WFN 5th Anniversary Final Event Listing
October 1st - October 31st
Friday, October 1
TIME: 7 - 9 PM EDT (7 - 7:30 pm opening and presenters, 7:30 - 8:30 pm Wendy Rule opening ritual and concert, 8:30 - 9:00 presenters and event schedule, giveaway
EVENT/SERIES: Festival Opening Ritual and Concert
PRESENTER: Monica Bodirsky, special guest Wendy Rule
MODERATORS: Stephanie Dayes, Rowena Katigbak, Lisa East, Erika Robinson, Laura G., Loretta Jean
TICKET link: https://wfn5opening.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Land acknowledgement, quick retrospective, welcome presenters and announce line-up, Door prizes, Special Saturday events, Practical Magic Artisan Market, Art Show Online, Death Cafe, CATS, Witchy Wellness Series, Witching Wednesdays, special events and the Witch in Arts Friday night series.
Wendy Rule will open the quarters and then offer a live concert.
BIO of SPECIAL MUSICAL GUEST WENDY RULE: Since her first album, Zero, was released in 1996, Australian Visionary Songstress Wendy Rule has defied categorization. Combining elements of gothic, folk, world, ambient and cabaret, her music is woven through with mythological and magical themes that honor her Pagan spirituality. With her extraordinary voice, and live shows that blur the line between music, ritual and theatre, Wendy is renowned in the global Esoteric, Goddess, and Pagan communities. Her latest double album, Persephone, is a musical re-telling of the Ancient Greek Myth. Singing in the voices of the three Goddesses who feature in the Myth - the maiden Persephone, her mother, the Earth Goddess Demeter, and Hekate, the wise Goddess of the Crossroads, (with Hekate’s parts chanted in Greek!) - Wendy guides us through this extraordinary tale of Life, Death and rebirth. Become part of Wendy’s magical world by joining her each month for her renowned Full Moon Magic concerts on Patreon. Membership starts at only $2 USD a month! For more information, head to Wendy’s website www.wendyrule.com , or her Patreon page www.patreon.com/wendyrule
Saturday, October 2
TIME: 1:30-3:00pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Workshop
TITLE: Herbs & Oils: Safe Substitutions for Effective and Practical Magique
PRESENTER: Rev. Terrie Brookins
SOCIAL MEDIA: @beauxmagique
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky, Rowena Katigbak, Rowena, Laura Gonzalez
TICKET link: https://magick.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: In this age of social media and smartphones, we have the modern library of Alexandria at our fingertips. When it comes to information about spells and magic? We don't even need to search very hard for information. However, search engine users beware! Not everything you read is good information. The current state of the world can render getting proper spell components to a challenge if not to downright being impossible. That's where substitution happens. With the right information? This can work beautifully. With the wrong information? It can be a disaster.
Join Rev. Terrie Brookins for an informative and possibly hilarious discussion about safe substitutions in magic and making every spell a success!
BIO: Beaux Magique was founded and is run by Reverend Terrie Brookins. Using artesian well water gathered under the full moon, these charged waters are truly blessed! With the light of the full moon to give extra energy in their work, each spray has been specially designed with a magical and mundane purpose to help in your life! Since 2013, she’s worked diligently to bring you old and new incense alternatives, condition and anointing oils as well as fine made magic. Using old and new recipes, public suggestions and super secret sources to spread her own brand of magic to everyone.
She enjoys singing, djembe drumming, and teaching Witchcraft and Tarot. She is a Witch and Priestess. Terrie is also a twenty year Tarot veteran and Provincially Registered Lay Chaplain available for weddings. She is available for workshops, community and private ceremonies as well as handfastings, Baby Blessings, Weddings and Funerals. Please contact her at info @ beauxmagique.com
Sunday, October 3
TIME: 1 - 2:30
EVENT/SERIES: Wellness Series
TITLE: Witchy Wellness: Magical and Healing Teas
PRESENTER: Amy Lou Taylor, and host Loretta Jean on behalf of Wonderworks
SOCIAL MEDIA: gowonderworks.com, www.facebook.com/gowonderworks, @gowonderworks; www.taotat.ca; @taotat; sparrowqueen.com / IG: @loretta.jean & @sparrowqueentarot / Twitter: @loretta_jean
BIO OF PRESENTER and Host:
Presenter: Amy Lou Taylor has been an active member in the Ontario Pagan Community for the last 25+ years where she had coordinated events, been on various committees and co-hosted pub-moots in two cities. Over the last 12 years she has mainly focused on her business but still participates in pagan events when her schedule permits. Amy has been an active Hedgewitch and Gardnerian HPs for over 30 years and has been making brooms for the past 17 years. She runs an organic community garden in Hamilton and she has a background in herbalism as well is a certified Horticulturalist. She also is a certified Tea Sommelier, Tasseomancer, and card reader for 30+ years. Amy’s a published author and has been quoted in many articles and blogs as an authority on Tea Leaf Reading.
