You’re invited to The Gleaming Feast
In my hand is a green envelope with blackberry ink calligraphy.
But before I give it to you, introductions.
My name is Maeg Keane (they/she). I’m a writer, astrologer, and herbalist. Astrology and herbalism are two of the ways I listen to the sparkling fishnet of timespace that holds us, and of which we are a part.
While I do this work alone, I prefer to do it in companionship. In ongoing invitation. I prefer to notice alongside you. This is why I write publicly and don’t just keep everything in a notebook like I once did. It is also why I offer one-on-one astrology readings and herbal consultations through my practice Third Sister, which may be where we’ve met before.
Now then, here is your envelope.
You break the violet wax seal and suddenly, you are there. The Gleaming Feast is in an overgrown grove with a thick canopy, so many vining plants overlapping each other, their veins drinking what we breathe out, shuddering, delighting.
Yet as you look at the canopy, it flickers and switches: the canopy of green becomes a canopy of stars. Now it is deep indigo, riddled with shining ones arching above. They are still and spinning, these strange dancers in a music box. What bright mesmerizing story-eaters.
And below, heaps and heaps — grapes rolling off the table, baskets of figs and berries, goblets too full of apple wine. I hand you a glass and you hand me a bowl. Over there, they are biting into the reddest apples. Over there, they are dancing. We can’t believe our good fortune. It is dark but we are lit by so many impossibly distant chandeliers.
As we eat and dance, we hardly notice our fingers are turning green. Green wrists, green elbows, inked with leafy earth. All present are becoming thick tendrils, reaching, entangled. Astrology is a silver trellis that we climb, up and up. The stars gleam. The fruit gleams. Our eyes are gleaming.
Of course, The Gleaming Feast is also a “newsletter” I guess. That word has never suited me though. The Gleaming Feast is writing that comes to you through your inbox. It’s writing that sits waiting for you if you come to this place. It is scrawled on the tablecloth. It is tattooed on the flesh of a poached pear. It is etched into tree roots and on stones you can see in the shimmering lake. It is the greenness in my wrist dripping out onto this keyboard and I hand it to you, a plate of rose hips that glint in the starlight.
What you’ll get in your inbox
Free-tier subscribers will receive info about my booking calendar availability, any classes or workshops I’m offering, podcasts I’m on, book publication updates, and any other updates about my work. It really will be a proper newsletter in that it will be made of news. If you just want to stay connected with me without relying on the algorithm to show you what’s going on, this is the best way to do that.
Free-tier subscribers will also have access to a partial archive and receive occasional snippets of new writing I share with paid subscribers. The snippets are meant to be a tantalizing tease but also a thin slice of plum cake that can stand on its own as a tasty treat.
But if you find a morsel won’t do, if you crave the whole feast, you’ll want to become a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers receive access to
my entire archive — all previous newsletters, many of which were exclusive to subscribers
new writing about planets, plants, fixed stars, and who can say what else; queer theory, politics, art, and my own tumbling nearly-fiction prose make appearances
the opportunity to take new astrology readings for a spin at a significantly reduced rate before I launch them publicly (expect one this autumn)
special discounts for any future workshops or projects I create
the ability to comment on posts so you can talk to me and fellow subscribers
price-lock: when I raise the price in the future, you’ll keep this rate
plus everything included at the free subscriber level: all updates on podcasts, collaborations, workshops, conferences, book news, and booking calendar availability
The Gleaming Feast is $7/month or $70 for the entire year. Subscribe to get full access to the feast.
There is also an extra special Patron tier at $140/year, which could simply be called “support my work even more.” The Patron tier encourages the sustainability and fruitfulness of my work while bolstering my sliding scale fund for astrology readings and herbal consults. No matter what you pick, I’m glad you’re here.
If you are new to my work and want to look behind the curtain of ivy and grape leaf before subscribing, you can check out the blog on my website or start out as a free subscriber and look around at the archives. I would recommend “Jupiter and Being Too Much”, “The Gemini-Cancer Threshold”, “Basil & Venom, Part 2”, and the uncharacteristically brief “What Does The Moon Mean?” as the bundle that will help you sort out if you want in.
Frequency and quantity
I will share writing with paid subscribers once a month, unless I am working on a particularly hefty project. This means cadence may shift to once every other month sometimes. You will get the same amount of writing no matter what but it may come unevenly in different sized batches.
My writing process is spirit-led and alive. I have learned to respect that I follow its lead, not the other way around. This isn’t going to work if I treat it like it is subservient to me. We are partners. The writing is so much better when I collaborate with the process to see what comes through in its own time and shape. Some of this is predictable however: the zodiac threshold pieces tend to be shorter and come quickly, whereas fixed star explorations and the plant & planet correspondence projects are longer both in word count and in creation time.
I know it’s unusual to not guarantee how often you’ll hear from me each month. My hope is you will not mind having a lighter inbox sometimes, knowing that something sumptuous will emerge when it is ripe. I always want to hand you the juiciest of fruits.
Helpful tips and info
Refunds and billing issues
Substack doesn’t offer any writer here the ability to handle refunds on the platform at this time. Please get in touch with Substack Help directly for any billing issues rather than simply filing a chargeback with your bank if you are still being charged after unsubscribing.
Please note that I do not offer refunds for annual subscriptions or for previous months of paid subscriptions.
Not getting emails
If The Glittering Feast isn’t showing up in your inbox, check your spam or promotions filter.
Substack is a problem
Jeanna Kadlec of the wonderful astrology for writers newsletter (strongly recommend!) has written about why Substack is bad, like practically every platform. As a remedial act, she offers free paid-level subscriptions to trans subscribers. I like this and I’m following her lead. If you’re trans and would like a free subscription, please email me at maeg@third-sister.com. I’ll get you set up. If you’re not trans but would like to sponsor such a subscription, please email me at that same email.
Where else to find my work and how to contact me
If you’d like to see my work in free smaller bites, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter (though I’m on IG much more these days).
If you’d like to get in touch, you can try DMing me but those messages so often get lost in the stack. You are way more likely to contact me effectively if you email me at maeg@third-sister.com.