About
Starhawk
Contacting
Starhawk
Making
Contact
Many people email Starhawk with comments
on her work, praise and thanks, condemnation,
questions, requests, and invitations. Starhawk
has understandably chosen to not have a
public email address. She works astonishingly
hard as a writer, teacher, speaker, and
activist, and often travels for months at
time--if she read and answered all her mail
and fulfilled all requests, she'd never
have time for her own work! Incoming messages
actually go to Mer, her booking agent and
business assistant.
Mer (also a busy woman) will answer messages
of a business nature, such as event bookings,
media interviews, reprint and copyright
questions, translations, queries on Earth
Activist Training, and so on. With regret,
she is *not* able to answer personal questions
or requests (but you might find useful leads
in our FAQs, below). Terrapin, Starhawk's
webmaster, can answer questions of a technical
nature or problems with this web site. We're
all grateful if you don't send us jokes,
rants, petitions, or other spam, nor add
us to your mailing list. Thanks!
Click here to email Mer with business messages.
Click here to email Terrapin with technical
messages.
Booking
an Event with Starhawk
We are glad to consider invitations for
Starhawk to speak, teach workshops, lead
community rituals, and so on. Please email
a brief, specific proposal directly to Mer,
and if needed, ask for Starhawk's fee schedule
and list of topics.
Starhawk receives many invitations, and
multiple factors go into creating her final
calendar. Here are a few of them: We try
to cluster her events regionally, so please
indicate if you're flexible in your dates.
(Requests for appearances in distant corners
of the globe may not be possible, or may
need a lot of patience!) Event organizers
usually pay travel expenses and provide
meals and lodging. While Starhawk largely
earns her living from speaking and teaching,
she does many, many free events and benefits
for social change groups and spends much
of her time training activists without charge
or for reduced fees. If you believe your
group or event falls into this category,
please tell us why and we can negotiate.
Otherwise, look to her fee schedule. Finally,
it may take time to get a definite answer
to any invitation, so patience and gentle
persistence are helpful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I'm a journalist and would like to interview
Starhawk, obtain press photos, or verify
some details. OR I'm a community radio host
and hope to interview her next Tuesday.
OR I'm a magazine publisher and want to
reprint one of her essays.
A: Please contact Mer: mer@starhawk.org.
Q: I want to quote some of Starhawk's published
work in a web
page/publication I'm making. Can I get copyright
permission?
A: Very short quotes may be used in
work that is educational and
"not-for profit." Longer quotes,
or anything that is sold or
otherwise "for-profit" needs written
permission. For quotes from
essays that are not in one of her books,
contact
Mer. Copyrights of
the various books are owned by the publishers,
and permissions need
to be requested directly from them. Look
in the first few pages of a
particular book for this information. We
appreciate receiving a copy
of work that uses Starhawk's writings and
work, for our archives;
please contact
Mer to send.
Q: I want to send Starhawk the manuscript
of my own book. Would she
write me an endorsement for the cover?
A: Starhawk gets many requests for endorsements.
Unfortunately, she doesn't have the time
to read these, and cannot blindly recommend
them.
Q: I'm building a web page. May I have permission
to put a link to
Starhawk's web page on it? Would you add
my link to your site?
A: You may put a link to Starhawk's
home page (or any other www page you like)
on your site. You don't need permission.
If you are looking for a place to announce
your page to Pagans, you might want to check
out the Reclaiming "Add Your Voice"
public message board at www.reclaiming.org.
We're very sparing in adding links to Starhawk's
site, in an effort to keep it from sprawling.
Also, we rarely have the time to check out
the many other web sites in order to recommend
them.
Q: Can you help me with a school paper I'm
writing? Please tell me all about....
A: Starhawk, who once taught college
(and on occasion still does),
believes that students should do their own
research. It's part of
the learning process! Many of her books
and essays are useful to
students in their research, so read up.
Q: I'm a graduate student doing original
research in an area close
to Starhawk's work. I'd like to interview
her. OR I want to send
her my dissertation.
