The Sacred Space Conference is the premier annual esoteric conference on the East Coast for intermediate to advanced practitioners. Each year our featured teachers and a host of highly qualified regional teachers offer a wide variety of workshops and rituals developed for a more advanced audience.
The 2025 Sacred Space Conference is slated for Thursday, March 27th, through Sunday, March 30th, at the Sheraton Baltimore North hotel in Towson, MD. Workshop and Ritual Proposals are being accepted now through September 1st, 2024. Click here to learn more about submitting programming proposals. Click here to register for the Conference.
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SACRED SPACE 2025 FEATURED TEACHERS
Mat Auryn is an influential author and teacher in occultism and witchcraft, with an international audience. His books Psychic Witch, Mastering Magick, and The Psychic Art of Tarot offer practical insights into psychic and magickal practices. He also co-authored Pisces Witch with Ivo Dominguez, Jr. Mat’s work draws from various spiritual and magickal traditions he’s studied and trained in, aiming to synthesize them in accessible and practical ways. Beyond writing, Mat worked for many years as a professional psychic and tarot reader in Salem, Massachusetts, as well as his own private practice. He is on the faculty at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, and co-hosts THE CIRCLE IS podCAST with Rachel True. Residing in California’s Bay Area, he co-owns Datura Trading Co. and Modern Witch University.
T. Thorn Coyle (they/them) worked in many strange and diverse occupations before settling in to write full time. A student of the magical arts for over forty years, they have taught in nine countries, on four continents, and in twenty-five states. A queer, nonbinary, neurodivergent mystic with a chronic illness, Thorn also lives with the after effects of a brain injury. Author of the Seashell Cove Paranormal Mystery series, the Pride Street Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, The Steel Clan Saga, The Witches of Portland, The Mouse Thief Capers, and The Panther Chronicles, Thorn’s multiple non-fiction books include You Are the Spell, Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, Kissing the Limitless, and Make Magic of Your Life. A 20th Anniversary edition of Evolutionary Witchcraft is planned for fall of 2025. Thorn is a former professional dancer, has written and co-produced four music albums, and is an avid amateur photographer.
Mortellus is a lineaged Third Degree Gardnerian High Priestex of the Long Island Line and author of the award winning Do I Have To Wear Black? and current best-seller The Bones Fall in a Spiral. They are presently hard at work editing Necrobotany, The Morticulture of Death for its spring 2025 release date. In addition to their role as High Priestex, Mortellus is a Mortician, and holds degrees in Design, Education, Fine Arts, and Mortuary Sciences. Their areas of expertise include necromancy, necrobotany, mediumship, and the funerary rites of minority faith groups. Currently residing in Western North Carolina on two acres that doubles as the Covenstead for the Coven of Leaves with their spouse, six-year-old twins, and dog; and generally wishing there was a better way to cram their adult child off at college into a bio, and more time in the day for hiding in the studio and playing with clay.
HONORED GUESTS
Storm Faerywolf is a professional author, experienced teacher, visionary poet, and practicing warlock. He was trained in various streams of magic and witchcraft, most notably the Anderson Faery tradition, where he holds the Black Wand of a Master. He is chancellor of Modern Witch University, co-founder of the Black Rose online course of modern witchcraft, a columnist for the Pagan news site, The Wild Hunt, and is the host of the Witch Power Daily podcast. He has written several books, including The Stars Within the Earth, Betwixt & Between, The Witches’ Name, and The Satyr’s Kiss. For more, visit faerywolf.com.
Kristoffer Hughes is Chief of the Anglesey Druid Order and the award-winning author of several books that focus on Welsh/Celtic spirituality, mythology and magic. He is a first language native Welsh speaker born to a Welsh family in the mountains of North Wales. He is a Druid and member of the Gorsedd of Bards of the Island of Britain, and a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, a Mount Haemus Scholar and the designer of three tarot decks. He worked for His Majesty’s Coroner service for 32 years as an Autopsy Technologist and bereavement officer before retiring to become a Welsh language Television presenter. In addition to his role in Welsh TV, he is an active funeral celebrant and consults on the board of religious education in Wales. He is active in the school of the Anglesey Druid Order where he teaches Druidry in the Anglesey tradition. He lives on a small Welsh island with his husband Ian, a cat and three beehives.
Beverley Smith, also known as “Doctor Beverley” in the Conjure/Hoodoo community, has been a spiritual teacher and civil rights advocate since the early 1990s. She was a teacher and a High Priestess in the Druidic Craft of the Wise: The American Rite for over 20 years. Currently she is a two-headed Conjure Doctor, a bone reader/diviner, and Rootworker who teaches conjure herbal magic. She has curates Doc Bev’s Sacred Herbs – handcrafted Hoodoo products, handmade in small batches, using only the finest ingredients, organic herbs and flowers, and food-grade essential oils. A yoga practitioner of over 30 years, Doctor Beverley is a staunch believer in the Mind-Body-Soul connection. A spoken-word artist and storyteller, social justice is her passion. Her interests include contemporary West Indian folk literature, African-American folk magic, resistance magic, and revolutionary art of all kinds. Doctor Beverley has been a stained glass mosaicist since 1990. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her family, her flower & vegetable garden, and two fabulous cats.
Mhara Starling was born in North Wales, raised on the Isle of Anglesey, and speaks Welsh as her first language. She is a Swynwraig, a modern day Welsh Witch. Mhara leads Cylch y Sarffes Goch (Circle of the Red Serpent), an intimate Welsh coven operating in the Welsh marches. She is also an Awenydd of the Anglesey Druid Order, a published author, and teaches on the subject of Welsh magic and lore both online and in person.
