Create Your Own Rite Of Passage Ritual

Our final special guest workshop of 2023 is about how to: Create Your Own Rite Of Passage Ritual!

The dominant overculture celebrates a few notable rites of passage, most of them related to milestones of age, academics, relationships, and careers. These rites of passage are largely celebratory in nature, but ritualizing rites of passage in the context of our magickal practice can serve even deeper functions. They can move us forward, with courage and confidence, into something new; help us leave behind that which no longer serves our greatest good; affirm our identities; and deepen our spiritual connections with ourselves and the most important people in our lives.

In this interactive workshop, we will explore different types of rites of passage, the building blocks of a rite of passage ritual, ways to make your ritual unique and deeply meaningful within your own personal magickal context, and tips and tricks for collaborating with groups. Through guided meditation followed by journaling prompts, each participant will leave the workshop with an initial draft of a rite of passage ritual. Please bring paper and a writing utensil (or a laptop or tablet) to create your draft ritual.

The Genderqueer Tree of Life

Our first of two Saturday special guest workshops: The Genderqueer Tree of Life.

The Hermetic Qabala is often perceived as an old-fashioned, patriarchal magickal tool full of absolutes and gender binaries. However, a deeper look within reveals all kinds of complicated, multi-faceted, and fluid gender and magickal polarities.

This class will provide a brief introduction to Hermetic Qabala, including a pathworking where participants can experience the energy of each sphere on the tree, followed by an analysis on the use of gender and polarity in magick. We will then look at the use of gender and polarities on the Tree of Life and consider how this can relate to our magickal perspectives and practices. The class will conclude by offering a sample model for applying a queer lens to the Tree of Life, offering participants the tools necessary to develop their own.

Queering Your Magickal Practice

Our first special guest workshop of the weekend: Queering Your Magickal Practice!

For LGBTQIAP2S+ people, certain “traditional” aspects of various magickal practices may feel somewhat alienating. When spiritual groups and texts lean on myth cycles and ritual aspects focused on fertility and virility and use heteronormative symbolism, it becomes difficult for us to see ourselves in the magick. In this highly interactive and discussion-based workshop, explore how myth cycles, ritual structures, and traditional magickal practices can be adapted and viewed through a queer lens to be more all-inclusive and empower everyone, particularly people who are too often marginalized in our society.

Enfys Book

Enfys J. Book (they/them) is an author, priestx, blogger, teacher, performer, singer, songwriter, and comedian. They are the author of Queer Qabala: Nonbinary, Genderfluid, Omnisexual Mysticism & Magick (Llewellyn, June 2022) and co-author (with Ivo Dominguez, Jr.) of the forthcoming Sagittarius Witch (Llewellyn, 2024). They are also a founding member of the “funny, filthy, feminist, fandom folk” band The Misbehavin’ Maidens, the creator of a website on queer magick called majorarqueerna.com, and the host of a podcast called “4 Quick Q’s: Book Talk with Enfys,” where they interview pagan authors using questions determined by a roll of the dice.

They have taught many classes on Tarot, Hermetic Qabala, and queering one’s magical practice at conferences and events around the United States. As a nonbinary, bisexual pagan and performer, Enfys employs a queer lens to break down limiting binaries in magickal practice, and advocates for bi-, trans-, non-binary/genderqueer-, queer-, and asexual-visibility and inclusion through their writing and music.

Enfys is the author of:

  • Queer Qabala: Nonbinary, Genderfluid, Omnisexual Mysticism & Magick (Llewellyn, 2022)
  • 2024 Sabbats Almanac (contributor) (Llewellyn, 2023)
  • Sagittarius Witch (co-authored with Ivo Dominguez, Jr.) (Llewellyn, 2024)

For more information about Enfys, visit their website at: majorarqueerna.com

2023 Workshops

We Are Aradia – Empowerment Workshop & Ritual with Tempest

Our first special guest workshop of the weekend: We Are Aradia – Empowerment Workshop & Ritual with Tempest. The content of this workshop will prepare us for our evening ritual and the start of our weekend retreat.

#WeAreAradia reminds us: “These are the times we were made for.” The Goddess Diana saw her people were suffering from tyranny. She sent her daughter Aradia to earth to teach us the secrets of witchcraft so that we could rise up. We don’t need a savior. We must save ourselves. We need to be the Witches the world needs. This presentation will have two parts: first the workshop/discussion, followed by a ritual. In the workshop section, we’ll cover some history (ancient and modern), look at practical witchery (offensive and defensive), discuss resources and ideas to fortify your practice. In the ritual part, we will invoke Aradia to once again bring her wisdom to us – to protect, guide, and strengthen: to empower everyone who needs it.