Host: Loretta Jean is a glamourwitch high femme who provides intuitive and empathic tarot insights, one reading at a time. She has been tarot reading for over 15 years and is a founding member of the Rosa Mystica coven. Since embarking on her tarot journey she has read for friends, family, strangers she’s met on trains, and more recently for a growing number of private clients. When not consulting the cards or talking to spirits, Loretta is an academic by day and a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies. In addition to her studies, she is a founding member, performer, and co-producer of Nerd Girl Burlesque. Loretta has been involved in the Wonderworks community since first starting to work at the shop in 2011.
MODERATORS: Jess, Stephanie and Erika
DESCRIPTION: The preparation of magical teas, herbs/plants and their related folklore
TICKET LINK: https://wellness1.eventbrite.ca
This Event is Free
Tuesday, October 5
TIME: 7:00-8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: CATS
TITLE: Using any Lenormand Card as a Significator to Get the Full Story
PRESENTER: Erika Robinson
SOCIAL MEDIA: @divine_withme
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky, Erika Robinson, Rowena Katigbak
TICKET link: https://cats1lenormand.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: In this session, Erika will make the case that any one of the 36 Lenormand cards, as well as any extra cards a creator has added to a deck, can be used as a significator. Using the 23 card Erika-Reading, she will show you how to do a deep dive on any conceivable area, as well as how to do an even deeper dive when you or your sitter have no idea what to ask the cards.
BIO: Erika Robinson is a diviner who came to the role relatively late in life. Raised in Harlem, New York, Erika desegregated an all-white girls’ school in the city while at the same time living in the residential drug treatment center for men founded by her parents. At sixteen, Erika left home with the clothes on her back and the books in her knapsack. Finding herself a student at Harvard University a few short years later, Erika reveled in her love of language and received an A.B. in English before moving on to Divinity School, as she felt she had a calling, like her father before her, to the Episcopal priesthood. Fortunately, the Diocese of Massachusetts disagreed, so after earning a Masters of Divinity degree, Erika went on to teach and serve as Assistant Director of Admissions at Saint Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. From there, she did stints as Assistant Director of College Admissions at first Princeton and then Columbia Universities. Marriage and relocation led to a change in career, and Erika taught English as a Second Language as well as Advanced Placement Language and Composition for the next three decades at a large and diverse public school in New Jersey, where she increased the number of Black, Hispanic, and poor white students taking Advanced Placement English from zero to hundreds.
When her daughter was 15, Erika’s husband of 20 years died unexpectedly, and she embarked on a study of Tarot and Lenormand. As a person fond of words, Lenormand became her favorite oracle, and as delightful to Erika as it was surprising to those who have known her prior to her having begun this journey, her work as a diviner quickly became recognized and sought after. Having read in person at Earth Spirit New Age Center in Red Bank, New Jersey for 5 years, Erika now does all her reading virtually via Zoom, phone, and email. Erika has spoken and taught at Readers’ Studio in New York, and virtually for the World Divination Association Conferences. Additionally, she is a contributor to Cartomancer Magazine and was honored to have written the foreword to Monica Bodirsky’s House of Shadows Lenormand, 4th & 5th editions. Erika’s website is: www.erikarobinson-lenormand.com, and her email is erikarobinson.lenormand@gmail.com
Witching Wednesday, October 6 (Dark Moon)
TIME: 7:00 - 8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Witching Wednesday
TITLE: The Poison Path
PRESENTER: Kris Gurky
SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram @dark_moon_salem
WEBSITE: https://www.darkmoonsalem.com
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky, Erika Robinson, Stephanie Dayes
TICKET link: https://poisonpath.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: What does it mean to follow the ‘poison path’? Take a walk in the 'devil's garden' to meet various plants and herbs used for healing, ritual, achieving altered states of consciousness -- such as the ‘witches flying ointment’ -- and discuss why they have been vilified throughout history. Each attendee will learn how to incorporate witching herbs in their magickal practices to enhance intuition, magickal workings, meditation, and ritual.
BIO: Kris is a natural intuitive, and magickal herbal practitioner with Lithuanian and Celtic roots. After a near-death experience at a young age, she appreciates the beauty of walking the liminal space between life and death. Kris grew up foraging the New England woods with her Lithuanian grandmother and shares her inherited gifts with a family of healers, psychics, and mediums. She enjoys sharing her knowledge by teaching herbalism, tarot, and intuitive development workshops around the country. She was an officer in the Air Force, earned an M.B.A. at Boston University, an M.S. in Herbal Medicine at the American College of Healthcare Sciences, and completed an herbalism apprenticeship at the Boston School of Herbal Studies.
