PPD 2020 Workshops, Rituals and Entertainment
| Title | Type | Image | Workshop Presenters, Entertainers, Ritual Leaders | Description | Biography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Ritual | Opening Ritual |  | Myke Hutchings | Join Myke Hutchings as he opens the Hamilton Pagan Harvest Festival with a ritual based in the Lothloriën Tradition, welcome the four elements to bring their Magick and bless our online gathering with their energies and spirit! | Myke Hutchings is a professional musician and Lay Minister for The Rowan Tree Church, a practitioner of the Lothloriën tradition of Wicca . As an Earth-based religion, we celebrate the seasons and the cycles of life. We recognize that Truth is found in many cultures around the world and draw our archetypes from many paths. What makes Lothloriën unique is our acceptance of all people regardless of their culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion or sexual orientation. Myke's Music Myke's work with the church includes curating and maintaining historic recordings of the Rowan Tree Church and its founder Rev. Paul Beyerl as well as bringing the church's musical and bardic traditions into the future. His most recent work for the Rowan Tree Church has been a recording of the music and chants used throughout its rituals and ceremonies - which is now available through the church's Bandcamp page. Audio of Lothloriën |
| Fundraiser Concert NOTE regarding tickets: The Hamilton Pagan Harvest Festival has been unable to fundraise this year at all due to COVID and related social distancing laws. Although we have moved online this year, emergency funds are being used to pay all of our speakers and our musicians. All monies collected from this concert will go to ensuring payment to all involvedl this year as well as supporting next year's HPPD 2021! So although the minimum is $7 US, please consider donating to support our awesome festival! Link to concert tickets: PPDH 2020 Online Fundraising Concert | Entertainment |  | Heather Dale | Many of us already know Heather Dale 🙂 Our local singer and storyteller who hails from Toronto! Heather's music fuses folk traditions with blues, jazz, and world music influences. She has released 15 studio albums, five live albums, three songbooks, and a full-length musical theatre work based on the King Arthur legend titled “Queens of Avalon" to date….Not to mention their new album that is being released one single at a time on their website called “Incantations”. “These moving meditation pieces are intended to ground and center your spirit, freeing your mind to wander. Heather Dale | Detailed Bio: Half a Million Miles |
| Fundraiser Concert | Entertainment |  | SJ Tucker | SJ Tucker is a self-made Pagan musician who has been touring for many years and who will be joining us from her home in Arkansas. Her music has been described as Pagan folk rock mythpunk music that moves the body and soul. With one foot in the world of men, and the other in the realm of the Fae and the land spirits, SJ's concert isn't to be missed! SJ Tucker | Full Bio: About SJ Tucker |
| Fundraiser Concert | Entertainment |  | Sharon Knight | The world of Neofolk Romantique is a world of animism; where the spirit of the mountain watches silently with ancient eyes, while the wind whistles and shrieks above, where a storm takes human form and comes to us as a lover upon the roiling sea. Where porcelain dolls come to life at loves first kiss, and portals to magic and wonder open up on streets we’ve walked a hundred times. Described as “Haunting”, “Otherworldly”, and “Ethereal, with a bit of rock and rock grit”, Sharon’s music reveals a love for the crossroads where imagination and magic meet, where the extraordinary happens every day, and we are infused with wonder at the mystery of a world ensouled. After 8 years of touring extensively, Sharon and her longtime collaborator, Winter, have returned home to the California Coast, and are developing a multi-media project featuring music and art inspired by sea myths from around the world. Sharon Knight | Bio: Sharon Knight EPK: |
| Colour Induced Meditation | Workshop |  | Stephen B. Pearl, Hamilton, ON | oin Hamilton author Stephen B. Pearl as he leads us through a series of meditations. Stephen will discuss the advantages of meditation, guiding participants through two colour induced meditations: one a simple relaxation meditation and the second a simple path-working meditation for gaining personal insight. Start your Harvest Festival Day off right with this workshop! | Stephen B. Pearl: Stephen B. Pearl is a Pagan author with nine, soon to be ten, books to his credit, all of which are Pagan friendly and four of which are Pagan centric. In addition, he was a contributor to The Pagan Writers Press, Samhain and Yule anthologies. Stephen uses his extensive knowledge of, and experience with, Paganism to lend flavour to his books, attempting to educate while holding entertainment as paramount to a work of fiction. Be it a tale set on an earth slowly recovering from the excesses of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, or a longship on a frozen sea in the nine hundreds, Stephen’s works merge fiction and fact and are governed by a Pagan morality. First chapters of his novels are available for free on his website and amazon pages: Stephen B. Pearl, Amazon Stephen B. Pearl, author, instructor, mystic |
