Classes & Rituals 2022
The Gathering Paths August 5th - 7th, 2022
DoubleTree Hotel, San Jose, CA
Saturday 9 AM
Room: Oak
Children's Ritual of the Elements
Presenter: Helena Handbasket
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Intended for children under 12 and their accompanying adults.
We will explore the 4 elements through visuals, song, physical movement, and discussion, and then perform a ritual to welcome the elements. Each participant will get a token to represent each element that they can keep.
Helena Handbasket has raised two children in the pagan community & led community rituals in a variety of settings and is an elder in multiple lines of British Traditional Wicca.
Room: San Juan/San Carlos
Digital Privacy Witchcraft
Presenter: MistressPrime
Pronouns: She/Her/They/Them
We’ve all seen it happen, someone, you know sends you a “friend” request. But aren’t you already friends with them? The name and profile photo are correct so you assume something happened and they’re re-adding you. And just like that, you receive a vague message containing dubious links… all is not as it seems.
Learn ways to help secure your social media accounts from scam artists and help prevent spoofing. We’ll also touch on how to deal with social media accounts after the owner has died. In this workshop, you will learn the ins and outs of your security and privacy settings on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., and methods to help keep yourself safe online. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss situations. This workshop is great for beginners and those who are not necessarily web or tech-savvy, but open to all who may wish to learn more.
MistressPrime is an Elder HPs trained in three different Wiccan traditions, a Faery Seer Apprentice with Orion Foxwood, and a few other magical traditions.
Over the last 20 years, they've been the Organizer for the Orange County Pagans, Witches, & Heathens Meetup group.
For more than a decade they also served as entertainment coordinator and stage manager for Pagan Pride LA/OC. They were also the first POC elected as National First Officer in the 40+ year history of Covenant of the Goddess and held many other board positions for CoG at both national and local council levels.
As a public figure they have spent many years working with the media, with appearances on WE TV’s “The Secret Lives of Women -Occult”, on the cover of the O.C. Register newspaper, featured on CBS News and KCAL news, Buzzfeed’s “We Practiced Magic with a Real Witch” and many more radio, TV, online articles and podcast interviews.
With credentials from Harvard University, MistressPrime spends weekdays consulting with clients about cybersecurity risk management and privacy.
However, when not cleansing a ritual space or sanitizing a client’s online presence, they can be heard interviewing fascinating magical people alongside their co-host Tyler Matthews on their podcast, Ravens at the Crossroads.
OC Pagans, Witches, & Heathens Meetup
meetup.com/OCPagan
Facebook: OfficialMistressPrime
Instagram: @officialmistressprime
Twitter: @MistressPrime
Ravens at the Crossroads podcast
www.ravensatthecrossroads.com
Saturday 11 AM
Room: Cedar-Pine
Alchemical Sound Bath
Presenter: Carmela Obscura
Pronouns: She/Her
This ritual is an alchemical sound immersion with chimes and crystal sound bowls, intended to create an ethereal escape.
This would be ideal for attendees looking to search within themselves, experience a sound bath or need to escape from the bustle of conventions and engage in stillness."
Carmela is a 1st-generation Afro-Filipina, 3rd-generation Albularya. Her creative disposition and adolescent awareness of alchemy and metaphysics have guided her through successful ventures in dance, pastry arts, nutrition and herbalism.
These acquisitions were later integrated as platforms to fulfill her purpose as an embodied healer.
Thus far in the path, she earned mastery in Reiki, certified herbalism, deepened the connection in spirit consultation, breathwork facilitation, entheogens guide and an alchemical sound bath musician.
Room: Oak
Success Is Your Proof; Courage Is Your Armor
Presenter: Lasara Firefox Allen
Pronouns: They/Them
Hone your magickal manifestation skills! Making magick REAL is a cultivated talent. The reality is that manifestation comes down to grit and elbow grease, in addition to the more starry-eyed elements of living into the dreams you hold for yourself. If planning isn’t magick than what is it? Where does pragmatism leave off and magick begin? For some of us, the two are one and the same! Lasara, a lifelong Witch, successful teacher and author, and recent MSW grad who is smashing it professionally, will share their grounded and accessible magickal and pragmatic skill sets and technologies for manifesting life goals and aspirations. No matter where on your magickal path you currently stand, you are sure to gain something worth carrying away with you.