Kris is the creator of the Witch City Tarot + Divination Gathering, founded Dark Moon in 2010, has appeared on the History Channel, and is currently renovating an old A-Frame in the woods of New Hampshire into a witchy forest retreat with her one-eyed rescue cat, Isis.
Friday, October 8
TIME: 7:00-8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: A Witch in the Arts Series
TITLE: Hilma af Klint and The Spirit of the Matter
PRESENTER: Lisa Cristinzo
SOCIAL MEDIA: @beasta555
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky, Lisa East
TICKET link: https://witchartist.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Hilma af Klint and The Spirit of the Matter is a lecture and workshop facilitated by artist and witch Lisa Cristinzo. The lecture portion will introduce turn of the 20th century Swedish abstract artist and mystic Hilma af Klint, followed by a workshop where participants learn to draw and/or paint “The Spirit of the Matter”, looking beyond what is directly in front of them and capturing the energy of an object, another human, a plan, a feeling, or situation through art. The night will open and close with a ritual.
The workshop will include a 30 min presentation with a 15min discussion period. The activity will take place in the final hour of the workshop, where participants will learn about the methods of Hilma af Klint and apply this to their own creative work.
BIO: Lisa Cristinzo (they/them, she/her) identifies as a queer cis-gendered female settler of European ancestry, a first generation Canadian, with Italian and Irish heritage. She acknowledges the traditional territory of the many diverse First Nations people who live here on Turtle Island and that we reside on stolen land. She is committed to dismantling systems of oppression and challenging socializations created by a patriarchal, white, capitalist society. Cristinzo identifies as a Witch and practices an earth-based spirituality with a group of people of various genders, identities, ages, and abilities guided by coven mentor Monica Bodirsky. Cristinzo’s work as an artist investigates the by-products of humanity and their mythic significance, through large-scale paintings that traverse natural history, climate hazards, materialism, and magic. She has a BFA in drawing and painting from OCADU and MFA candidate at York University. Since 2007, she has managed several arts programs and facilities at various community cultural hubs across Toronto through her work with Toronto Artscape Inc, including Artscape Gibraltar Point, an artist residency and event space on Toronto Island.
Saturday, October 9
TIME: 1:00-9:00pm
EVENT/SERIES: Special Event
TITLE: Practical Magic Artisan Market
PRESENTER: Monica Bodirsky
MODERATORS: Rowena Katigbak, Monica Bodirsky, Erika Robinson, Stephanie Dayes
DESCRIPTION: This incredible online market features the talents of witchy vendors with their magical wares! The market starts from 1:00 pm EDT and the fun doesn't end until 9:00 pm! There will be show-stopping prize giveaways throughout the event. The event is pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $10. Your kind donation helps us to continue to provide quality workshops, speakers and community events.
Support local witches, come and shop for magical wares by these talented witches.
VENDORS:
Autumn Moon Enchantment - Mary Bart @autumnmoonenchantment
Beaux Magique - Terrie Brookins @beauxmagique
Copper Rabbit Illustrations - Lizzie Laing @copperrabbit_
Darkly Pretty Things - Vivienne Glista @vivienne.cygnus
Dark Moon Salem - Kris Gurky @Dark Moon Salem
Lupa Birch - Christina Bothwell www.lupabirch.com
Inner Goddess Tarot (Lori Lytle and Angela Lytle @innergoddesstarot
WITCHfest North Merch - Monica Bodirsky, Rowena Katigbak
Maiden and Crow Spiritual Apothecary - Marli Madeiros @maidenandcrow
Mementocholia – Caitlin Caitlin McConachie @mementocholia
Obskurah Bazaar - Ariane Terveld @obskurahbazaar FB: Obskurah Bazaar
Soulfire Sessions – Jessica Miller @soulfire.sessions FB: www.facebook.com/soulfiresessions
The Poisoner's Apothecary - Coby Michael @poisonersapothecary
WIthershins - LIsa Heidman FB: /WithershinsDurhamRegion
Sacra Flora (TBD)
WORKSHOP During Dinner Break: In her "Meditation for Immunity and Wellness" workshop, Alexandra will be guiding us through a 5 sense practice to embody our lung and heart blossoming this Fall. Please bring a journal, a flower to work with, and some delicious tea to sip on through this sweet, sensual, and regenerative practice into your own magical Fall breath.
BIO: This is Alexandra's fourth year participating at Witchfest and she is ecstatic. Alexandra is a visionary artist, a creative soul, and a magical crafter of embodiment wellness practices. Alexandra incorporates her Peruvian ancestral wisdom into all her work, and is a proud sustainer of community and of the divine feminine rising.
