The Conference Programming Committee is pleased to preset the list of classes and worjshops for this year’s virtual conference. As always, we have a wide variety of topics, and we hope you will find so9meting to interet and excite you You can register to attend by clicking on this link: Register
A History of the Witch Persecutions
Ellen Evert Hopman
From the Bronze age through the Witch hysteria of the middle ages to Salem and beyond. I cover the timeline and tie it in to current world events. Based on my book “The Real Witches of New England – History, Lore and Modern Practice”.
Beat Anxiety & Regain the Sense of Control
Guzallia Davis
Hypnosis & magical practices that are easy to implement into a daily life to beat anxiety, regain the sense of control, manage stress, manifest reality consciously from the state of peace (instead of uncontrollable sporadic manifestations from the place of fear.
Creating Your Own Family Traditions- Going Beyond the Book Holidays
Tchipakkan
While group festivals are a lot of fun, they are not happening during the pandemic, and families often aren’t up for travel for every holiday anyway. Most holidays will be celebrated at home with just the family. (Some may be peculiar to your family alone, as our Broom Day celebration is.) This is a discussion on how to pick what days you want to celebrate and how- foods, decorations, personal small rituals… We create the patterns our kids follow (or will rebel against) every day- doing it consciously allows not only more control, but great joy and a chance for family communication- with the Gods and each other.
Dealing with Brain Fog
Catherine Kane
“Brain fog- a usually temporary state of diminished mental capacity marked by inability to concentrate or to think or reason clearly” – Merriam Webster
Having problems thinking? There’s a lot of different reasons your mind can get foggy. There’s a lot of different ways the fog can keep you from living your best life;and there’s a lot of different ways to deal with it.
Join Catherine Kane for a practical discussion of brain fog- what causes it, how it can limit you, and easy, user-friendly ways to manage, treat or cure it. Understand your unique fog better and build a practice that targets your specific brain needs. Give your brain a boost!
Engaging the Ancestors: A Mandate for Modern Magic
Orion Foxwood
We all arrive on earth riding on a current of ancestry, and we all leave on it too. We are bridges between generations and it and we must care for it yet too often people see ancestral matters as the past when it lives in us. Much of the future of our species is contingent upon its relationship to its past. All of us (human and other) partake of a great stream of life called the River of Blood. Yet, sadly few of us have a living awareness of it and how to access, navigate, and mediate it for the good of the past, present, and future. Orion will share lore and practices about types of ancestors, entanglements and entrenchments, the River and the simple technique to engage with it. f time allows he will also teach prayer techniques for engaging unredeemed and the exalted ancestors
Fairy Taxonomy: What Are Fairies Anyway?
Morgan Daimler
An in-depth discussion of what fairies are or may be and how they have been understood across the millennia. We will look at the words used to describe these beings, the way they have appeared in folklore, and theories on their nature and origins.
Gender in the Here and Now: This Isn’t Your Everyday David Bowie
Taliesin
In the era of Identity politics, me-too era, and the plethora of changing dynamics of identity & gender roles, Identity, labels & expectations, how does this impact the representation, histories and retrospective scrutiny of the lores, myths, and what the Gods represent to us from that cultural lens & literature?
History of Divination
Raven Kaldera
Throughout history, people have used everything from sneezing to burning turtle shells to the way mice gnawed cheese to predict the future and uncover the hidden. This class will talk about many of the strange and obscure forms of divination used in the past, as well as some new methods that modern Pagans have come up with in a pinch. Maybe you’ll come away with new techniques to pull out of your pocket!
Holda: A Domestic Goddess For This Time Of Lockdown
Raven Kaldera
In this time when so many of us are stuck at home cleaning out our closets, let’s talk about Holda, a Germanic goddess of the sacredness of domestic chores, hard work that goes unacknowledged, intentional cleaning and crafting, winter isolation, and the wild souls of dead children. We’ll learn how we can make external domestic work into internal cleansing of fear, stress, and despair.