A: On occasion, and with plenty of notice,
Starhawk might be able to
fit in a short interview. Contact Mer to
ask. A better route might
be to take one of her workshops, such as
Earth
Activist Training, and
chat during lunch-breaks. Starhawk is not
able to read or comment on
long dissertations; she simply doesn't have
the time. However, if
your dissertation makes extended use of
her work, we'd be interested
in a final copy for our archives (for some
future researcher!).
Q: I need Starhawk's counsel on a personal
problem. OR I'm having
this psychic issue... OR Can Starhawk heal
my back problem? OR
Can she visit my dying friend? OR My soon-to-be
ex-husband is
challenging my child custody because I'm
a Witch...
A: Starhawk strongly feels that people
experiencing
problems--emotional, physical, magical,
legal, or whatever--should
seek help from skilled people in their home
communities,
face-to-face. Please take responsibility
for your own needs and look
for a good advisor near you, then follow
through with action. Many
helping professionals are Pagan themselves,
or are open to the
positive values of Paganism, so if that
perspective is important to
you, ask around to find the right person.
Some networking tips:
Check the Reclaiming www.reclaiming.org
"Resources" page to help
find a therapist/healer/priestess in your
community. Reclaiming
Witchcamp communities are also a good source
of networking. Covenant
of the Goddess may have some leads.
Many Pagans in different regions
have started local referral networks (check
bookstores and Pagan
magazines, or do web search.) Local Unitarian
churches often have a
CUUPS chapter. Anyone experiencing discrimination
because of their
religion needs solid legal advice. Try your
local ACLU for starters,
and check WARD: Witches Against Religious
Discrimination (try web
search for latest contact info).
Q: Can Starhawk cast a spell for me?
A: No. She does not cast spells for
or about other people, and
instead suggests that the most powerful
spell is one you do for
yourself.
Q: I want to learn how to be a Witch.
A: One good place to start is to read
Starhawk's books, especially
The Spiral Dance and The Twelve
Wild Swans. Actually do
the exercises! She rarely teaches beginner
classes anymore, except
as part of the Earth
Activist Trainings. There are many other
great
priestesses teaching; check out the
Reclaiming website for regional
classes and Witchcamps (week-long magic
intensives). There are also
useful Pagan resources on the net where
you can meet teachers and
potential circlemates-- for example, the
Covenant
of the Goddess web
site. Other general wisdom for beginners:
Understand that Paganism
is a spiritual practice of connection, not
a get-what-you-want-quick
scheme. Be in nature as much as possible;
nature is our "sacred
text." Read widely, read smart (test
what you hear and read--there's
a lot of garbage in print). Trust your own
intuition, but also
beware of projecting fears and prejudice;
practice "deep listening
within." You are your own highest spiritual
authority; respect and
hear others, but don't abdicate your power.
Q: I want to work with Starhawk in person.
A: Keep an eye on her calendar page,
to see if she is doing any
workshops near you (schedule is updated
regularly, and sometimes
events come and go quickly). A simple booksigning
event is an easy
way to say hello. Something like a Reclaiming
Witchcamp that she's
teaching at, or an Earth
Activist Training session, give an extended
opportunity to connect. Or you can volunteer
in one of the many
national or Bay Area political causes that
she works with.
Q: I just want to offer my appreciation
for all her amazing work in
the world, great writing, clear analysis...
A: Thank you! We can't respond, but
it's nice to hear, and we do
pass on the gist to Starhawk.
Q: I want to let you know how awful I think
Starhawk is, why she's
wrong, and anyway she's a traitor ...
A: Thanks for sharing, Mr. Bush.
Q: I'm a Pagan and I don't understand why
Starhawk messes around
with that grubby political stuff... OR I'm
a committed leftie and I
don't understand why Starhawk has to include
that woosie woo-woo
spiritual stuff...
A: People who've only read her first
book, or who haven't bothered to read her
at all, often don't realize that Starhawk's
life work is the fertile interaction of
these two areas. For her perspective, see
"Toward
an Activist Spirituality" on this
web site, the "Spirit and Action"
chapter in her book Webs of Power, and indeed,
most of her writing.
