ABOUT

MY NAME COMES
FROM STELLA MARIS
(“STAR OF THE SEA”)

An ancient Latin title of the Virgin Mary and later a medieval name for the North Star that guides sailors across dark waters, the name is one I claim not as a Christian devotion but as a syncretic symbol of guidance through the unknown. For me it's the light that appears in many traditions: the torches of Hecate, the star of Ishtar, the wisdom of Sophia. This is the lineage I honor with Dark Sister.

THE DESCENT THAT
SHAPED ME

I began my adult life as an anthropologist, studying the rites and rituals of ordinary life. Later I became a filmmaker and learned how stories work, not just the ones we tell aloud but also the ones we bury deep.

My true initiation, though, came when I was diagnosed with cancer.

When I got sick, my life came apart. People I thought I could rely on disappeared. Some even turned cruel. I learned the true power of the Shadow of Death when you're forced to wear it on your sleeve. It reveals people. It reveals you, too. I had to face my own part in who I had chosen to keep close and why.

I'm cancer-free now, but that experience changed everything about how I see people and how I see myself. I learned that closeness doesn't guarantee loyalty. Sometimes people draw close because they like the version of you that doesn't threaten their own comfort. And trust isn't a virtue. It's a boundary that has to be protected.

THAT CRUCIBLE IS WHAT
FORGED DARK SISTER

My dog Osiris, Oz for short, has been with me through all of it. Even in the worst moments, I was never completely alone. He's proof that the kind of love that keeps you going doesn't have to come from people, and evidence that the world isn't as merciless as it sometimes feels.

You are not alone.