PRESENTERS
Aeptha’s current work includes serving as Magus of Light Havens’ Magickal Lodge, public teaching, ceremonies, consulting, and counseling. Aeptha’s name was bestowed upon her by her last Master Teacher Shakmah Winddrum. In ancient Tibetan the name means, “She who loves the Sun”. Over the course of seventeen years of training and initiations, Shakmah taught Aeptha the esoteric mysteries of Solomonic Magick, along with an education in Western and African traditions. While Aeptha works with many inner level contacts, her primary indwelling contact for her school is through the Solar Mystery Tradition. She brings to her work a unique and powerful mixture of decades of experience that involves teaching, rituals, esoteric knowledge, ecstatic ceremony, hands-on practical teaching, and access to Inner Level Contacts.
Lady Jesamyn Angelica Lunar Priestess, Ritualist, and Oracle, Lady Jesamyn Angelica has been practicing Witchcraft and walking the Path of the Moon since her dedication to the Goddess as a Maiden. Now in her Queen Season, she is High Priestess of Sisterhood of the Moon, a matriarchal Goddess Tradition for all located in the San Francisco, California Bay Area. Jesamyn brings her joie de vivre, humor, and wit to all she does, combining these qualities with foundational skills in leadership, communication, and magick cultivated over three decades. Learn more at SisterhoodoftheMoon.org, study directly with her at WomensMysterySchool.com, and connect on Instagram @magickandempowerment. Her first book with Llewellyn Tune Into the Moon: Connecting with the Cosmic Tides of Magick, Mystery, and Healing is forthcoming.
Elizabeth Autumnalis (they/them) is a modern folk witch who weaves their work with the Spirits of Place, local seasonal cycles, and their love of storytelling into a practice they call New England Folk Magic. Elizabeth is a High Priestex and Ordained Minister with the Temple of Witchcraft tradition and offers readings, workshops, and rituals in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Amy Blackthorn is the award-winning author of the best-selling Blackthorn’s Botanicals series and Social Media Magic co-authored with Natalie Zaman. Her connection to plants and traditional witchcraft created her animistic approach to connecting people with the spirits of plants around them. She has written eight books and has more than thirty years experience with plants and traditional witchcraft.
Ness Bosch, La Huesera, is an Iberian Shamaness and Priestess. Author, independent researcher, and mother of three, Ness lives in Scotland. She is a Founding member of the Goddess Community Scotland and the Founder of The Covenant of the Waters, The Path of the Bones, and Clan of the Bone Woman (La Huesera). Ness shares the teachings of this path with those looking into advanced animistic ways of working in the realms and with the spirits. She teaches the ways of shadowhunting and the Priesthood of the Bones. She is the Organiser of the Ancestral Pathways Conference and is a regular speaker at conferences. Her book Sacred Bones, Magic Bones, came out in May 2024.
Damien Bowers As a scholar and explorer at the intersection of philosophy, spirituality, and practical life, Damien has been an explorer of many different traditions and approaches to the practice and integration of magic into one’s life and spiritual pursuit. He has been involved from a young age in the foundation and function of several groups dedicated to magical and spiritual exploration, and has been published in several collections. His primary dedication is furthering the work of Austin Spare and reconstructing a viable system of Sumerian Sorcery based on ancient tablets. He currently lives in Brunswick, Maryland with his beloved partner Katie. Together they operate The House of Strange Aeons.
BrightFlame (she/they) writes, teaches, and makes magic for a just, regenerating world. Her debut solarpunk novel The Working launched summer 2024. Her speculative fiction appears in acclaimed magazines and anthologies, most recently Solarpunk Creatures. She’s been practicing and teaching in the global Reclaiming Tradition since the 1990s—her workshops in Reclaiming and elsewhere foster interconnection and resilience, to help us expand our notion of what is possible. She co-founded the Center for Sustainable Futures at Columbia University that features her workshops and nonfiction. She lives on unceded Lenape land (Turtle Island/U.S.A).
Christian F Brunner has studied ancient healing practices and Paganism for over forty years. With that came a deep fascination for the Alpine lore and traditions in his native Austria. The search for the pagan roots of these customs is fueled by a desire to make these practices available for the rest of the world. He has written books and several articles for Druid Order journals about this topic. With the practice of Druidry, Christian began to delve deeper into Magic and witchcraft, and following his mission to bring his homeland’s traditions to a global audience, his latest book Alpine Witchery explores traditional witchcraft as it has been practiced in the Alps for centuries.
Robin Corak Author of the Llewellyn book Dream Magick as well as books on Persephone and Demeter, Robin Corak has been a practicing pagan for over twenty five years. She has been a presenter at local, national and international conferences including Paganicon, Pantheacon, Ninefold Festival, and the Water Priestess Confluence. Robin has been working with dreams since she was a child and has used dream work to achieve success throughout all aspects of her life including but not limited to previously acting as the CEO of a large, non-profit social services organization serving roughly 42,000 people a year. A skilled tarot reader, Reiki master, and certified end of life doula, Robin has been a member of the Sisterhood of Avalon since 2002.
Denise Cruci is the co-High Priestess and co-founder of the North Wyldewood Coven and Tradition. She served as The Troth steward for NYC for three years and was a founding member of Björnsal, along with Patricia Lafayllve, performing spae at festivals and private events in the US Northeast. For nearly ten years, Denise was a spaekona for a NYC-based Theodish group where she often channeled Freyja in devotional rituals. Her spiritual focuses include spae/Seidr, journey work, honoring Ancestors and nature spirits, love magic and feminine empowerment. A Brooklyn native, Denise was a preschool, special ed, and elementary school teacher. She has started a small business, OakMoon Cottage, and lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend, their pit bull, and new kitten.
Danielle Dionne is a psychic, medium, witch, herbalist, homesteader, and author of Magickal Mediumship and Chronically Magickal. She is a High Priestess in the Temple of Witchcraft Tradition, serving as Ministerial Deputy of Scorpio for death and dying, sacred sexuality, and ancestral connections. Danielle runs Seed and Sickle, an online space where she offers psychic and mediumship sessions, herbalism consultations, mentorship, and consultation on death care support and living with chronic illness. She lives in southern New Hampshire at Crossroads Farm, a spirited homestead where she raises heritage breed livestock. She enjoys connecting with those, like herself, who are magickal practitioners living with chronic illness.