Lasara Firefox Allen (they/them/theirs) Lasara Firefox Allen (they/them/theirs) is a writer, Witch, and gritty academic. Having grown up in the wilds of Mendocino County, Lasara currently resides in Oakland, with/in the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Ohlone people. Lasara is a peer and a social work practitioner who practices from an intersectional and anti-oppression-focused feminist framework. They are a co-conspirator for our collective liberation.
Room: Fir
Ask a Native
Presenter: Kanyon CoyoteWoman & Gregg Castro
Pronouns: Kanyon: She/They/Coyote
Gregg: He/Him
Come sit with two Natives indigenous to the Bay Area and learn some great things.
Kanyon Sayers-Roods is Costanoan Ohlone-Mutsun and Chumash; she also goes by her given Native name, “Coyote Woman”. She is proud of her heritage and her native name (though it comes with its own back story), and is very active in the Native Community. She is an Artist, Poet, Published Author, Activist, Student and Teacher. The daughter of Ann-Marie Sayers, she was raised in Indian Canyon, trust land of her family, which currently is one of the few spaces in Central California available for the Indigenous community for ceremony. Kanyon’s art has been featured at the De Young Museum, The Somarts Gallery, Gathering Tribes, Snag Magazine, and numerous Powwows and Indigenous Gatherings. She is a recent graduate of the Art Institute of California, Sunnyvale, obtaining her Associate and Bachelor of Science degrees in Web Design and Interactive Media. She is motivated to learn, teach, start conversations around decolonization and reinidgenization, permaculture and to continue doing what she loves, Art.
Gregg Castro [t'rowt'raahl Salinan/rumsien-ramaytush Ohlone], has been involved in preservation of his cultural heritage for over three decades, for both his late Mother’s rumsien Ohlone heritage, and on his late Father’s side, the since ended ‘Salinan Nation Tribal Council’ (serving two terms as Tribal Chair) and currently the non-profit organization, Salinan T’rowt’raahl. Gregg is a member of the Society for California Archaeology (SCA). He serves on SCA’s Native American Programs Committee (NAPC) as Chairperson. Gregg is a Co- Facilitator for the annual California Indian Conference. He is now the Culture Director of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone; within that role he is on the Advisory Board of the San Francisco American Indian Cultural District. Gregg is a writer and activist within the California indigenous community, on issues regarding cultural preservation, protection, education and traditional practices.
Facebook: gregg.castro.35
Room: Carmel/Monterey
Axxcom - Caucus of Pagans With Access Needs
Presenter: Phoenix Starr
A gathering of pagans with all manner of access needs ~ physical, neurological, psychological, financial, linguistic, etc. ~ to discuss our experiences in the pagan/polytheist/occult/etc. community. A combination of support group and action committee deeply indebted to similar efforts at conventions past for pagans of color and gender-diverse pagans, this is a chance to talk amongst ourselves without abled pagans around.
This caucus is closed to people without access needs. If you are wondering if you are Disabled, Autistic, mentally ill, etc., enough to attend, then that means this caucus is for you; be welcomed! If you are abled, allistic, sane, etc., please don't come. There will be a reminder that the space is closed at the beginning of the caucus and there might be reminders as appropriate, but we won't police anyone or ask anyone to out themselves or describe their diagnoses.
Room: San Juan/San Carlos
The Evil Eye and Folk Magic of the Silk Road
Presenter: Morgana RavenTree
Pronouns: She/Her
The concept of the “Evil Eye” occurs in cultures around the world, but few people understand exactly what that means or how it works. Focusing on the cultures of Central Asia (aka The Silk Road), Morgana will show slides of Central Asian talismanic jewelry and costume decoration, present a live performance of a shamanic healing dance, and “show & tell” items from her personal collection. This is a unique opportunity to learn about how cultures of the Silk Road use magic to protect against the Evil Eye, to this day.