| The Autumn Equinox and the Magick of Colour | Workshop |  | Amy Lou Taylor, Hamilton, ON | The Autumn Equinox is all about change, and this season is one of the most colourful times of the year, so what a wonderful way to talk about the Magick of Colours! Colour magick is the most effective, yet simple methods of magick to work with. Using the right intentions with the bounty of colour around us at this time of year, there are many ways to utilize what is being discarded in nature to embrace the magick that this season has to offer. In this online workshop we will discuss how you can embrace the change of this magickal season. I will show you how incorporating things found into your daily magickal practice. Using the fallen leaves and seeds, seed pods, bark and fallen branches of our deciduous trees, and the magick of their meanings. With incorporating colour magick we can embrace change, adapt and bring in the best of Autumns beauty and the harvests of our lives. | For over 30 years Amy Taylor has been a Tea Enthusiast and a professional Tea Leaf Reader. She is a THAC Certified Tea Sommelier and is the sole owner of The Art of Tea and Tasseomancy and TAoTaT’s Mystic Tearoom on Ottawa Street North in Hamilton, a business space she shares with Obskurah Bazaar. Amy is in the process writing a book about the mystical side of Tea. Amy has been teaching Tasseomancy for 18 years and about Tea for 11 years. She also has been featured, interviewed and quoted in many articles, blog posts, other media and social outlets as an authority on Tasseomancy. In her spiritual life she is Pagan and has been walking the Mystical Hedgewitch Path for over 30+ years. She is also a British Traditional Wiccan (Gardnerian) High Priestess with over 20+ years in that tradition. Amy has also been presenting programs, organizing events and volunteering her time to the Southern Ontario Pagan Community for 25+ years. Amy is also a Community Herbalist and Horticulturalist, author and artist. In her private time she is an avid organic gardener as well as a committee member, administrator and treasurer for the Hamilton Gage Park Community Garden. Amy’s home gardens are The 2017 Monarch Awards winner, and a 2016 Awards finalist. For more information please visit The Art of Tea and Tasseomancy and TAoTaT's Mystic Tearoom |
| Tales of Anatolia - from Ankara to Hattusha | Workshop |  | Morgana Sythove - Netherlands | This is a presentation about the Hittites and their ancient capital of Hattusha. In 2015 I was fortunate enough to go this wonderful ancient site and learn more about how the Hittites lived and worshipped. More than 35 temples were discovered in this city flanked by huge walls and magnificent gates. Lesser is known about the Hittites than the Egyptians, although they were mentioned in the Bible. It was only in the late 19th century that Hattusha, modern day Boğazkale, was discovered. In recent years much has come to light about the Hittites and I certainly wasn't disappointed when I saw the site. | Morgana is a practising pagan and is a Wiccan Priestess. As International Coordinator for PFI/Pagan Federation International, she travels extensively giving talks and workshops about Wicca and Paganism. She is a member of the United Religions Initiative (URI) and is presently the Global Trustee. She has spent time on the Board for URI Netherlands and represented PFI & URI at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2004 Barcelona 2015 in Salt Lake City and 2018 in Toronto |
| Developing a Practical Daily Practice | Workshop |  | Blake Octavian Blair - Manchester, New Hampshire USA | The importance of a daily practice is touted by many. Many people feel daunted at the prospect as the envision an hour or more a day spent in a monastic like regimen. However, this isn't the necessary reality of developing a daily practice. Practical ways of building a reasonable, maintainable, and most importantly adaptable daily practice in as little as just a few moments a day will be discussed. Your daily practice can flex with you depending on your needs on any given day and by developing a practice you can maintain, you set yourself up for success and reaping its noticeable benefits. | Blake Octavian Blair (New England, USA) is a shamanic and druidic practitioner. As a published author he has been a regular contributor to Llewellyn Worldwide's Almanacs and Annuals. He is a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids. Blake is also the Abbot and Co-Organizer of an independant international cill of diverse Brigidine flamekeepers organized online. |
| Honoring the Dead at Samhain | Workshop |  | Selena Fox - Wisconsin, USA | Guiding and supporting individuals, households, and communities in remembering, grieving, and honoring Beloved Dead and Ancestors with altars, meditations, and rituals at Samhain time | Selena Fox attended Hamilton PPD a number of years ago as a speaker and we are so happy to have her back with us! Selena Fox is a Pagan priestess, author, podcaster, teacher, spiritual psychotherapist and counselor. Also known as Rev. Selena Fox, Selena is senior minister of Circle Sanctuary which has been serving Pagan practitioners of many paths worldwide with publications, events, networking, civil rights activism, and other services since 1974. A lifelong environmentalist, Selena is founder of Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve located in southwestern Wisconsin, USA, which includes Circle Cemetery, a national Pagan burying ground that is among the first Green cemeteries in the nation. She does consultations, readings, and counseling by zoom and telephone with clients across Canada, USA, and beyond. She also presents workshops and rituals at conferences and gatherings online and in person. She is founder of the Circle Craft tradition which blends together ancient and contemporary Pagan folkways, Hedgewitchery, Multicultural Shamanism, and Nature Mysticism. Since the pandemic began, she has done a variety of online rituals through Zoom, You Tube, Teams, IGTV, and other video conferencing platforms. |