Ivo Domínguez, Jr. has been a witch since 1978 and is one of the founders and Elders of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel. He is the anchor author for the new twelve book Witch’s Sun Sign Series. Ivo is the author of The Four Elements of the Wise, Keys to Perception, Casting Sacred Space, Practical Astrology for Witches & Pagans, and Spirit Speak. In his mundane life, he has been a computer programmer, the executive director of an AIDS/HIV service organization, a metaphysical bookstore owner, and more. He is queer, poly, and lives in the woods of Southern Delaware with his family of choice. www.ivodominguezjr.com
Raven Edgewalker is a British Witch, teacher, artist, and writer who dwells in the magical landscape of Somerset, United Kingdom. They have an ongoing, passionate love affair with the natural world. Raven sees their work in the world as that of building connections, with self, with each other, within community, with deity, and with seen and unseen beings. Raven has spent many years walking the land, listening to the songs and stories it has to offer, deepening their own connection with this glorious earth and learning how to guide others to open to deeper relationships of their own. Raven has spent many years studying the Celtic Tree Ogham, a living divination system, and also holds a PhD in animal behaviour.
JoAnna Farrer is the co-high priestess of North Wyldewood Coven, co-founder of the North Wyldewood Tradition, and a professional violinist and teacher. She discovered Wicca at age 12 and has been a member of North Wyldewood Coven since its founding in 2003. JoAnna is a graduate of Juilliard, a violinist with the New Jersey Symphony, and Concertmaster of the Savannah Philharmonic. She hosts the “Coffee and Divination” podcast, and specializes in Greek-inspired oracular divination and ancestral work. JoAnna earned her Permaculture design certificate from Ben Falk, and practices regenerative agriculture on her land, blending her love of ecology and organic gardening with pagan animism and divination. She lives with her husband Darryl and their many animals in northern Vermont.
Robin Fennelly is an Elder within The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel Tradition and serves as High Priestess of Coven of the Mystic Path. Her spiritual journey is strongly rooted in Eastern philosophy, Egyptian High Alchemy and the Western Magickal systems that form a core foundation that is diverse in knowledge and rich in spiritual practice. As a teacher of magickal studies she incorporates Energetic Anatomy, Hermetic Qabalah, Astrology, Egyptian High Alchemy, Planetary/Star Magick and more as the foundations of the diverse selection of workshops she has taught throughout the Pagan community for more than 25 years. Robin is the founder of the Pagan Experience Study group, now in its 14th year of offering online and in-person classes and ritual. She is a prolific writer and has authored several books incorporating her unique style of writing to enhance the concepts presented and is a contributing author to the Llewellyn’s Witch’s Sun Series-Aquarius. www.robinfennelly.com
Firesong (Eshu Akoni) is a priestess and Pathway initiate at the Universal Temple of Spirits, a Global Spirits pantheistic trance possession temple. She is a versatile, operatic soprano, as well as a professional teacher, artist, herbalist, and experienced gardener. For years she’s focused on sacred music of the world, in any language. Firesong is a regular principal singer and vice president of Keystone Opera. She conducts The Voices of the Seasons Ensemble, Global Spirits services, and sings in the United States and abroad. She has recorded several teaching CDs of traditional chants and is the author of Global Spirits: Philosophies and Practices.
Laylla Forsyth is an animist weed witch who blends witchcraft, hypnosis, Tarot, and cannabis expertise. Stirring cauldrons or rolling joints, she brews magick in all forms. A fierce advocate for Earth spirituality, she focuses on intentional living and mystic transformation. With over thirty years as a witch and cannabis grower, Laylla promotes its use in self-care and magick. Her workshops on smokable spells blend cannabis with other herbs for powerful rituals. Laylla is certified in hypnotherapy and past life regression, a Tarot reader and meditation coach. Currently, she co-hosts the “Back on the Broomstick” podcast, helping listeners keep it witchy in their everyday lives.
Sanna Luath Geal (Lily of the Dawn), an astrologer working in the Vedic (Indian) tradition, was one of the first graduates of the American Academy of Vedic Art and Science in 2014. Through astrology, she mediates between the confusion of the person and the clarity of Spirit. She is a Pagan with forty years ritual experience, drawing from Wiccan, Hindu, and Alchemical practices. She sings musical theatre, sews, advocates for people with disabilities, is an Advanced Communicator Silver in Toastmasters, is the composer of the rock opera “The Passion of Persephone”, a cancer survivor, and a recently-diagnosed autist.
Ash Glasse (they/them) is a Heathen practitioner based in Western Maryland. They are the Gothar (spiritual leader) of Elk Ridge Kindred; an inclusive Heathen group based in Frederick, Maryland. Ash is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, where they are an active CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans) member, leader, and teacher. They also teach at many pagan events on the East Coast. Ash’s primary focus in Heathenry is to incorporate the practice into daily life. They try to break down the walls between the spiritual and the mundane, while keeping in touch with Heathenry’s historical roots. They consider their practice a revival, more than a reconstruction. Ash also writes and performs with Pagan Folk Band, Kindred Crow.
Irene Glasse is a Heathen witch based in Western Maryland. She is a longtime teacher of witchcraft, meditation, and magic in the mid-Atlantic area. She is the co-author of Blackfeather Mystery School: The Magpie Training (Dragon Alchemy, 2022), a contributing writer of Gemini Witch: Unlock the Magic of Your Sun Sign and Llewellyn’s 2024 & 2025 Sabbats Almanac (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2023 & 2024), a blogger, and a columnist. Irene has performed, taught workshops, and led rituals at many festivals and conferences over the years. She is the main organizer of the Frederick Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (Frederick CUUPS), offering events, rituals, classes, and workshops to a large, vibrant community.