Morgana RavenTree has been a practicing witch since 1978 and an Egyptian Priestess since 1993. A former anthropologist, she has always had a strong interest in studying non-North American cultures. As a member of Avaz International Dance Theatre since 1987, she has had the opportunity to study the cultures of the Balkans, Central Asia, the Middle East and Persia. A serious student of Silk Road cultures since 1991, she has studied with Honored Artists of Uzbekistan Viktoria Akilova and Qizlarkhon Dustmukhemedova, as well as Carolyn Krueger of Gulistan Dance Company and Dr. Robyn Friend. She is also the current President of Pagan Pride Los Angeles, Inc. and First Officer of the Orange County Local Council of Covenant of the Goddess, and teaches traditional Wicca in Southern California.
Instagram: @ghostwheel13
paganpridela.org
morgana@paganpridela.org
Room: San Simeon/San Martin
Initiation in Thelema and The Western Mystery Tradition
Presenters: Zeph Bender
Pronouns: He/Him
Initiation is a transformative process which leads aspirants to the most vital knowledge available: who and what we are as individuated aspects of divinity. The teachings and techniques of initiation include all the tools necessary to make that discovery, and to then bring that knowledge to life in all our works.
This program will provide a brief history of initiation, a discussion of its purposes, and an overview of its teaching and techniques. Please join us if you are seeking a greater depth of wisdom about the constitution of ourselves and the universe, and the path which joins these two seemingly separate manifestations.
Zeph Bender has been a student of Thelema and the Western Mystery Tradition since 1989, and an initiate since 1997. He regularly teaches students in both private and public settings on such subjects as initiation, qabalah, alchemy, astrology, and tarot. He is the Prolocutor of Temple of Thelema.
Saturday Lunch 12:30 - 2 PM
Saturday 2 PM
DUE TO AN INJURY, THIS PRESENTATION HAS BEEN CANCELED
Room: Cedar-Pine
The Magick of the Heart
Presenter: Irisanya Moon
18+ only (ID required)
If how you relate to one thing is how you relate to everything, how are your relationships right now? In this presentation, Irisanya Moon will talk about how to build better relationships to self and deities (or however you call and experience divine), as well as how to shift when things aren't going well. Through connection, we support ourselves, our magick, and our resilience.
Irisanya Moon is an author, priestess, and teacher in the Reclaiming Witchcraft tradition, facilitating classes and camps the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. She was initiated into the tradition in 2014. She contributes to Moon Books anthologies, including Ancestral Healing, Weathering the Storm, Paganism 101, Naming the Goddess, Pagan Planet, and The Goddess in America, as well as Witches&Pagans magazine, “Elements of Magic” (Llewellyn) and "The New Aradia" by Revelore Press. She is a current blogger for Patheos Pagan. Irisanya has published Pagan Portals - Reclaiming Witchcraft; Pagan Portals - Aphrodite; Practically Pagan: An Alternative Guide to Health and Well-being; and Pagan Portals - Iris: Goddess of the Rainbow and Messenger of the Godds, with more coming. Her magick focuses on cultivating resilience through trance, aspecting, writing, and embodiment, offering safe containers for exploration and witnessing each other. Learn more at www.irisanyamoon.com.
Room: Oak
(description & bio pending)
Room: Fir
Ethically Approaching Baneful Magic
Presenter: Sidney Eileen
Pronouns: Ze/Zir/Zirs
Baneful magic is a very hotly debated subject in witchcraft. Ethics and morality are mentioned a great deal, usually with all parties admitting that ethics are a critical aspect to determining whether
or not baneful magic should be used. However, there is also usually little or no clarification about what that means, or how to personally evaluate the ethics of potential baneful workings. Join me as we weigh the often debatable, cultural, and personal nature of magical morality and ethics alongside some common motivations for doing baneful magic. We will examine common attitudes towards and frameworks for the ethics of baneful magic, being mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of each. After that we will discuss some ways to approach finding and using your personal moral compass, so that you can decide for yourself how you want to approach baneful magic, or if you want to do it at all.
Sidney Eileen is a nonbinary, transgender, asexual, animistic, polytheist witch, and an artist, blogger, writer, and teacher. They acknowledge divinity and unique natures in not just deities, but in all manner of ephemeral and supernatural beings, spirits, living beings, and the souls that embody the physical objects and spaces around us. Their practice is lifelong and of an intuitive nature, seeking fulfillment through mutable asymmetrical balance. Their perspective as a witch and an artist influences everything they do.
