EXPLORING OUR INNER SELVES TO DISCOVER OUR FOUNDATION

Christopher Penczak is a modern Witch working in the Temple of Witchcraft tradition and community he helped co-found. His practice focuses on the intersection of Love, Will, and Wisdom as an ethos for today’s Witch, and focuses upon relationships with the plant realm, the patterns of astrology, traditional occultism, and the use of trance in the Craft. He is the author of many books, including the award winning Temple of Witchcraft series, The Plant Spirit Familiar, and The Mighty Dead, as well as the co-owner of Copper Cauldron Publishing. Christopher keeps an office in New Hampshire and sees clients in-person and online for readings, healing, and personal consultations. His vision is of an evolving Witchcraft culture making magick accessible to all, yet preserving the heart of the mystery. For more information, visit www.christopherpenczak.com and www.templeofwitchcraft.org. 

Priestess Stephanie Rose Bird is the COVR award-winning best-selling author of Sticks, Stones, Roots, and Bones, The Healing Power of African American Spirituality, The Big Book of Soul, A Healing Grove, Light, Bright, Damn Near White, Four Seasons of Mojo, Mama Nature’s Spiritual Guide to Weight Loss, 365 Days of Hoodoo, African American Magick and, The Healing Tree. She writes for Llewellyn Spell-a-Day, Llewellyn’s Witches Companion, Llewellyn Magical Almanac, and Llewellyn Herbal Almanac. She is a columnist in Witches and Pagans magazine. Her peer-reviewed paper on African Aromatherapy is featured in several journals and online.

Priestess Bird holds a BFA cum laude from Temple University, Tyler School of Art, and a MFA from University of California at San Diego, where she was a San Diego Opportunity Fellow. A former Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she has been interviewed on PBS Madison WI, ABC-7 news, BBC London, Urban Gardener, BWitch Wave with Pam Grossman, WitchLit Podcast, An Aromatic Life, That Witch Life Podcast, WNPR, WBEZ, the Smithsonian, and many other venues.

Priestess Bird is a Black magick maker and healer. Her writing brings to the fore her eclectic practices, combined with her passion for mythology, folklore, and fairytales from around the world, but especially of her ancestry - the African diaspora. She is an accomplished fine artist, with works in major collections. Priestess Bird has exhibited in numerous galleries, universities, libraries, institutions and programs such as The Arts-in-the-Embassies program where she is being exhibited at the US Malaysian Embassy, Kuala Lumpur. As a Fulbright Senior Scholar, in anthropology and art in Australia, Priestess Bird studied in various Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the Outback, and other locales. She illustrated two of her published books and is the author and illustrator of Motherland Herbal  -  (2024/HarperCollins).

Benebell Wen is the author of three books, I Ching, The Oracle (2023), The Tao of Craft (2016), and Holistic Tarot (2015). Wen’s focus spans a broad spectrum of metaphysical subjects, including divination, Taoist mysticism, esoteric Buddhism, meditation, and both Asian and Hellenistic modalities of astrology.

Her debut was the publication Holistic Tarot that merged tarot traditions with modern practical applications. She has also illustrated and independently produced her own deck, the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, and is at work on a reconstructed Etteilla Tarot.

Wen is still a full-time practicing attorney licensed in California and New York, specializing in corporate transactions.

In addition to her writing, she maintains an active online presence through her YouTube channel where she offers educational content on tarot and East Asian occult traditions.

Devin Hunter is the multi-award winning and bestselling author of “The Witch's Book of Power,” “The Witch's Book of Spirits,” “The Witch's Book of Mysteries,” the critically acclaimed “Modern Witch,” “Crystal Magic for the Modern Witch,” and the forthcoming “Houseplant HortOCCULTure.” Initiated into multiple occult orders, Devin is the founder of the Sacred Fires Tradition of Witchcraft and co-founder of the Black Rose Tradition of Witchcraft. He hosts the Modern Witch podcast, recommended by both the AV Club and Glamour, and he's co-owner of Datura Trading Co. Visit him at ModernWitch.com/Devin

Mat Auryn is an accomplished and award-winning author known for his best-selling books, which have been translated into over thirteen languages. As a retired professional psychic and Bay Area-based witch and occult teacher, with experience as an initiate of multiple witchcraft traditions and esoteric orders, Mat's teachings draw on a wealth of knowledge and disciplines. He has been featured in various magazines, radio shows, podcasts, books, anthologies, and other periodicals. He is the author of “Psychic Witch,” “Mastering Magick,” and co-author of the forthcoming “Pisces Witch” with Ivo Dominguez Jr. Learn more about him at Auryn.net or @MatAuryn on Instagram.