Rev. Laura González is a Spiritual and Community Healer, Priestess, and Minister specializing in Traditional Mexican Folk Magic, Native Philosophies, and North American Paganism within the Goddess tradition. She holds the role of Ixtlamatketl for Kalpulli Xinachtli Xochikalli, a Chico-based community practicing the Nahua Tradition of Mexico. Laura advocates for Indigenous, Pagan, and LGBTQIA communities with a focus on women’s rights and diversity. Her work is featured in El Caldero, Circle Sanctuary Magazine, and several books. She has presented workshops at significant events such as the Parliament of the World’s Religions and Pagan Spirit Gathering. She also hosts the Lunatic Mondays and Paganos del Mundo podcasts, and volunteers as an ESL teacher at Aquinas Literacy Center.
Yasmin Henkesh is an author, world traveler, and master Middle Eastern dance instructor at Serpentine Dance Studios in Bethesda, Maryland. Fluent in Arabic and French, she has studied Egyptian dance and culture, ancient and modern, for over forty five years. Her experience living and performing in Egypt, participating in local trance dance and possession rituals, and interviewing world renown Egyptologists has given her a unique understanding of the country’s spiritual beliefs.
Kate Kadash is an eclectic witch, a professional scientific writer, and a mom of two wonderful daughters. From a young age, she has been obsessed with speculative fiction. She recently finished the first draft of a middle grade novel, Dodo Bird Academy, about a flight school for neurodivergent teens.
Lauren G. Koch (she/they) – Keeper of the Old Ways is an integrative wellbeing practitioner, intuitive creative, and educator based in Frederick, Maryland. As an internationally exhibiting artist with an MFA (UMD 2020), Lauren’s work explores themes of sacred geometry, magickal correspondences, and communing with ghosts. A long time scholar of Appalachian and Northern European folk magic, Lauren is an eclectic, animist, hedge witch with strong Heathenry leanings. Lauren’s mission is to help others build authentic lives by nurturing the mind•body•spirit connection through creativity, mindfulness, and nature. You’ll find Lauren leading workshops on herbalism, veneration practices, creative techniques, and self-care within the Frederick CUUPS community and beyond, as well as vending handcrafted items and leading ritual experiences.
J.R. Mascaro is an author, artist, and sorcerer who has been working with energy and communicating with inhabitants of the subtle realm since childhood. He has used his ritual practice to navigate life, and it is his desire to share with others the techniques and methods that have helped him. You can read about his approach to magic in Seal, Sigil & Call: A New Approach to Ritual Magic from Llewellyn Books. J.R. holds a B.A. in Anthropology with a concentration in Anthropology of Religion and is a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans . Find J.R. online at jrmascaro.com or on Instagram at @jrmascaro. He is occasionally available for private consultations.
Mara (they/them) is a witch and devotional polytheist with a primarily Irish pagan practice. Their approach includes a deep appreciation for historical sources and cultural contexts combined with listening to spirits active today, and using knowledge from the body sciences to enhance magical practice. They are also an occupational therapist blending somatic therapy and lymphatic drainage massage to provide trauma-informed holistic therapy. Mara is queer and genderqueer, and prioritizes liberation and social justice. They can be found at their private practice Rainbow Spring Wellness.
Sabrina Mari is a teacher, Diviner, and writer with forty four years of tarot practice. She’s an Elder in the Blue Star tradition of Wicca who also practices Buddhism, and a graduate of the Gryphon’s Grove School of Shamanism. Sabrina loved being a medical anthropologist and academic, and she still teaches online. These days, though, she focuses on divination and tarot. You can see her on YouTube and Instagram @sabrinamariechase and say hello on Facebook @SabrinaMarieChase. You can also explore her Grounded Magic podcast at https://groundedmagic.com and wherever podcasts are available.
Sara L. Mastros is the author of The Big Book of Magical Incense, Orphic Hymns Grimoire, The Sorcery of Solomon: A Guide to the 44 Planetary Pentacles of the Magician King, and the forthcoming Sefer HaOtot: A Hebrew Book of Seals. She is recognized by her peers as a brilliant and original thinker, an engaging and inspiring teacher, a compelling and clever writer, and a generally decent human being. Sara spends a lot of time dreaming, thinking, enchanting, writing, and teaching about witchcraft, magic, and myth. But, her true passion is raising up an army of inspired, educated, empowered witches prepared to weave weird new ways of Being in a world that desperately needs us. Rise up! www.WitchLessons.com
Wendy Mata, the founder of Bruja Power Botanica, is a devoted guide on the journey to reclaiming one’s inner power. She believes that awakened souls have the potential to inspire transformative change. As a Lunar Priestess, Wendy’s path includes initiation in Shamanism in Yucatan, Mexico, and a deep expertise in Curanderismo and Brujeria, traditions passed down through her family. She is also a Reiki Master Teacher and Advanced Pranic Healer. Wendy’s thirst for knowledge has taken her around the world, from studying Feng Shui under Lilian Too in Malaysia to Leadership and Coaching at Erickson College in Canada. Before fully embracing her witchy path, Wendy made her mark in technology development, specializing in cybersecurity and digital forensics.
Ginny McSheehan wears many hats, including author, teacher, reenactor, animal shelter volunteer, and of course, witch. Her spiritual path and her writing path have always been closely entwined, and while developing her Heathen-leaning practice, she completed two novels, the second of which is out on query. She holds an MFA in Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing, and her work focuses on exploring queer fantasy via history, mythology, and folklore.
Matthew Merlin is a professional traditional astrologer, ritual magician, and translator of Ancient Greek and Sanskrit. He teaches and practices astrology as a complete spiritual path, utilizing the natal chart alongside alchemy, ritual magic, and daily meditation to bring healing and empowerment to his students and clients. Merlin teaches several courses on astrology, meditation, and ritual magic, and also offers natal chart readings, elections, and horary readings. He co-runs The School of Heaven and Earth with his wife Crystal Woodling. Merlin’s professional practice is deeply informed by his daily spiritual practice. He is a dedicated practitioner of Ashtanga yoga, Daoist internal alchemy, and Baguazhang. He is a 24th generation discipline of the Daoist Dragon Gate Sect.