TICKET link: https://wfnpracticalmagic.eventbrite.ca
Although this is a PWYC event, please register at eventbrite! Thank you
Sunday, October 10
TIME: 1 - 2:30 EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Wellness Series
TITLE: Witchy Wellness: Healing Baths and Ritual Bathing
PRESENTER: Sequoia Brittany, and host Loretta Jean on behalf of Wonderworks
SOCIAL MEDIA: gowonderworks.com, www.facebook.com/gowonderworks, @gowonderworks; www.thewitchesspiral.com, FB&IG @thewitchesspiral; sparrowqueen.com / IG: @loretta.jean & @sparrowqueentarot / Twitter: @loretta_jean
DESCRIPTION: 'Ritual Bathing Magick' Join us for this special Witchy Wellness workshop where Sequoia will be teaching us all about Bathing Rituals. Bathing rituals are an intentional immersion in the elemental magick of water. They are a cleansing, a deep healing and regeneration, and a journey into the sacred sanctuary of purification. They are a return to the womb, the cauldron of creation and rebirthing self.
In this workshop, learn how to create ritual space for your bathing, how to incorporate the healing energies of herbal blends, crystals and candles to enhance the power of this ancient practice.
PRESENTER BIO: Sequoia Brittany is a priestess of the Fellowship of Isis, feminine empowerment guide, visionary writer, intuitive energy healer, tarot/ogham reader and founder of The Witches Spiral. She is dedicated to the rise of the divine feminine and is passionate about studying and reclaiming the ancient ways of her Celtic ancestors. She facilitates online courses as well as workshops on earth magick and Goddess spirituality.
MODERATORS: Loretta Jean, Lisa East
TICKET LINK: https://wellness2.eventbrite.ca
Tuesday, October 12
TIME: 7:00-8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: CATS (Coffee and Tarot Society)
Divine Manifesting: Using the Predictive Power of Lenormand to Structure Your Steps to Success
PRESENTER: V
SOCIAL MEDIA: @redlightreadings
MODERATORS: Erika Robinson, Monica Bodirsky
TICKET LINK: https://cats2lenormand.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Join V., the Tarot BFF & Lenormand Liaison for a fun and inspiring masterclass on Mastering Your Destiny! Learn how to use the predictive power of Lenormand to case your manifestations into the Universe and create a “step ladder” to climb to keep you stable and secure on your road to success! All you need is an open mind, your deepest desires, and a Lenormand deck; handouts will be available.
BIO: V. is the Tarot BFF behind RedLight Readings and the Cosmic Confidence Coach! Delivering wisdom and insight through "straight-shot, no chaser" readings, her BFF clientele likens her reading style to that of a best friend -- down to earth and practical, infused with empowering tough love. As the Cosmic Confidence Coach, she helps BFFs that are ready to live life OUT LOUD and manifest their most exceptional existence, by teaching them how to navigate their intuitive gifts and develop strategies for strengthening their self-esteem. Her mission is to aid in their transformation from the "should life" to the "GOOD LIFE", and encourage them to boldly walk in the way of their wildest dreams!
As an internationally known Tarot Reader, Intuitive Counselor, and Teacher, V. has taught various classes on Tarot and Lenormand to students around the world and reads professionally at the Boston Tea Room in Ferndale, MI. She is social media savvy and LOVES to hang out on Instagram, where she hosts a weekly "power hour" called "Turnt Tea - Wellness Wednesdays". During Tea Time (noon on Wednesdays, EST ), she taps into the collective to offer love, support, learning, and laughs by way of intuitive messages and does a select number of readings for those that are in attendance. Her motto is: "Even if you don't get picked, you can still "Get Red"!"
V. currently hosts an online manifestation group, has been a guest and interviewed on various podcasts and IG Lives, contributed to several written publications, and is working on her first book."
Wednesday, October 13
TIME: 7 - 8:30 PM EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Witching Wednesday
TITLE: The Witches’ Broom
PRESENTER: Amy Lou Taylor
SOCIAL MEDIA: Insta @taotat
MODERATORS: MonicaBodirsky, Stephanie Dayes
TICKET link: https://witchesbroom.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Join Amy Taylor, Hedgewitch/Broom Witch, while she takes you along a sweeping journey into the sometimes forgotten but incredibly powerful witch’s tool, the Broom or Besom. We will discuss the origins of the Witches’ Besom, why it became a tool for the Witch, and how it was and still is used. You will also learn about the history of traditional broom making, and the spiritual uses for brooms over cultures and centuries.
BIO: Amy Taylor has been an active member in the Ontario Pagan Community for the last 25+ years where she has coordinated events, been on various committees and co-hosted pub-moots in two cities. Over the last 12 years she has mainly focused on her business but still participates in pagan events when her schedule permits. Amy has been an active Hedgewitch and Gardnerian HPs for over 30 years and has been making brooms for the past 17 years. She runs an organic community garden in Hamilton and she has a background in herbalism and is a certified Horticulturalist. She also is a certified Tea Sommelier, Tasseomancer, and card reader for 30+ years. Amy’s a published author and has been quoted in many articles and blogs as an authority on Tea Leaf Reading. Her website is www.taotat.ca
Friday, October 15
TIME: 7:00-8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: A Witch in the Arts Series
TITLE: The Witch in Media
PRESENTER: Lisa East
SOCIAL MEDIA: Insta @lisa___east
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky, Stephanie Dayes, Rowena Katigbak
TICKET link: https://witchfilm.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: In a culture that is heavily mediated and storied by the moving visual image, where do we find The Witch? From pop culture film and tv to Vice documentaries, who creates these representations, who speaks, and why does it matter? Join Lisa East with festival founder and co-host Monica Bodirsky for an engaging night of Witchy viewing followed by a moderated community discussion on the power of representation and the Witch.