Let’s Be A Psychic Chaplaincy Corps
Stone Riley
“Look: .. People are suffering all around us. Let’s help by seeing ourselves as PUBLIC DIVINERS. Let’s use the popular methods like Tarot etc., learn new or polish up our skills. Then START OFFERING TO OTHERS, reading at kitchen tables etc. like our predecessors did. IT BUILDS COMMUNITY. I have prepared AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION OF MANY FACETS of this idea, and written poems about it, and done Graphic Art too, and taken photos in my yard. You can prep by looking at a blog post Just search the web for.. “Stone Riley Druid Classroom Psychic Fair 2020″‘
Listening to the Wisdom from the Seashell Kingdom
Michelle Hanson
“In the silence, we are able to listen, and Mother Nature has so much to teach us if we are willing to listen. If we are open, we can avail ourselves of a variety of master teachers that do not come in human bodies. Many people are familiar with crystals from the mineral kingdom and earth element, and their benefit for mind, body and spirit. Seashells are crystals from the animal kingdom and water element, offering valuable guidance to assist us in navigating through life. They provide insights on a multitude of topics.
In this seminar, we will meet several seashell partners and explore their wisdom on such topics as pride, conquering victimization, sacrifice, and they have volumes to share on the topic of love. In the silence, your inner self can be heard. The shells function as tools that enable you to speak with your subconscious, allowing the inner self to communicate the information it considers most valuable for your growth. Once you discover any limiting beliefs, you have the opportunity to change them. Building from new beliefs will empower you to reshape your future.
If you have ever held a shell to your ear, instinct was telling you they have something valuable to say. In this workshop, you will learn to decode the language of these master teachers enabling you to listen to their wisdom.”
Make Your Own Babylonian-style Demon Trap
Sara Mastros
This workshop teaches the construction of Babylonian style incantation bowls, also called demon traps. A lecture on Babylonian professional wizardry, and on the history of this type of apotropaic bowl, combined with a teaching on how to adapt ancient magics to modern practice.
Palmistry in 60 minutes
Tchipakkan
Reading palms is not hard- in one hour you will walk away with enough of the basic skills to read your own palm, and those of your friends (not that you shouldn’t keep studying!). The most useful aspect of palmistry is learning about yourself, and thus gaining control of your future- and it’s fun too!
Path Working
Rev. Gretchen A.L. Schork, MA, OCL:AL
After a general description of the meditation technique called path working, we will do one, to meet the letter, the planetary guardian of the ruling planet, and other points related to the path we will use. A question and answer period will follow the experience.
Pride, Honor, and Face: Social Value and it’s Impact on Us.
Robert Nolan
Many culture around the world have systems that judge the value of the individual by their standing in a social measure, such as the Asian custom of “Face” or the North African family honor codes. These practices that have glued peoples together often clash with our modern values or personal ethics but they still have a large impact on our lives. Especially when we are dealing with people of disperate backgrounds. Through looking at them we can see where many misunderstanding come from as well as have a lens to examine the foibles of our own sensibilities.
Re-Consecrating the Underworld: A Co-Creative Call to Action
Orion Foxwood
“The Unguent of the Under-Country is the Salve of the Soul!”
There is a core-wound sitting in the heart of humanity that is the single most
destructive force to earth and her life. It is a side-effect of a central nervous system that grew too fast over-specialization, and of a drift away from the integrative wisdom of the depths for the expansiveness of the heights. There is a saying “you cannot bless the fruits and curse the roots”. Understanding this is more important now than ever before! The cure is in the underworld but it must be sought not for self but for all and there is help there offered by the Eldest wisdom of humanity and the ancestors of all earth-life- those luminous companions of humanity known as the “angels in the earth” known as the Si’, the Good People, the Shining Ones and theTylwyth Teg. but- they will not come unbidden. Our conscious return to the uprising ancestral power and our emergent life is the most important step to healing it. This requires us to look deep into the underbelly of life and unearth the treasures and the shadows in ourselves, and consecrate (make holy) our relationship to it.
Where did the core wound come from?
What other wounds have grown out from it (symptoms)?
What can we do to heal it?
What is our role as modern Pagans in this restoration of roots?
Know this core wisdom – Life does not descend from above, it rises from below.