Archive - 2024 GUESTS of HONOR

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, Pagan Spirit Gathering, Southeast Wise Women’s Herbal Conference, Glastonbury Goddess Conference, Heartland, Sirius Rising, Starwood, Scottish Pagan Federation Conference, Hexfest and other festivals and conferences. She serves as senior priestess and co-founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple and the Coalition of Earth Religions/CERES, both in Asheville, NC. She podcasts about Appalachian folkways on “Wyrd Mountain Gals.”

Her essays are featured in several anthologies and she writes a regular column for SageWoman Magazine. Her books include “Staubs and Ditchwater” (2012), the companion volume “Asfidity and Mad-Stones” (2015) “Embracing Willendorf” (2017), “Earth Works: Ceremonies in Tower Time” (2018),“Roots, Branches, and Spirits: the Folkways and Witchery of Appalachia” from Llewellyn (Feb. 2021) and “Seasons of a Magical Life: a Pagan Path of Living” (Weiser, August 2021). Upcoming: “The Ragged Wound: Tending the Soul of Appalachia” (Smith Bridge Press), “Porch Food: a cookbook from Wyrd Mountain” and a musical adaptation of  A Midsummer Night’s Dream. www.myvillagewitch.com

Rhiannon Martin has been a Wiccan Priestess teaching the Craft for over 50 years and is co-founder of the eclectic Serpent Stone tradition. For 25 years, she helped organize grassroots Pagan gatherings throughout North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, with attendance up to 2000 Pagans. She has a master's degree in counseling, and is a certified Master Herbalist, Sound Therapist, and Energy Healer, and works as a Psychiatric Nurse. She is also Chant Mistress for the Ouroboros Drum Circle in Candler, NC. She is engaged to Oberon Zell. 

Oberon Zell is a renowned Wizard and Pagan Elder. “The Father of Modern Paganism,” he was the first to claim the identity of “Pagan,” incorporating Church of All Worlds in 1968 and publishing Green Egg magazine for 56 years. Oberon’s signature sculpture is “The Millennial Gaia.” Oberon is Founder of the Grey School of Wizardry and author of numerous books, including GaeaGenesis: Conception & Birth of the Living Earth. Now living near Asheville, NC, Oberon is engaged to Rhiannon Martin. 

Kenya T. Coviak is a Magical Teacher, writer, and creatrix of Detroit Conjure and Folk Magic Festival, the Minaudière de Sorcière Spell Deck Collection, and the "My Magical Cottagecore Life" podcast. Teaching engagements include ConVocation, Michigan Pagan Fest, Pagan Pride Day Detroit, Hex Fest, WitchCon, Bluewater Pagan Conference, The Black Moon Grove, and more. Her work appears in various publications including “Peppermint and Sage Magazine," "The Wild Hunt," “The Good Witch’s Guide” by Shawn Robbins and Charity Bedell, “The Heart of the Elder: Good Elders and Their Influence” by Lillith ThreeFeathers and Joy Marie Wedmedyk, and "Llewellyn's Complete Book of North American Folk Magic: A Landscape of Magic, Mystery, and Tradition." Her own books include Calico and Kindness: 2021 Winter Solstice Kitchen Adventus, and more. Watch Magical Witchy World TV for Curious Herbalism w/Kenya T. Coviak. You can reach her through detroitconjure@gmail.com, or via booking at A New Moon 22 in New Baltimore, MI.

Kenn Day has been a full-time professional Shaman since 1989, practicing in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lives with his wife and daughter. His work arises from the same source as traditional shamanism - the spirits - but is directed specifically at those born and raised in the West.

Having coined the term Post-Tribal Shamanism to describe his work, Kenn has published two well-received books on the subject, and is currently working on his third book, "Planting the Seed of Shamanism in the West." He offers a series of shamanic training workshops, which are available wherever there is sufficient interest. He has taught in cities around the US as well as the UK and Germany.