BIO: Lisa East (she/her) is a settler of Northern and Western European ancestry who identifies as an artist, researcher and contemporary Witch practitioner in Tkaronto. Her membership in Toronto’s Dark Moon Coven and her academic background in Gender, Equity and Critical Disability studies inform her passion for documentary media, community archives and the trouble of representation. Recently, she completed shooting, directing and editing a documentary film for her MFA thesis, gathering stories from the Witch community as a part of a community archive. Lisa has proudly been a volunteer for WITCHfest North since it began and is co-founder of the International Museum of Mystical Arts (IMMA, forthcoming) and the Coffee and Tarot Society (CATS) alongside her long-time mentor, Monica Bodirsky.
Saturday, October 16
TIME: 7:00-8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Special Event
TITLE: Exploring the Paranormal
PRESENTER: Monica Bodirsky
BIO: Monica Bodirsky BDES, CH is a professional artist, author, advisor and Chartered Herbalist and first generation settler of Northern, Eastern and Southern European heritage. As a divination specialist, and a follower of the shadow path, her work promotes personal growth, empowerment and transformative ways of working with unacknowledged spiritual and creative energies.
Although a sought after speaker in the realms of creativity, cartomancy and Witchcraft, a lesser known aspect of her life is her experience with spirits and entities. A storyteller, she loves to share some of her hair raising encounters and would love to hear some of yours! After the presentation, we’ll have a discussion about how to process some of these experiences. Bring a cup of warm cocoa, a blanket and get ready!
TICKET Link: TICKETS
SOCIAL MEDIA: Insta @monicabodirsky, Web: https://www.monicabodirsky.com
DESCRIPTION: This discussion will focus on the paranormal, some specific experiences and a Q and A will follow
PWYC Event - Suggested donation $10
Sunday, October 17
TIME: 1 - 2:30 PM EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Wellness
TITLE: Witchy Wellness: Smooth Cycling: Wheel of the Year Aligned Wellness
PRESENTER: Tiffany Lazic, and host Loretta Jean on behalf of Wonderworks
SOCIAL MEDIA: gowonderworks.com, www.facebook.com/gowonderworks, @gowonderworks; sparrowqueen.com / IG: @loretta.jean & @sparrowqueentarot / Twitter: @loretta_jean
MODERATORS: Loretta Jean, Rowena Katigbak
TICKET LINK: https://wellness3.eventbrite.ca
BIO: Tiffany Lazic is a Registered Psychotherapist, Spiritual Director, Certified Havening Techniques Practitioner; owner of The Hive and Grove Centre for Holistic Wellness (Kitchener, ON); international retreat facilitator and organizer; and author of The Great Work: Self-Knowledge and Healing Through the Wheel of the Year (Llewellyn Publications, 2015) and The Noble Art: From Shadow to Essence Through the Wheel of the Year (Llewellyn Publications, 2021). Visit Tiffany at www.hiveandgrove.ca
DESCRIPTION: When health and wellness are defined through the perspective of wholeness and integration, rather than perfection and idealization, there is an invitation for a very different relationship to self and the potential for a supportive, accepting way of being in one’s life.
The inherent value of all stages in a cycle is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the cycle of the seasons through the Wheel of the Year. Winter may hold its challenges but we do not dismiss its beauty nor its importance in laying the foundation for a successful harvest in the coming year. We may love early Spring, but to try to falsely hold on to that time would have terrible repercussions, if it were even possible.
This experiential event presents the eight spokes of the Wheel of the Year through the lens of their archetypal healing energy and offers some techniques for harnessing the power of Cycle for personal wellness.
Tuesday, October 19
TIME: 7:00 - 8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: CATS - Coffee and Tarot Society
TITLE: Tarot as a Healing Tool
PRESENTER: Laura González
SOCIAL MEDIA: @magiacerati
MODERATORS: Lisa East, Monica Bodirsky
TICKET link: https://cats3tarot.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Tarot as a healing tool will help us understand how a Tarot reading can lead us into a path of self-discovery and self-healing. Laura will share her 30 years of knowledge, family traditions and experiences to guide us to tap into our own psychic abilities and divination skills. We'll explore the amazing book of self-knowledge that a deck of Tarot cards is, and will talk about the subtle yet direct correlation between the symbols and everyday situations.