Katrina Messenger is a poet, priestess, warrior, and witch. She is also a full-time Wiccan mystic and an ordained minister. For over thirty five years, she has studied mythology, esoteric sciences, and human development. She is the founder of Connect DC (1999) and Reflections Mystery School (2004) in Washington, DC. Katrina is a certified Archetypal and Dream Patterning Analyst through the Assisi Institute. She is the author of Elemental Psychology: Using Jungian Psychology and the Sacred Elements for Spiritual Development, Descent: A Journey for Women, and Dark Beauty. Katrina is an elder in her community and a recognized leader and teacher worldwide.
Coby Michael is an occult herbalist and magical practitioner specializing in the ritual use of poisonous and psychoactive plants. He studied religion at Arizona State University and has been a folk herbalist since a young age. He owns and operates The Poisoner’s Apothecary, an online shop and educational resource for the poison path.
Moine Michelle (Michelle Lafrance) is a poet, seer/writer, columnist, maker, writing coach, and award winning academic in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia area. Her day job, as a professor of Writing and Rhetoric, entails teaching writers to love every aspect of the writing process. She teaches courses in creative nonfiction and fiction at Community Centers and hosts writing retreats in the greater DMV area. When she is not writing, she can be found Druiding, foraging, tending her forest understory, and star gazing in the woods of Lost River, West Virginia.
Rissa Miller is an editor, author, herbalist, seer, and storyteller. Her storytelling expertise stems from extensive research into the area of esoteric history; including ghosts, witchcraft, cryptids, and folklore. Rissa believes the most enduring stories teach us not only about humanity’s past, but also give a reason to reflect on our own present beliefs and realities. She often leads ghost tours and gives lively history talks. It’s rare to find Rissa without tea. Tea is one part of her love of plants. She holds a deep reverence for plants and the answers they offer, whether as tasseographs in a teacup, smoke in the air, a healing salve for the skin, a plant on the windowsill, or nourishment for the body.
Paula Millet is the deck creator and artist of the CARTA Award winning Boadicea’s Tarot of Earthly Delights and other divination related projects. She partnered with author Caroline Kenner to produce the Boadicea’s Tarot Reader’s Companion and Manifesting Magic books. Paula has spent a fascinating career as a graphic and museum exhibition designer. Her exploits have featured design work for fine art, history, and science institutions. This experience, coupled with her mastery of visual storytelling and an intuitive comprehension of symbolism, has resulted in her dual mastery of both the magical and the practical aspects of Tarot deck creation and manifestation work. Paula lives in Baltimore, Maryland and now works as a freelance designer and independent artist.
Dr. Adam Miramon is a second-degree initiate and head of the Healer’s Guild in the Order of Elemental Mysteries and a current curanderismo apprentice. Their profession as a doctor of acupuncture is a small fraction of their vocation as a healer. They incorporate their knowledge from multiple traditions to support patients, clients, and mentees under their care. They have studied witchcraft and curanderismo for over fifteen years with various teachers including Katrina Messenger, Ivo Dominguez, Jr., Bob Vetter, Laurencio Lopez-Nunez, Rita Navarrete Perez and many others.
Nanci Moy has been practicing and studying Wicca/Paganism for over twenty five years and is an Elder of Strangers’ Gate Coven in New York City. She’s a Priestess of the Celtic goddess Brigid, patroness of Healers, Bards, Smiths/Crafters, Peacemakers, and Mourners/Keening Women. Nanci’s lifelong interest in the intersections of science and magic has led her to explore Wicca, Paganism, ecology, metaphysics, anthropology, neuroscience, parapsychology, sociology, zoology, and more. Her goal is to spread harmonic peace by celebrating the sacred interconnectedness and interdependence of our infinitely diverse universe, to live simply so that others may simply live, to express joyful whimsy through crafting items, and by writing songs and poems in Brigid’s honor.
Lyndsay O’Malley has been writing her own poetry, lyrics, and music since she was a child (read: a long time ago!). She is also a twenty-year veteran of the public school system. After writing a booklet of chants to lesser-known Celtic deities to earn her second degree in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, she decided to combine her skills of writing and teaching to help others gain the confidence to write their own chants.
Orelia has been learning and working in Pagan and Wiccan circles in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic since 1997. She is a student of Katrina Messenger, an Initiate of the Order of the Elemental Mysteries and the Co-Convener of the Connect DC public ritual group. Orelia is a certified Archetypal Pattern Analyst and a licensed clinical social worker. She uses her spiritual vocation as a Navigator to inform her work as a healer and to help guide and support individual and community growth, development, ritual, and magick.
Rev. Ron Padrón (he/him/his) is the creator of White Rose Witching. He is a gay Cuban-American hedge priest from the swamps of Florida, now living in the mid-Atlantic with his husband and their small werewolf. He is specifically interested in divination, Queer Ancestor veneration, necromancy, hedge witchery, and spiritual activism. He has presented at gatherings such as the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore Festival, Hallowed Homecoming, Free Spirit Gathering, and Sacred Space. He is also a founder and co-editor of a punk spirituality zine, ALTAR PUNK, which is an interfaith project focused on reclaiming faith and spirituality from nationalist movements.
Solomon Pakal is a magical practitioner of over 20 years in numerous esoteric paths. He is a historian, former United States Army Officer, former professional athlete and Combat Sports Analyst. Solomon Pakal specializes in Angelic Magic as well as sorcery and devotion with the Gods of the Ancient Maya. He is of Kaqchikel Maya descent and was raised in this tradition of folk witchcraft by his family. Growing up in the Afro-Latino Folk Magic scene of Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, Solomon began practicing at a very young age and was fortunate to train with mentors from various backgrounds. Today, Solomon is focusing on spearheading a cutting edge approach to working with the Mayan Gods using traditional experience, pre-Columbian resources, and contemporary analysis. Currently, he offers divination and ritual services, and facilitates group rituals in the Norwalk, Akron, and Cleveland, Ohio areas.