Ivo Dominguez, Jr. has been active in Wiccan and the Pagan community since 1978 and has been teaching since 1982. Ivo is a founding member and former High Priest of Keepers of the Holly Chalice, the first Assembly of the Sacred Wheel coven. He currently serves as one of the Elders of the 14 ASW covens. Ivo has been published in numerous periodicals and is the author of The Four Elements of the Wise; Keys to Perception: A Practical Guide to Psychic Development; Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans; Casting Sacred Space; and Spirit Speak, among other works. He is the anchor author for the new twelve book Witch’s Sun Sign Series. In his mundane life, he has been a computer programmer, the executive director of an AIDS/HIV service organization, a bookstore owner, and many other things. He is queer, poly, and lives in the woods of Southern Delaware with his family of choice.

Clifford Low is the impossible man who does impossible things. He’s been described as a living encyclopedia of the arcane, and is recognized by his peers as one of the most accomplished practitioners of magic and divination alive; summoning spirits in front of witnesses, conjuring vast wealth for himself and clients, healing the incurable, crafting countless talismans, pioneering magical movements; and much else. He lectures across America on the philosophy, history, and effective application of magical techniques from dozens of traditions; with a reputation for being entertaining, scholarly, and thought-provoking. He spends his time doing magical research in his vast library, performing spellwork and forecasting for clients, and writing. Learn more at https://linktr.ee/clifflow

Jason Mankey, What is there to say about Jason Mankey and ConVocation?  Jason attended his first Con way back in 1999 in the long long ago when he used to live in Lansing, Michigan. Since then Jason has been a regular attendee of Con, and that didn't change even after he moved out to the West Coast back in 2011. Jason has come a long way since 1999, not only does he now have longer hair, he's also become a prolific author, having penned nine titles for Llewellyn since 2016!  Con without Mankey?  The idea might delight a few festival goers but it absolutely terrifies Mankey who loves Con with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns. When not writing about magick, the Horned God, and half a dozen other Witchcraft related things Jason can be found at the local pub cheering on his beloved Michigan State Spartans!  Go Green!  (And Go Con!)

Lady Kate, (Kate Henriott-Jauw) is an artist, writer, diviner, Iyanifa/Apetibi and eclectic witch. Her life experience and passion for social justice informs much of her practice. She is a big believer in practical magic and enjoys sharing how the esoteric can be applied to our everyday lives. In addition to her art she serves multiple clients on a weekly basis by using divination to assist them in their daily lives as a type of 'Magical Life Coach.' She is the creator of the Isis Board and Speaking Stones, a unique divination method, and the author of multiple novels and Illustrator of many children's books. Kate is the Executive Director of the Blue Bead, a non-profit founded with her husband, Ted Jauw, aimed at raising awareness and creating solutions through art and education. She also enjoys spending time with her 2 grandchildren, her 7 children and her multiple 'bonus children' that enrich her life. 

Baba Teddy (Ted Jauw) is a BabaL'Awo and Oluwo of Yoruba Odu/Ifa, initiated over twenty years ago in Ile Ife Nigeria. He is also a Konchante of Gineh Yoruba VoDou, initiated in the mountains of Haiti. He is a storyteller, lecturer, teacher and author of such books as the political thrillers, 'The Fourth Choice' and 'The Fifth World,' as well as multiple children's books. He is the founder and President of The Blue Bead, a non-profit aimed at raising awareness and creating solutions for the under-represented. Along with his wife, Lady Kate, Baba Teddy uses words, music, traditional drumming and ritual to inform and share tales of Mystery, History, Transformation and Magick. 

Diana Rajchel is the author of Hex Twisting: CounterMagick Spells for the Irritated Witch and Urban Magick: A Guide for the City Witch. She has her hearth with her partner Synty in Kalamazoo, and her heart in San Francisco with Golden Apple Metaphysical, a shop she co-owns with Nikki Jobin. Her lifelong passion is magick, especially discovering what works and what doesn't. She has passed through many occult self-identifications over the years and has chosen to let the roles and labels find her. Sometimes, she's a city priestess, sometimes a spirit worker and sometimes a witch. She is often curious, critical, and questioning. 

Jacki Smith is the multi talented founder of Coventry Creations, a successful and rapidly growing candle factory in Ferndale, MI. At Coventry Creations, Jacki serves as president, expert candle maker, and the charismatic face of the company. She wears many hats but her favorite is probably the pointy kind. Jacki is an unapologetic, proud, modern witch who uses her power and influence to help, encourage, and educate others through her podcast, social media presence, and books.