BIO: As a Tarotologist, Laura González leverages her intuitive gifts to help others recognize & understand the divine guidance available to them in any situation. Her unique divination practice is informed by her extensive background in traditional Mexican folk magic, Paganism and Wicca. She has over 30 years of experience as a card reader and a lifetime’s experience as a natural born spiritual healer & psychic. Passionate about social activism and volunteerism, Laura believes in the necessity of embodied spiritual growth manifesting in (as an initiation of) both inner & outer transformation. Laura is a Circle Sanctuary Minister and an ordained Priestess of the Goddess and is also a popular podcaster and published author.
Wednesday, October 20
TIME: 7 - 8 PM EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Witching Wednesday
TITLE: Witching Wednesdays with the Dark Moon COVEN Open Full Moon Ritual
PRESENTER: Monica, Joe, Rowena, Stephanie, Lisa and Lisa
SOCIAL MEDIA: https:www.witchfestnorth.org
DESCRIPTION: Please join us in a ritual and meditation for the dark moon in October. Open gathering and free event
BIO: The dark moon coven since 2010
TICKET link: https://wwfullmoon.eventbrite.ca
Friday, October 22
TIME: 7:00-8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Art Series
TITLE: Crafting: A Sustainable Practice
PRESENTER: Rowena Katigbak
SOCIAL MEDIA: https://www.facebook.com/rowena.katigbak @wabisabimami
MODERATORS: Stephanie, Laura G
TICKET link: https://witchartisan.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Crafting a sustainable practice is about honouring, nurturing, and building stronger communities. This interactive talk will be a fun dive into ways we can integrate sustainability, and intention into our creative practices. Rowena will be taking us on a journey through her crafting process with examples of past work, discussions around socially responsible design, and how she balances an earth-based spirituality, and artistic expression, with fun and function.
BIO: Rowena Katigbak (she/they I am a Settler / Immigrant of recent Filipinx descent living in gratitude in Tkaronto on Turtle Island on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Anishnaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Chippewa, and the Wendat. Tkaronto is also home and gathering place for many First Nations Peoples, the Mètis and the Inuit. I honour and give thanks to the many Sovereign Indigenous Peoples and their ancestors, the defenders of this sacred land where I live.
I create objects that honour and nurture our connections and deep appreciation of our resources.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve been exploring ideas of identity, sovereignty, spirituality and connection through my work. I delight in exploring various media and disciplines. I see the beauty in imperfection and repurpose materials as part of my practice. As a witch and proud member of the Dark Moon Coven, I follow the Shadow Path Tradition mentored by the incredible and talented Monica Bodirsky who has shown us how to face our shadows with love and strength in order to shine our light ever brighter. Thank you, Monica, for being an inspiration, modelling how to be strong and compassionate, showing us how to stand in our truth, to be a light in the darkness, to face the shadows with strength and empathy, how to help others to do the same when called, and for creating a space for community to shine.
Saturday, October 23
TIME: 3:00-4:30pm EDT
SPECIAL EVENT/SERIES: Workshops
TITLE: Altars: The Basics and Beyond
PRESENTER: Shelley Carter
SOCIAL MEDIA: https://www.facebook.com/shelley.carter/ @shelleyjcarter
PHOTO CREDIT: Sophie Hogan
MODERATORS: Stephanie Dayes, Monica Bodirsky
TICKET link: https://altars.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Altars are a great way of celebrating the wheel of the year, and moon phases, but they are also great for spell work, political and collective action, personal work and intention setting. In this presentation, Shelley will describe basic altar building, show examples, and describe altars that she has created with specific intentions, highlighting how she fine-tunes the intention with crystals, herbs, symbols, runes, tarot and Lenormand cards and other correspondences. She will also show examples of altars she has created for political and collective action and for friends with specific purposes. You will see that the purposes, intentions and creative possibilities are endless!
This workshop is suitable for new and experienced witches.
BIO: Shelley Carter has been a practicing witch for about 25 years. She lives in the beautiful, magickal village of Elora Ontario. She describes her practice as eclectic, drawing from various traditions, and modalities. She is primarily a solitary witch, but practices community witchery, via teaching, community celebrations, and creating spellwork for community members. She is the co-ordinator /creator of the Elora Tarot Deck and is the co-ordinator of the Elora Tarot and Witchery festival.
Sunday, October 24
TIME: 1 - 2:30 pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Wellness
TITLE: Witchy Wellness Death and Grief
PRESENTER: Rebecca Claborn, and host Loretta Jean on behalf of Wonderworks
SOCIAL MEDIA: gowonderworks.com, www.facebook.com/gowonderworks, @gowonderworks; @resonanceintuitive; sparrowqueen.com / IG: @loretta.jean & @sparrowqueentarot / Twitter: @loretta_jean
DESCRIPTION: Theme of grief and mourning as it relates to wellness
MODERATORS: Stephanie Dayes and Lisa East
BIO: Rebecca is a witch, a singer, and a teacher, born in the United States and now living in Tkaronto. Her recent ancestors were white Appalachian colonists of Irish, English, and Scottish descent; her older roots include Celtic, Germanic, and Scandinavian ancestry. She acknowledges with gratitude the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island upon whose traditional territory she is thankful to live and work.