Cairelle Perilloux is a genealogist, author, registered nurse, and mixed-media creatrix who has traveled a magical path for many years. She enjoys facilitating connections between the worlds of science and magic and, as one often finds in women of a certain age, her life’s journey and its work are multi-faceted. Under the pen name Cairelle Crow, she is the author of The Magic in Your Genes and contributing author and co-editor of Brigid’s Light. When she’s not riding on a Mardi Gras float in her hometown of New Orleans or traveling the world in search of grandmothers, quirky art, and stone circles, Cairelle lives with her beloveds in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Angela Raincatcher is a spirit-led visual artist living and working in the Washington-Baltimore metro area. Consciously pagan since the late 1980s and a priestess and community organizer since the early 2000s, Angela is the convener of the public ritual group Connect DC, head of the Artist Guild in the Order of Elemental Mysteries, creator of the North American Animal Wisdom Oracle, host of the Polytheism Today podcast, and co-founder of Your Magick Aunties. Angela’s canvas and studio are the crossroads and the sacred circle where the physical meets the spiritual to create manifest forms of beauty, healing, and transformation.
Dr. Gwendolyn Reece is the high priestess of Theophania, a coven in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel based in Washington, DC. She is the President of the Sacred Space Foundation (which runs the Sacred Space Conference) and is the author of The Waters of Mnemosyne: Ancient Greek Religion for Modern Pagans. She answered a call to service from Apollon and Athena and works to rebirth the aims of civic religion into contemporary magick and to reinvigorate the practice of philosophy (the practice of living as a lover of wisdom) within Modern Paganism. Gwendolyn is also a Theosophist and teaches for the Theosophical Society in America. She is a tenured faculty member at American University and also publishes scholarly works relevant to Paganism.
Murphy Robinson (he/they) is a magic-weaver, wilderness guide, animist, and activist. He specializes in trance journeying, the Norse runes, archery magic, and the sacred hunt. As a queer transmasculine priestx, he explores healthy and healing ways to reclaim the sacred masculine. Jamie Waggoner and Murphy founded Way of the Weaver in 2019, a school for spiritual skill-building and nurturing magical community.
Samphire Savage, MSW, SEP (any pronouns) is an embodiment specialist, game designer, storyteller, delightworker, and Good Trouble. A queermudgeon and aspiring Quest Giver who often find themselves dragged along on adventures, or doing witchy cryptid things in the woods. Samphire’s default world background in social work, public health, data design and systems transformation inform a habit of creating collaborative classes designed to teach complex concepts with fun and play. A decade plus in queer and spiritual communities blend with a science-minded approach to all their nerdy passions. Samphire’s certifications in somatic bodywork approaches and psychedelic-assisted interventions are part of a life of curiosity that somehow also finds time for cuddles, inspiration, writing, making weird art, singing with gusto, and tending the gardens of their friendships and communities.
Sarah Schrift is a professional visual artist, singer-songwriter, tarot reader, magickal practitioner, and a teacher. She has shown her work and performed in various venues and galleries along the East Coast and in the Midwest. Sarah has released two albums, “The Sours”, and “Ice Cream for Astronauts”. She is currently releasing singles with the group, Magickal Creatures. Sarah received a BFA from The Maryland Institute College of Art in painting and a MFA from Columbia University in studio art. Across all mediums, her work deals with divination, divinity, mediumship, religion, myth, folklore, interpersonal relationships, nature, nature spirits, and magick. You can find her work at www.sarahschrift.com and at www.magickalcreatures.com.
Ann Sheffield (“Gróa”) has been Heathen for thirty years and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Troth, an international organization promoting and supporting inclusive Heathenry. She is also a member of Whispering Lake Grove, Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF Druidry). Author of two books, Frey, God of the World and Long Branches: Runes of the Younger Futhark, Gróa has taught at multiple Heathen and Pagan venues including Between the Worlds/Sacred Space, ConVocation, and Sirius Rising. She is an active scholar in the academic field of Norse Studies and has taught Viking Age and early English history at the collegiate level. Gróa holds an MA in Medieval and Renaissance Literary Studies and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry.
David Shi is a shamanic worker and folk magic practitioner who primarily engages in traditional North Asian forms of shamanism. He is primarily of Manchurian descent, but can also trace ancestry to Mongolian, Chinese, Korean, as well as a little Tungus Siberian and ancient Central Asian Turkic heritage as well. Recognized as spirit-chosen shaman among both Mongolian and Korean elders, David’s practices are deeply rooted in spirit work in which ancestral and land spirits are called to empower all workings. David’s readings incorporate a combination of Tarot, Runes, Bones, and Jaw-harp, as well as Mongolian stone divination (known as Kumalak in Turkic Central Asia). David is the author of the books Spirit Voices: The Mysteries and Magic of North Asian Shamanism and North Asian Magic.
Jessica Shoemaker is currently a First Degree Member within the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel Tradition. She walks with one foot in this world and one in the other worlds as a certified Death Midwife, serving many areas including Wilmington, Delaware. Jessica is also a Reiki healer focused on land and personal healing. She enjoys embroidery, traveling, being with her loved ones, researching and creating magick and most of all, loves bringing joy to all around her!
Eryn Shrader is a sister of the Gnostic Celtic Church Monastery, the religious order of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA). Intertwined with her monastic vocation, Eryn is a registered nurse and certified holistic nurse, herbalist and spiritual director. Eryn began studying the occult as a teenager in the 90’s, and has studied with several Wiccan and eclectic covens over the years. She is currently studying in the Black Forest Tradition of Witchcraft, and is a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and the AODA. She is the owner of the Rebel Herbalist and podcasts at The Plant Witch Podcast.
Lane Smith is the author of 78 Acts of Liberation: Tarot to Transform Our World, published by Sounds True (August 2024). They are a transmasculine nonbinary writer with over twenty years of experience as an activist, organizer, and Tarot reader. Lane has presented their work at Salem Witch Fest, is the editor of the Tarot & Politics zine, and is a member of Solidarity Tarot where they live in Baltimore City, Maryland.