Instagram: @sidney_eileen
Facebook: bySidneyEileen
Twitter: @sidney_eileen
Room: Carmel/Monterey
BIPOC Caucus
Facilitator: Jonathan Quant
Pronouns: He/Him
If you identify under the BIPoC umbrella please join a round table discussion with focal points surrounding what support and access looks like for BIPoC at BTV events, what keeps you going to, or prevents you from going to events, and to discuss ideas for future conferences and events such as topics and presenters you'd like to see.
This caucus is closed to anyone who does not identify under the BIPOC umbrella so that we can talk about topics that affect us in a safe space.
Room: San Juan/San Carlos
Intro to Radical Heathenry
Presenter: Ryan Smith
Pronouns: He/Him
Modern Norse practice is growing like never before, with more inclusive, animist forms rising to prominence in the community with Fire & Ice practice on the forefront of these new innovations. Join the author of "The Way of Fire & Ice" for a discussion and workshop on Radical Heathenry, developing personal interpretation, and applying living tradition to your personal practice.
Ryan Smith has over a decade of experience organizing Pagan and Norse Pagan groups. Ryan has facilitated workshops, talks, and rituals at PantheaCon and Many Gods West along with group and solitary ritual work in local communities. He is one of the founders of Heathens United Against Racism (HUAR). His other works can be found online at onblackwings.com and at the Wayward Wanderer on Soundcloud.
Room: San Simeon/San Martin
Targeting Steps for Effective Magick: An Interactive Ritual Construction Workshop
Presenters: Billie Austin & Chad Augur
Pronouns: She/Her & He/Him
The effectiveness of ritual comes from the focus and clarity of the intention behind it. In fact, often simply defining what you are truly seeking and developing a clear visualization of that inevitability will bring the desired results. Together, we will explore tried-and-proven methods of examining and defining our own intentions and integrating them with a symbol set to construct a powerful personal ritual.
This workshop is open to beginners and experienced practitioners alike.
Billie Austin is a ceremonial magician and artist living in the Bay Area. In Temple of Thelema she is honored to serve her community as an initiate and as Bursar of Burning Hearts Pronaos.
Chad Augur is a father, ceremonial magician, phenomenologist, technologist, and artist Chad Augur has a very pragmatic and experiential approach to Magick; holding firmly to the axiom “The method of Science, the aim of Religion.” The awareness of universal patterns practiced and observed in the microcosm of ritual brought into daily life and applied to our actions is the particular focus of Chad’s work. First introduced to Occultism in the late 90’s, he initiated into the Temple of Thelema in 1998, and has been blessed to have both Phyllis Seckler (Soror Meral) and James A. Eshleman as teachers. Chad has been most honored to serve his community in many capacities: as an initiate, Temple Chief and Pronaos Governor, and currently as Grand Cancelarius of Temple of Thelema and Secretary of the College of Thelema.
Saturday 4 PM
Room: Cedar-Pine
Ritual for the Breaking of Energetic Ties
Presenter: Wintersong Tashlin
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Been through a rough break up? Recently left a difficult job? Moved on from a coven or faith tradition that still has a hold on you? Still feel tied to someone or something in your life but feel like you need to move on? We form all kinds of energetic and magical ties, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident as we go about our lives, particularly as spiritual beings. In this ritual, we’ll join together to sever the ties that bind us and hold us back.
Wintersong Tashlin (http://WinterTashlin.com) is a spirit worker, magician, educator, and activist who runs rituals and teaches classes on topics such as magic, spirituality, alternative sexuality, and relationships. His ritual work largely focuses on rites of personal transformation and ordeal; while his magical work is focused on a systematic approach to the interactions between people and the energies around us. As a spirit worker, Winter works with the wandering Dead, along with a diverse range of gods and spirits; offers divination service; and facilitates rituals for both individuals and communities on his own and with Clan Tashlin/Tashrisketlin, of which he is one of the founders. Wintersong has presented workshops and/or run rituals at events throughout the northeast and across the USA. His writing and photography has been featured in NewWitch Magazine, HUGGIN, and books by leading pagan authors.
