the themes of Eris from one of my favorite Astrology apps. I’ll allow you, smart ones, to make your own connections to ways we might be called as a world of beings to lean into or learn from the lessons of ERIS, particularly since Fall of 2023.

TWO FIERCE ASTROLOGY RESOURCES

Last month, I came across an astrologer named Rayner Jae Liu who focuses on Eris- thanks to the amazing Laura Campagna who organizes a webinar series called Mercury Hour through OPA. I just noticed you can access a recent webinar recording about Eris for free on their site: Sacred Rage - How Eris Restores the Scales of Justice - I only caught the end of it, but I believe there’s some cool overlap in our perspectives on Eris.

And if you’re looking for astrological analysis from Arab astrologers, my good friend and colleague JM Hamade has an excellent Podcast called starnightdwell. I highly recommend the recent episode Astrology and the Occupation of Palestine and if you want to catch the Episode I was featured on check out Stelle Scopa / Sedna with Maria Molteni.

I’m almost out of space, but not yet out of steam! I’ll repeat one key idea ~

The effects of an eclipse are known to last 6 months. I hope we can draw motivation from the past and present moment, our current eclipse season- however overwhelming and unpredictable it is- remaining steady in acts of compassion and disruption that continue to move the needle and shape the course of history through the next set of eclipses. Aries runs brave though impatient. We’re learning the importance of direct action AND the slow burn of resistance. We have to find ways to keep the fire lit. I call in Vesta for support with attentive persistence.

We look at history for perspective and lessons that help us avoid repeating the worst of it. Trauma can take harrowing shape when not addressed. I observe many admirable friends and strangers standing up and taking risks in the name of their own family tragedies, honoring the cries of their ancestors who vowed “NEVER AGAIN” and never again FOR ANYONE.

I’ll wrap this up with a very short list of threads and accounts to follow if you’re looking for a place to plug in or donate money. I also have several links posted in my “LATEST” page of my website.

THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA, particularly the EI Podcast

RED NATION PODCAST, particularly their Palestine Teach-in Series

MUSLIM JUSTICE LEAGUE’s Fundraiser to build a well in Rafah. Support via Venmo @WellforthePeople

BDS BOSTON particularly for ongoing calls to protest ELBIT out of Cambridge, MA

TOQAASSAF for weekly lineups of protests, teach-ins and other events in Massachusetts

GRRLHAUS List of films by Palestinian Filmmakers for International Women’s Day

Finally, a small gift for those who could use some materials. Click the image above for a free printable PDF of the Free Palestine / Stop Cop City cards. I cut them in half and fold like a gift card or cut all 4 like postcards them however you like. Print and distribute as you like- if you post to the internet or forward to others, please credit me for the design <3

Thanks for following along and being interested in what I’m up to. I’ll write again soon as there’s still some big positive news I have yet to share!

With love under the stars,

❤️‍🔥 Maria 🌹

WHAT’S IN THE STORE?

I’m still out here trying to pay my bills and I admit, it’s been a TOUGH winter in that department. Below are a few items that are relevant to some of content in this newsletter!