Michael G Smith has been practicing Wicca, Magick, and various esoteric disciplines since 1989 and became active in the Pagan community in 1993 when he joined the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, a Wiccan organization in the Mid-Atlantic region, and serves as an Elder of the ASW, responsible for the many covens of the Tradition and is heavily involved with the Tradition’s New Alexandrian Library. He is inspired by his studies of astrology, Qabalah, ritual, and the Fae. He lives in southern Delaware and is one of the stewards of Seelie Court, 100 acres of Pagan-owned land dedicated to the growth of the Pagan paths.
Ryan Smith has been a practicing Pagan since his teens with over fifteen years of experience in inclusive, anti-racist Heathen spirituality and is currently Provisional Chair of the Fellowship of Fire and Ice. He is the author of The Way of Fire and Ice: The Living Tradition of Norse Paganism and Spinning Wyrd: A Journey Through the Nordic Mysteries, has contributed to Bringing Race to the Table: Exploring Racism in the Pagan Community and No Pasaran: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis anthologies, and presented talks and rituals at the Harvard Divinity School, Pantheacon, and Hexenfest. Ryan is the host and producer of a Heathen podcast, the Wayward Wanderer, which is available wherever you get your podcasts.
Monica Stanton is a third degree high priestess within the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel. She has a master’s degree in history/archaeology and has traveled extensively around the world. When traveling, her focus is on the myths and legends of the local areas, learning as much as she can, and specifically seeking out the lions. Having had the privilege of living in the Middle East and Africa she was able to study them up close. Working with Sekhmet has taught her the many facets of the Goddess and how it is important not to listen to just one myth but to look at the overall picture. Most people know Sekhmet as the destroyer; She is so much more than that, just as the Lions, Sphinx, and Griffins are.
BJ Swain is the author of Living Spirits: A Guide to Magic in a World of Spirits, Luminarium: A Grimoire of Cunning Conjuration, and Familiar Unto Me: Witches Sorcerers and Their Spirit Companions. He was a contributing editor for Heaven and Hell 2018: The Grimoire Issue, and has had essays published in the devotional anthology for Persephone, Queen of the Sacred Way, and the short story collection, Tales of the Darkening Year. He runs the website The Unveiled Sky, and the blog Glory of the Stars, and hosted the podcast, In the Company of Stars. He has been practicing magic for approximately 30 years.
Izzy Swanson is a healer, teacher, and mentor specializing in the intersection of addiction, trauma recovery, and spiritual practice. Their blended approach to healing work integrates evidence-based research methodologies with intuitive guidance and devotional polytheism. Izzy has been practicing Earth-based spirituality for thirty years and has cultivated a deep relationship with Irish spiritual traditions. Since 2013 they have been a speaker and facilitator of courses focused on Celtic polytheism. Izzy is a co-founder of the Order of the Crows, a priesthood tradition honoring the Morrigan. They are the owner of Transformation Reiki and Liminal Crossings in Austin, Texas. Izzy makes a living as a trauma specialist, providing Reiki and healing services to clients with PTSD, auto-immune disorders, and stress-related illnesses.
Jhenah Telyndru (MA, Celtic Studies) is a priestess, author, and educator. She founded the Sisterhood of Avalon in 1995, and serves as Academic Dean of the Avalonian Theological Seminary. A formally trained Celticist through the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, she also holds a BA (Hons.) in Archaeology from Stony Brook University. Jhenah hosts residential training retreats around North America and the United Kingdom, presents internationally at conferences and festivals, teaches online workshops and immersion programs, and facilitates pilgrimages to sacred sites in the British Isles. Currently training to become an Awenydd Druid in the Anglesey Druid Order (ADO), Jhenah has been a priestess in the Avalonian Tradition for over thirty five years, and has been following a Pagan path since 1986.
Thealandrah is a pagan drawn to the archetypal energies of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon who once participated in a private evening ritual in the Great Pyramid of Giza. She is a member of Light Haven, a contacted mystery school in western North Carolina, and has been studying with Aeptha since its inception thirty years ago. Initiated into the Solomonic tradition by Shakmah Winddrum and Aeptha, she is now an Adept, Mahceptress and High Priestess of the lodge. Thealandrah is an aspiring animist, panpsychist, mystic, ceremonialist, and artist privileged to live in the mountains among tree friends, a sweet dog, Xanah, and that guy she’s been joyously traipsing through time with, Abbathoniah. She is happiest when creating and following her curiosity.
Sam “Bo” Thompson has been a practicing pagan since the 90’s. He is a past VP and President of Triad CUUPs (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans). He is a Reiki Master Teacher and a certified Great Life Coach. He started his blacksmithing journey around 2012 and took to it like a duck to water. His ‘steel and copper rose’ was a finalist in Our State Magazine. The seasonal weekend workshops he offers on Primitive Blacksmithing and Magical Blacksmithing are always full of folks from all over the country. The focal point of his Work is on the magical part of blacksmithing. He is currently a full-time primitive magical smith. His Work has been shipped over much of the world. Being a Priest of the Morrigan heavily influences his Work. His smithy is dedicated to Her. He is very proud to be an Army Veteran and is the author of the newly released book Metal Never Lies: An Introduction to Metal Magic.
Velahtar grew up on a horse farm just outside Elk Neck State Park and spent most of his childhood wandering through the woods and exploring nature. The inherent balance of nature inspired him to seek out a spirituality that matched his observations of the wilderness. In 1996 he began exploring the Wiccan religion as a solitary practitioner. Velahtar is currently initiated and an active participant in Light Havens’ Magickal Lodge. He was a 2nd degree acting high-priest in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel and coven member of Fellowship of the Ancient White Stag coven in the Silver Spring, Maryland area. Velahtar graduated from the inaugural class of Gryphons Grove School of Shamanism (located in Silver Spring, Maryland) in 2012. Velahtar has been a board member of the Sacred Space Foundation, a Mid-Atlantic esoteric conference, for over 15 years. Velahtar’s extensive education in the sciences of math, physics, and animal husbandry continually inform and expand his innate spirituality. His experience leads him to no longer see a line between spirit and science; they are intertwined with each other. Velahtar’s specialization in energy work and the creation of sacred space arises from combining numerous geometric and physical theories with energy/chi work. This work is useful during his shamanic work as the Guardian/Ward for Gryphons Grove, in creating specialized sacred space, and in trance possession rites. Velahtar also uses these skills professionally when working on house clearings and wardings.