The Underworld powers as integrative, restorative, and connective.
Original Innocence, Sacred Melancholy, and Reverent Rage.
Opening the Well of Knowing (the Faery Well), the “Call of Completion” Techniques
The “Invocation to the Under-Country”.
Life Does Not Descend from Above- It Rises from Below!
Regaining Your Center (In Trying Times)
Catherine Kane
The winds of a hurricane are powerful and destructive, but the eye of the hurricane is calm and still. When things seem to be falling apart, your life may feel out of control like a hurricane, but if you know how to find and hold your center, you reclaim your power to cope with life as it comes.
Join Catherine Kane for an exploration of ways of finding that calm, strong center in yourself. Learn simple practical techniques you can use immediately to regain your center in challenging times.
Rhiannon’s Lark Concert
Alyssa Yeager
Alyssa Yeager is known for her magickal, mystical story-telling. She weaves a tapestry of personal tales, myths, and moral choices in a chaotic world with her folk style and instrumentation. This geek-goddess-girl tackles everything from krakens to ethical dilemmas with insightful lyrics, gorgeous vocals, and gentle humor.
Runes: The Elder, Anglo-Saxon, and Younger Futharks
Jane Sibley
From posited origins through medieval times, runes were commonly used in northern Europe. We will explore the historical usage of these characters, including reference to more modern applications thereof.
Talismans, Sigils, and Amulets: Oh My! Introduction to Symbology
Ariel Sirocco
Discover what power lies in these fabled tools of the spiritualist and magician when symbols are used to their full potential. How do they work? How to use them? Learn how to “stack them”” and design your own magical engines.
By learning the secret language of fable and legends, mythology and occult thought, we learn “The Rosetta Stone” of All Mysteries”.
So, join Ariel Sirocco and begin unraveling the secrets of the spiritual power behind words and symbols. (secret decoder ring included!) Discussion and Q&A afterwards
The Death Dogs of Egypt
Lady AMber Dawn
Death Dogs: The Jackal Gods of Ancient Egypt. Anubis: Embalmer and Protector of the Dead. Anubis embalming Djehutymose, in a scene from the Djehutymose coffin. Anubis is the best known of the Egyptian jackal gods, in part because of his importance. “
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of the afterlife, death and resurrection of ancient Egypt and Kemit
The Light Has Healing In Its Wings: Golden Dawn Healing
Kirk White
This is a brief, world-wind introduction to a new diagnostic and healing approach based on the Hermetic and Qabalistic teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. No previous Western Esoteric knowledge required but helpful.
The Tarot – Many Decks Many Meanings
LoonWitch
“There are literally thousands of tarot decks on the market today. How do you decide which deck is the right fit for you? Do all of the cards mean the same thing? Why can’t I stop buying tarot decks?
These are some of the questions that you may ask yourself when you begin and progress on your tarot journey. And I hope to help you understand the answers.
While the tarot is aligned to ancient archetypes, not all of the fool cards, magicians, etc will speak the same language. The tarot has evolved as much as language has evolved and each tarot reader has his or her own connection with their deck.
In this workshop / open discussion we will explore the evolution of this amazing divination tool and discuss how you can create a bond with your deck and allow it to speak to you in the language that suits you both best!”
Prerequisite: A basic knowledge of the tarot is helpful but not necessarily required. Just an open mind and curiosity about the cards.
Traditional Norse Folk and Magic Medicine
Jane Sibley
As far back as the saga times, if not before, the Norse had very practical, as well as folkloric, ways of treating medical situations in man and beast. Herbalism was paramount; nutrition was well understood, and the use of various placebo treatments, mostly to impress the sufferer or his/her livestock, were employed. Naming a disease =>identifying and controlling it. From the early records, we can see what ailments were most known in those early times. Many treatments were (and still are) effective and safe.
Vibrational Therapy
Taliesin
“In this class, we will discuss what vibrational therapy is, the mechanics of vibration therapy, and the medicinal/therapeutic applications. Included will be singing bowl, musical instrument, our bodies, our voices, crystals & rocks, even how we perceive it and applies to & within other healing systems.