Rebecca's witchcraft practice incorporates ancestral reverence, animism, spellcraft, and folk magic, and seeks to build and strengthen respectful, reciprocal relationships with the ecosystem - human, animal, plant, land, and spirit - of which she is a part. She is also a crystal scryer and offers readings to those who seek a safe and nonjudgmental space to explore trends and possibilities in their lives through intuition and symbol. Rebecca trained in the Shadow Path tradition under the mentorship of Monica Bodirsky; she is grateful for Monica's guidance in the witching arts, and for all of her wise teachers.
In recent years, Rebecca has begun to explore a growing interest in issues pertaining to end-of-life care, death, and dying, leading her to volunteer with a local hospice organization. Whether volunteering, singing, or scrying, Rebecca seeks to facilitate connection, especially in the liminal spaces between this world and the next, between singer and hearer, and between scryer and seeker. Find her at www.resonanceintuitivearts.com, or on social media @resonanceintuitive.
TICKET LINK: https://wellness4.eventbrite.ca
Sunday, October 24th
TIME: 3:00-4:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: WITCHfest North - Let’s Talk about Death
TITLE: Rebecca Rose’s Death Cafe
PRESENTER: Rebecca Rose
SOCIAL MEDIA: @resonanceintuitive (FB and Insta)
PHOTO CREDIT: Lisa East
MODERATORS: Rebecca Claborn, Lisa East
ZOOM link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83639935229
TICKET link:
DESCRIPTION: A Death Cafe is a safe, confidential, and accepting place to talk about death and dying. While death is one of the few things that truly unites us all, talking about death is still taboo in many spaces. A Death Cafe is an intentional space in which we can explore anything and everything related to the end of life. It’s an open, group-directed conversation, intended, as described at deathcafe.com, “to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.” At a Death Cafe, you are welcome to share your experiences, your curiosity, your fears, and your hopes around death and dying.
Presented by WITCHFest North, this Death Cafe will be a witch-friendly space, understanding that those of us who identify as Witches, Pagans, or practitioners of a multitude of earth-based spiritualities may have particular and unique perspectives and experiences with death, dying, and the dead. However, all are most welcome! Please join Rebecca Rose as your host with guests for a reflective, nourishing and even uplifting conversation as the veil thins.
What to bring: yourself, your thoughts and questions about death, your open hearts and minds - and a snack! Death Cafe’s founders are emphatic that “nothing marks the community of the living like sharing food and drink.” Since we cannot meet in person to share food, please feel free to bring your own coffee, tea, and treats! (Please note that for this cafe we are requesting no alcoholic beverages please.)
For more information about the Death Cafe movement, please see www.deathcafe.com
Tuesday, October 26
TIME: 7:00-8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: CATS
TITLE: Roadside Revelations: Listening to the Word of the Street – Gifts, Glyphs, and Genii Locorum
PRESENTER: John Corvus
SOCIAL MEDIA: @theoriginaljohncorvus
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky, Rowena Katigbak and Lisa East
TICKET link: https://cats4divination.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Have you ever seen something “odd”, interesting, and/or out of place during the walk between here and there? It could be as subtle as a coin on the sidewalk, or a stronger statement, like a labelled brick in a forest. It could be something strangely left for you on your windowsill or doorstep by a seen or unseen animal. Might even be the synchronicity of an advertisement answering what you were thinking at the time. Sounds like someone is trying to communicate to you - are you fully listening?
Welcome to the basics of #Street_Crafts, using the much older skills of awareness, cadging, and vaticination, to add magic, dedication, and focus to your modern journey. So whether you are merely interested in the esoteric, starting on a path, or exploring a deeper sense of your craft; see if this adaptive & intuitive medium can add more connection and conveyance to your expanded world, and your daily life.
Participants are suggested to have the following supplies: a small bowl of salt; a bottle of hand sanitizer, or rubbing alcohol ( "Consumable" alcohol is also an option); two small dishes or bowls, small candle/tea light, three coins (possibly a penny, a quarter, and a dollar coin - found preferred, but any pocket/purse/sack/piggy bank change will do); three small stones, something you like the feel of (whether found or bought - a favourite crystal, odd bauble - something with a story in it); paper, pen/pencil; and a snack.
The only items actually required are an open mind, and a willingness to ask questions.
Now - Go Forth, Wander Full, and see you soon!