Matthew Venus a traditional witch, artist, and folk magician based in Salem, Massachusetts whose craft is centered around a deep heart of animism and a dedication to ancestral and land based traditions. Over the past two decades Matthew has been sharing his teachings with students around the world through classes and courses which explore a diversity of topics related to witchcraft, herbalism, and folk magical traditions. His practice is further enriched by his role as Tata Ndenge in a lineage of Quimbanda Angola, and his experience as an aborisha in the Lucumí Orisha tradition. Matthew is the owner and lead apothecary of Spiritus Arcanum (SpiritusArcanum.com) an online and brick and mortar shop which specializes in handcrafted ritual incenses, oils, and talismanic art. He is also the co-founder of the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore Festival (SalemWitchFest.com) which hosts online and in-person events centered around magical education, community building, and activism.
Jamie Waggoner (she/her) is an author, Pagan priestess, and a practicing witch for more than twenty five years. Jamie is the author of Hades: Myth, Magic and Modern Devotion (Llewellyn, 2024), and contributor to Witchology Magazine, Haunted Magazine, and The Feminine Macabre, among others. Connect at www.jamiewaggoner.com or @jmwaggoner on social media. Jamie and Murphy Robinson founded Way of the Weaver in 2019, a school for spiritual skill-building and nurturing magical community.
Maria Wander is the NYC-based High Priestess to the coven Order of the World Tree and an initiate within the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, Gardnerian, and Cabot Traditions. A practicing astro-mage, ritualist and herbalist, she creates talismanic remedies, herbal/gem tinctures, and flower essences. A CAPISAR-certified astrologer and Director for the National Council of Geocosmic Research, her foci includes Hellenistic, Medieval, and Uranian astrology. She is an adept reader of Tarot, Lenormand, and Chaldean/Destiny cards. Maria holds a Doctorate of Nursing Practice and is a Federal biomedical informaticist, hypnotherapist, fiber artist, and university professor. She is co-writer of The Capricorn Witch with Ivo Dominguez, Jr. published by Llewellyn.
Rowanne ‘Boudica’ Wayland is a witch and dancer currently residing in Maryland. A member of the pagan community for over three decades, she follows an eclectic and meandering path that has worked its way into her dance. As a dancer she teaches and performs under the name of Boudica, and specializes in dark fusion, ritual, sword, and the Fat Chance styles of bellydance. When not performing or teaching, she can typically be found working in the garden, building Lego sets with her husband, or buried under a pile of rescue cats with a book in one hand and mug of tea in the other.
Kat Wheels has been active in the pagan community since 2009, and is a 2nd degree initiate of Grail of the Birch Moon, a coven in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel located in Wilmington, Delaware. She shares her love and joy of all things metaphysical and occult through her classes and ritual experiences, with a focus on pathworking and divine connections. When not writing, hosting, or sabbat-ing, you’ll find her offering Reiki healing sessions and classes, tarot and rune readings, and rune healing sessions. In her not-so-spare time, you’ll likely catch her tucked in a remote corner with her head buried in a Qabalistic tome or manifesting something crocheted.
Leandra Witchwood Witch | Wortcunner | Herbalist | Podcast Host | Author Leandra (She/Her) founded the Magick Kitchen Blog in 2011 to help witches learn and grow! Since then, The Magick Kitchen has evolved into a podcast, co-hosted with Elyse Welles of Seeking Numina. Leandra has written five books on Witchcraft including a book on shadow work for witches. Her work includes crafting sacred spaces through women’s circles, rituals, and workshops. She has led various circles at festivals and events with notable witchcraft and pagan figures. Leandra’s goal is to guide seekers, and witches toward manifesting their best and most magickal life through plant spirit allies, shadow work, folk and shamanic witchcraft, somatic practices, breathwork, and rituals while nurturing a deep connection to the Divine Feminine. Her work includes in-person circles, rituals, and events as well as online events, workshops, and courses.
Patricia Robin Woodruff (Boyana) (she/her) is an artist and writer, polymath and Priestess. Her Slavic Lemko heritage is from the Carpathian mountains and she is following a spirit-initiated path of a Lemko Bosorka (shamanic witch.) She is also training to become a ?erca (Slavic clergy) and was given the name of Boyana. Woodruff has a PhD in Metaphysical Theology. Her broad knowledge base combined with in-depth cross-cultural studies are providing groundbreaking new insights on the roots of magic in the Euro-Slavic lands. She is the author of the Roots of Slavic Magic Book 1: Slavic Deities & Their Worship (2024) and other books on Slavic beliefs.
Ralph Victoria Young has been practicing some form of magic since the late 1990s, and fell into Heathenry in 2015. A lineaged Hex in the Oley Freindschaft and the Blobarrick Freindschaft, Ralph is clergy in the Urglaawe religion and a certified Death Midwife. Intermittently, they host the Holle’s Haven podcast, and get out into their garden. When they are not singing to the land, they live in suburban Philadelphia with their spouse, toddler, and many cats.
Laura Tempest Zakroff & Nathaniel Johnstone
Tempest & Nathaniel Johnstone are a dance and music duo that craft dynamic ritual experiences. Tempest is a world-renowned mythic dance artist and Witch focusing on sacred and darkly inspired movements that pull from her background in the traditions of North Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and beyond. Nathaniel is a multi-instrumentalist virtuoso whose music pulls from myth, fantasy, and folklore with a vibrant sound that crosses boundaries and borders. Together they create sound, myth, and movement that captivates and inspires.
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