– LTZ

Laura Tempest Zakroff

Laura Tempest Zakroff is a professional artist, author, performer, and Modern Traditional Witch based in New England. She holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her artwork has received awards and honors worldwide. Her work embodies myth and the esoteric through her drawings and paintings, jewelry, talismans, and other designs. She is the creative force behind several community events and teaches workshops online and worldwide.

Laura is the author of:

  • Weave the Liminal
  • Sigil Witchery
  • Anatomy of a Witch
  • Liminal Spirits Oracle (artist/author)
  • The Witch’s Cauldron
  • The Witch’s Altar (with Jason Mankey)
  • The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance (editor)

For more information about Laura, visit her website at: www.lauratempestzakroff.com/

2022 Workshops

Scott Mohnkern

Scott Mohnkern—founder of the Modern Heathen and founding member of Potomac Seidr Guild Ondvegisulur—was raised as a Methodist. Since that time he has migrated through various philosophies which ultimately brought him to heathenism, where he has been active for the last 20 years. He currently teaches courses about Heathenism online and in person, and helps run Oracular Seidr rituals. He’s written several books on Northern European topics including the runes, and rituals. He most recently served as coordinator for Free Spirit Gathering Online 2021. His current projects include a book on Northern European philosophy and composing music for an operatic singer to be performed in England in 2022.

Scott received his B.A. from Beloit College in both International Relations and Music, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver College of Law. He currently resides with his wife and her partner, in Germantown, MD. He holds multiple certifications in various technical topics, as well as both in person and online education.

Outside of his spiritual pursuits, Scott has served as a network security and courseware developer for the last 11 years.

For more information, visit: http://www.modernheathen.com

Workshops

  • Introduction to Heathenism
  • Scribe, Philosopher, Mystic: Approaches to Religion
  • Creating Bind Runes
  • Developing a Relationship with Northern European Deities

Amy Blackthorn

Amy Blackthorn has been described as an “arcane horticulturalist” for her lifelong work with magical plants. She incorporates her experiences in British Traditional Witchcraft with her horticulture studies. She is a clinical aromatherapist and is ordained. Amy’s company, Blackthorn Hoodoo Blends, creates tea based on old hoodoo herbal formulas. She lives in Delaware.

She is the author of:

  • Blackthorn’s Botanical Magic: The Green Witch’s Guide to Essential Oils for Spellcraft, Ritual & Healing
  • Sacred Smoke: Clear Away Negative Energies and Purify Body, Mind, and Spirit

For more information about Amy, visit her website at: https://amyblackthorn.com

Workshops

  • Aromatherapy for Religion and Ritual
  • Making Magical Oils
  • Burnt Offerings: Magical Incense

H. Byron Ballard

H. Byron Ballard, BA, MFA, is a western NC native, teacher, folklorist, and writer. She has served as a featured speaker and teacher at Sacred Space Conference, Summerland Spirit Festival, Pagan Spirit Gathering, Southeast Wise Women’s Herbal Conference, Glastonbury Goddess Conference, and more. She is senior priestess and co-founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple in Asheville, NC.

Her essays are featured in several anthologies and she writes a regular column for Witches and Pagans Magazine.

She is the author of multiple books, including:

  • Staubs and Ditchwater
  • Asfidity and Mad-Stones
  • Embracing Willendorf: A Witch’s Way of Loving Your Body to Health and Fitness
  • Earth Works: Eight Ceremonies for a Changing Planet

She is currently working on a new book: Gnarled Talisman: Old Magics of the Motherland.

For more information about Byron, visit her web site at: http://www.myvillagewitch.com/

Workshops

  • Practical Ancestor Work
  • The Spirit-Haunted Landscape: The Spirits of the Land and of Our Ancestors
  • The People’s Craft – Folk Magic and Its Peasant Roots

Ivo Dominguez, Jr.

Ivo Dominguez Jr is a visionary and practitioner of a variety of esoteric disciplines.  He has been active in Wicca and Pagan community since 1978 and has been teaching since 1982.  Ivo was a founding member of the first coven of The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, a Wiccan Tradition where he currently serves as one of its Elders.

He is the author of multiple books, including:

  • Casting Sacred Space:  The Core of All Magickal Work
  • Spirit Speak:  Knowing and Understanding Spirit Guides, Ancestors, Ghosts, Angles, and the Divine
  • Beneath the Skins
  • Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans:  Using the Planets and the Stars for Effective Spellwork, Rituals, and Magickal Work
  • The Keys to Perception: A Practical Guide to Psychic Development

Workshops

  • Hauntings, Spirits of the Dead, and the Ancestors
  • The Triple Shadow: The Shadow of the Three Selves
  • Ancestors, Patrons, and Egregores

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