BIO: Though talkative in-person, he tries to keep his bio short. John Corvus is an Rromani Wayfarer & Divination Practitioner/Omnimancer, working with various communities for over 20 years. He is the guardian of the Saint Sara e Kali Shrine in Hamilton https://www.facebook.com/SaraKaliHamilton, Keeper of Traditions, and an adept in certain houses dealing with old-world traditional "folk-work". He is also a former Dharma Teacher in the Chan Buddhist tradition, and is a respected Elder, and licensed Ritual Officiant; able to perform legal weddings in the province of Ontario and abroad, https://allseasonsweddings.com/en/wedding-officiants/profile/john-huculiak along with city-sanctioned ritual fires, and other community work.
His #CorvusStreetFinds on Instagram brought forward #Street_Conjure and #Street_Divination into the public eye. For more information on his services, lecture topics, or for his C.V. or the decks he has beta-tested, please feel free to contact him at john@heretic.ca or visit him on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theoriginaljohncorvus/ and on FaceBook.
Witching Wednesday, October 27
TIME: 7 - 8:30 PM EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Witching Wednesday 4
TITLE: Witching Wednesdays Introduction to IMMA - The International Museum of Mystical Arts
PRESENTERS: Monica Bodirsky, Lisa East
MODERATORS: Stephanie Dayes, Erika Robinson
SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram @im_mysticalarts
DESCRIPTION: An introduction to this new and exciting community archive and online museum, what it is, how to submit photos, or stories about your mystical items and an open discussion with Q and A
TICKET link: https://imma.eventbrite.ca
Friday, October 29
TIME: 7:00 - 8:30pm EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Art Series
TITLE: Witching and Writing
PRESENTER: Kristyn Dunnion
PHOTO CREDIT: Tanja Tiziana
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky, Rowena Katigbak and Stephanie Dayes
TICKET link: https://witchauthor.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Author, mentor and experienced facilitator Kristyn Dunnion (she/her) offers a virtual workshop
exploring the intersection of witching and writing. She’ll share tips to infuse your writing with magic, using the tools of witchcraft to strengthen literary projects and build a more sustainable arts practice. Whether you write professionally or for pleasure, connect more deeply with your work by integrating archetypes (such as those found in the Tarot) and elements (calling in the directions). Have a pen and paper ready for inspired writing prompts featuring the Triple Goddess, the mother-maiden-crone storytelling cycle. This one-hour workshop is followed by a 30-minute Q&A for participants.
BIO: Kristyn Dunnion has authored six books, most recently Stoop City (Biblioasis, 2020) and Tarry This Night (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017). She is a Lambda Literary Finalist and recipient of the Acker Award, the Metcalf-Rooke Award, and the 2021 Relit Award for short fiction. A punk vegan witch, she is deeply immersed in a spiritual practice that centres human and animal justice, the natural world and healing plant allies. She integrates art and witch crafts using tools such as the Tarot to guide storytelling. A settler of Irish ancestry (Dún na nGall), she lives in Tkaronto.
Saturday, October 30
PLEAE NOTE TIME: 10:00am - 12:00pm EDT
SPECIAL EVENT/SERIES: Workshops
TITLE: Cards! Cartes! Karten! Karty! – Inside the World of European Cartomancy
PRESENTER: Dmitry Korolev
SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram @theknaveofswords
MODERATORS: Monica Bodirsky and Erika Robinson
TICKET info: https://cartomancy.eventbrite.ca
DESCRIPTION: Playing cards Cartomancy has been one of the most popular and widespread methods of fortune-telling for almost six centuries. However, a closer look at various European methods reveals a ragtag, colourful quilt of systems – and not just one overarching way of reading the cards!
In his workshop, Dmitry Korolev will offer a look at various popular and historical European systems of playing cards Cartomancy – and offer not only an insight into their differences and similarities, but also practical tips on how these traditions can spice up our readings.
BIO: Dmitry Korolev is an English teacher and theatre director. Living most of his life in Southern Russia, he came into contact with its colourful divinatory traditions via his cards and coffee grounds-reading grandmother – as well as a plethora of witchy friends he’s had since early childhood. Dmitry’s interests include classical cartomancy, various international methods of fortune-telling, and the history of witchcraft.
Sunday, October 31
TIME: 7 - 8:30 PM EDT
EVENT/SERIES: Special Event - OPEN AND FREE COMMUNITY EVENT
TITLE: Ancestral Ritual and 5th Anniversary Festival Closing
PRESENTER: The Dark Moon Coven and guests
SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram @WITCHfest North, FB @WITCHfest North
DESCRIPTION: Monica Bodirsky, Stephanie Dayes, Lisa East, Rowena Katigbak, Joe Hart-Day, Laura Gonzalez, Erika Robinson, John Huculiak and community members will hold an open, online Samhain honouring ritual and festival closing, and announce plans for 2022.
TICKET link: https://wfnritual.eventbrite.ca