Room: Oak
My Story So Far...
Presenter: Unkle Blacktalon Destiny
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Ancestors& Orisha: My journey so far... There are stories we tell for amusement and education. I what share what my journey, my story so far has. Working with and working on healing my Ancestor and the guidance from the Orisha.
Unkle Blacktalon Destiny is a member of American Umbanda House (AMUH), and has been practing with them for the 8+ years in the Orisa Faith(African-Diaspora). Uncle Destiny has also studied Hoodoo, Eclectic spirituality, Spiritualism, and Wicca. A devotee of Anansi, and the Power of Stories. Which adds to his work as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.
YouTube: UnkleBTDestiny
Room: Fir
Envisioning Decolonizing Anti-Racist Cultures of the European Diaspora Workshop for Pagans
Presenter: Liam Harwyn and Kanyon CoyoteWoman
Pronouns: Liam -They/Them/He/Him/His,
Kanyon: She/They/Coyote
Based on a set of guidelines written by Kanyon CoyoteWoman Sayers Roods and Liam Harwyn, we recognize that for white supremacy to be eradicated we need alternative cultural moorings for European settler descendants that are explicitly anti-racist and decolonizing. The European diaspora includes European descendants and anyone who has been affected by white supremacist culture.
Kanyon CoyoteWoman Sayers-Roods is an Ohlone & Chumash California Native Woman. She is a creative artist, catalyst of decolonizing conversations, contemp/traditional artist, Native Representative, CEO of Kanyon Konsulting LLC and founder of Indian Canyon Two Spirit Society, advocate of truth in history, “Coyote”, T.E.K educator, and much more.
Liam is a nonbinary, transgender white settler descendant living on stolen Miwok and Pomo land. They are a writer, student of decolonization and a witch.
Room: Carmel/Monterey
Transgender/Non-Binary/Gender-Nonconforming/Agender Caucus
Presenter: Phoenix Starr
AA gathering of gender-diverse pagans ~ transgender, non-binary, gender-nonconforming, agender, and others ~ to discuss our experiences in the pagan/polytheist/occult/etc. community. A combination of support group and action committee deeply indebted to similar efforts at conventions past for pagans of color, this is a chance to talk amongst ourselves without cisgender pagans around.
This caucus is closed to cisgender people. If you are wondering if you are trans enough to attend, then that means this caucus is for you; be welcomed! If you are cisgender, please don't come. There will be a reminder that the space is closed at the beginning of the caucus and there might be reminders as appropriate, but we won't police anyone or ask anyone to out themselves.
Room: San Juan/San Carlos
Hermeticism, Mysticism & Magic in Renaissance Art
Presenter: Daniel Gautier
This presentation will examine the spiritual and mystical significance of the work of such painters as Botticelli, Raphael, and Durer. Also addressed will be the initiatory, Hermetic lineage and the pagan philosophies of Pythagoreanism and Platonism which deeply influenced the Renaissance Florentine Platonic School. I will also examine those key Hermetic/Alchemical writings, the Emerald Tablet and The Divine Pymander.
Daniel Gautier is a painter, composer, and author whose books, music, and art is showcased in the vendors' space of Blue Rose Metaphysics. Mr. Gautier offers lectures on the subjects of art history, comparative religion, literature, and philosophy. Mr. Gautier's art has roots in the traditions of Hermetic and Platonic philosophy, Symbolist art, Jungian psychology, and the gnostic/mystic disciplines, East and West. To learn more about my work, you can visit my website at: dgautier.com
Room: San Simeon/San Martin
Rite of the Child
Presenter: Temple of Thelema
This rite is the third in an annual triad of rites celebrating the Mother, Father & Child Archetypes. It is a beautiful public ritual performance in the style of the Western Mysteries, giving you an opportunity to take a closer look at the Temple of Thelema, a Mystery School for the New Aeon.
Temple of Thelema is a true Outer Order of the Greater Mysteries, providing ceremonial initiation; structured training; and regular group work, all in conformity with the principles of The Book of the Law.