| Infusing Your Ritual Practice with Astro-Magick | Workshop |  | Rev. Charly McCreary - Seattle, WA USA | Not all pagans study astrology and not all astrologers perform ritual but the overlap between magick and the cosmos is undeniable. In this workshop, we will touch on ways you can combine basic astrological knowledge to supercharge and support your ritual workings so they are even more effective, whether you're on the hunt for a new job, sending healing to the world, or striving to undertake personal improvements. We will discuss how astrological correpondences such as minerals, herbs, colors, days of the week, and planetary hours can support our magickal workings and explore some basic astrological knowledge every Witch should have in their toolkit | Rev. Charly McCreary (she/her) is a Witch, astrologer, dog mom, and non-profit Managing Director based in Seattle, WA. Rev. Charly has been creating ritual and ritual theatre for over 25 years and is a High Priestess within the Rowan Tree Church and Tradition of Lothlorien, a Minnesota-based Wiccan church founded by Rev. Paul Beyerl over 40 years ago. Rev. Charly co-founded Seattle's Cabiri performance troupe in 1999 and still performs, teaches and directs ritual theatre productions with the organization. Rev. Charly seeks to create positive change in our world through activism, education, and positive magickal workings and finds joy and inspiration in Mother Nature and the animal kingdom and her fellow humans. Her areas of focus as a Witch include astrology, tarot, trancework and meditation, and ritual theatre. |
| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" During this time of social distancing and isolation, there continue to be many Pagan groups conducting rituals and maintaining their connection with each other via online platforms. Although online tools such as Zoom/Skype/Google Meet weren't necessarily invented with ritual practice in mind, they have allowed our community to raise & share energy and connect with each other in ritual celebrations on a deep level. We have invited members of our community from around the globe to join us and share how they have been successfully conducting ritual online. | Discussion Panel: | | Blake Octavian Blair - Manchester, New Hampshire USA | Blake Octavian Blair (New England, USA) is a shamanic and druidic practitioner. As a published author he has been a regular contributor to Llewellyn Worldwide's Almanacs and Annuals. He is a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids. Blake is also the Abbot and Co-Organizer of an independant international cill of diverse Brigidine flamekeepers organized online. | |
| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" | Discussion Panel | Andy Desjardins Silver Circle, Hamilton, ON | Silver Circle began by gathering in person but with the advent of Covid-19 has switched to meeting online. They currently perform weekly online classes and bi-weekly online rituals and Andy will be joining us to share their perspective on their shift to online practice | Andre (Andy) Desjardins is a high priest of the Alexandrian tradition and one of the founders of Silver Circle. He was first initiated as a priest in 2009 in Toronto and moved to Hamilton in 2011. He has taught & performed ritual at many events including Niagara Falls Paganfest and Toronto Pagan Pride Day. Silver Circle was founded in April 2019 and was created for members of the public to meet in a safe and inclusive environment for ritual. The group is made up of members of several Wiccan traditions including those following solitary paths. |
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| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" | Discussion Panel | | Rev. Charly McCreary - Seattle, WA USA | Rev. Charly McCreary (she/her) is a Witch, astrologer, dog mom, and non-profit Managing Director based in Seattle, WA. Rev. Charly has been creating ritual and ritual theatre for over 25 years and is a High Priestess within the Rowan Tree Church and Tradition of Lothlorien, a Minnesota-based Wiccan church founded by Rev. Paul Beyerl over 40 years ago. Rev. Charly co-founded Seattle's Cabiri performance troupe in 1999 and still performs, teaches and directs ritual theatre productions with the organization. Rev. Charly seeks to create positive change in our world through activism, education, and positive magickal workings and finds joy and inspiration in Mother Nature and the animal kingdom and her fellow humans. Her areas of focus as a Witch include astrology, tarot, trancework and meditation, and ritual theatre. | |
| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" | Discussion Panel |  | Catherine Star - Toronto, ON | "I never thought I would lead rituals online -- and now I have been doing this since March. Sabbats, full moons, coven meetings and even a ritual for this year's virtual Wic-Can Fest. ….The most amazing thing? It worked. Afterwards, I felt the same type of "high" that one feels after any ritual. Even eating dinner did not completely ground me. We raised energy!" | Catherine Starr is an elder in several Pagan and Wiccan different traditions. She leads a Gardnerian coven originally founded 30 years ago. She is recognized as a leader in many different local and international groups. She represents CoG and Pagan Federation International (PFI) to many interfaith organizations, including the 1999 Parliament of World Religions Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. She was on the Toronto Board for the Parliament of Work Religions in Toronto in 2018 where she was the Volunteer Coordinator Chair and coordinated the planning for the Pagan presence at the event. Since 2010, she has been the coordinator for the University of Toronto Campus Chaplains Association and the Wiccan Chaplain since 2007. As a Founding Member of Magical Acts Ritual Theatre, her play, "Oracles from the Living Tarot" has been performed annually since 1998, including three performances in Europe and the 2019 performance in Toronto. |
| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" | Discussion Panel | | Selena Fox - Wisconsin, USA | Selena Fox attended Hamilton PPD a number of years ago as a speaker and we are so happy to have her back with us! Selena Fox is a Pagan priestess, author, podcaster, teacher, spiritual psychotherapist and counselor. Also known as Rev. Selena Fox, Selena is senior minister of Circle Sanctuary which has been serving Pagan practitioners of many paths worldwide with publications, events, networking, civil rights activism, and other services since 1974. A lifelong environmentalist, Selena is founder of Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve located in southwestern Wisconsin, USA, which includes Circle Cemetery, a national Pagan burying ground that is among the first Green cemeteries in the nation. She does consultations, readings, and counseling by zoom and telephone with clients across Canada, USA, and beyond. She also presents workshops and rituals at conferences and gatherings online and in person. She is founder of the Circle Craft tradition which blends together ancient and contemporary Pagan folkways, Hedgewitchery, Multicultural Shamanism, and Nature Mysticism. Since the pandemic began, she has done a variety of online rituals through Zoom, You Tube, Teams, IGTV, and other video conferencing platforms. |
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| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" | Discussion Panel |  | Claudiney Prieto - Brazil | Claudiney is a friend of Selena's, who very kindly introduced us online. He assisted Selena with the Brigid Ritual she facilitated at the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions held in Utah, USA Claudiney is based in Brazil and is an author, activist and has been a Wiccan practitioner for more than 20 years. He is the creator of the first Brazilian pagan association, and currently coordinates the organization of the Annual Conference of Wicca & Spirituality of the Goddess in Brazil-, the largest Pagan event in Latin America, nationwide and international, aimed at the presentation of theses, visions and discussions on the transformative experiences with the Sacred Feminine in its many manifestations. He teaches courses and lectures on Witchcraft and he is frequently invited to give radio and TV interviews to demystify the old negative stigmas, misunderstandings and misrepresentations associated with the Wiccan religion. |
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| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" | Discussion Panel |   | Maddy Benitez & Felipe Polytropos - Chile | Both facilitate various activities on various topics of personal and spiritual development, as well as those specifically focused on the Traditional Wiccan line both in Chile and in other Latin American countries. Maddy and Felipe currently reside in Santiago and teach workshops on spirituality and paganism. Maddy Benitez is a Gardnerian High Priestess, Astrologer and Teacher and instructor in Holistic Healing and complementary therapist. By profession she is a Social Communicator with a focus on coordinating human development projects. Felipe Polytropos is Gardnerian High Priest also an Astrologer as well as a Psychologist with a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from a psychospiritual perspective. He works as a teacher and psychotherapist, as well as using various complementary healing methods. Actively collaborates in various activities for the Pagan community. |
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| HPPD International Panel "Online Ritual: Best Practices" | Discussion Panel | | Morgana Sythove - Netherlands | Morgana is a practising pagan and is a Wiccan Priestess. As International Coordinator for PFI/Pagan Federation International, she travels extensively giving talks and workshops about Wicca and Paganism. She is a member of the United Religions Initiative (URI) and is presently the Global Trustee. She has spent time on the Board for URI Netherlands and represented PFI & URI at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2004 Barcelona 2015 in Salt Lake City and 2018 in Toronto |
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