Hail and Welcome to you beautiful souls!!!!
It's that time of the year when I start to feel more like myself, when being witchy and spooky is normalised, but it's also time for the FIFTH Season of the Witch Annual Virtual Conference hosted by Wise Woman Witchery!!!! It's hard to believe that this is started
This is one of those events that I cannot miss (unless I am very unlucky) because it's so full of knowledge and amazing people to learn from. I love these conferences, even though I missed the Cauldron of Wisdom conference earlier this year, and I look forward to them as soon as the dates are announced.
It was a 2 day event with 11 workshops on 11th and 12th October via Zoom, but, technically, it started on 10th October with the first workshop but they were predominantly across the two dates.
I was slightly surprised at the Opening Ceremony being done after the first workshop, but it was done on the first full day of workshops. The Closing Ceremony was done after all of the workshops which rounded off the whole event.
The first workshop was "Hecate: Goddess of the Crossroads" and was run by Emily Morrison, the amazing creatrix behind Wise Woman Witchery. This workshop was split intothree parts: a large amount of information about Hecate, Her associations, and Her mythology; a meditation journey to meet Hecate; and a divination reading for advice from Hecate about being at a cross-roads. I know Hecate but I don't worship or work with Her specifically, although I'm definitely leaning towards doing so in the future as I like Her more and more as I learn more about Her.
Day One officially started with "Tarot Every Witch Way" and was run by Lilith Dorsey. I've learned from Lilith Dorsey before and I look forward to adding her published works to my magickal library in the future. Lilith spoke about some of the different kinds of witches and how tarot can be connected with that aspect of our Craft, using crystals, herbs and foods within our workings. This was so full of information and I know I'll be re-watching this workshop in the future because I wasn't able to fully absorb what Lilith gave in the time she had. (This was one of those times when I wished the workshops were longer than they are.)
The next workshop was "Learn to Read the Akashic Records" which was presented by Michelle Green the Paradox Witch. This was a really interesting workshop as I have been curious about the Akashic Records but I've always been a bit hesitant about dipping my toes into this. Michelle broke the workshop up into 3 parts: information, an individual exercise, and a group exercise. The individual and group exercises were about starting to explore our own personal Records and then reading the Records of others. I'm still nervous but I'm sure I'll do a deeper dive into the Akashic Records at some point in the future.
The third workshop of the day was "Inviting Our Dead to Dinner" and it was run by Jess the Death Empath. This was a little discomiting for me because Jess started with a visualisation meditation to meet and connect with a loved one while making dinner but the loved one I would love to connect with, I don't have many memories or information about. However, despite my hesitation, Jess was really empathetic and helped me to understand I can still connect with loved ones I don't know much about. The meditation Jess led is definitely something I will be redoing again in the future.
The fourth workshop of day one was "Let's Meet Some Crystals" and this was run by Yvonne Miguez. Yvonne spoke about some crystals (since there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different ones in the world); some of them I know and have in my own crystal collection but it's always nice to know how others use the same crystals in their magickal practices. She also gave some ideas around how to figure out which crystals to work with for different purposes. Yvonne also mentioned how to cleanse crystals, and which ones shouldn't be cleansed with certain methods, adding to the knowledge I already had which I love. Yvonne crafts her own crystal bead bracelets and how she connects with the crystals is truly amazing! It's truly amazing how crystals are formed and what we humans use them for.
The final workshop of the day was "Taking the Advice of Circe: Greek Magick and Death Rituals" and it was run by Irisanya Moon. This workshop was definitely interesting as it was all about what the Ancient Greeks would do and believed would happen to those who died. I did learn a lot about Circe and Irisanya was amazing as a presenter. The meditation journey was fascinating too as I visited to the Otherworld but didn't meet anyone - however, I do believe this journey helped to facilitate an experience I had in Day Two.
The first workshop of day two was supposed to be "Power in the Tarot" with Maria Minnis but Maria was unfortunately unable to present. However, Emily jumped in to do a "How to Read Tarot Intuitively" workshop instead and this was really helpful to me as I built up my skills at reading cards intuitively. It was really interesting as at least one card felt different to how it usually presents to me - I pulled the King of Lightning from the Hocus Pocus Tarot deck and it felt so full of Leo energy, like I'm going to be centre stage and in the spotlight because I've finally decided to step out of the shadows.
The second workshop was "The Spanish Fan", which was presented by Leticia Ferrer. This was particularly interesting because I had never considered the ways in which a fan could be used within magick although I knew fans had been used by women to communicate with eligible men at balls and dances just a few centuries ago. Leticia used a Spanish fan specifically but it seems that we can use any kind of hand-fan for this kind of magick.
The third workshop was "Working with Root Medicine" and this was run by Erin LaFaive. I love learning from Erin and usually end up inspired to work with plants more. This was no different as I would love to make my own tinctures but for my own medical reasons, I can't use alcohol-based products so I will have to use glycerine. Erin did confirm that one of my favourite plants works well with glycerine so I look forward to acquiring enough to start deepening my relationships with plants.
The penultimate workshop was "Crafting Agua Florida" and it was presented by Emelina Law. This was an amazing workshop and I made so many notes from this because the amount of information Emelina presented was just so much (but in the best way possible)!!!! Thanks to Emelina, I am so looking forward to crafting my own Agua Florida (also known as Florida Water) as this is more of an American thing than a British one. I already have a number of ideas that I'm excited to make real.
The final workshop of the whole event was "Signs from the Afterlife: Recognising and Understanding Messages from Lost Loved Ones" and this was run by Melissa St Hilaire. Well, this was an epic final workshop of the whole Conference!! Melissa has presented at past conferences and I've loved learning from her but this time, it really was the cherry on the cake!!!! Melissa spoke about how to connect with guides, whether people, animals or plants, as well as how to conduct a seance (on your own or with a group). She also led a meditation to meet and connect with a guide, and this time, I met someone I have longed to meet for years: my own Mum!!!! I saw her and felt her presence on my own, running to hug her and exchange feelings of comfort. Almost every previous experience has felt less natural and flowing, sort of like I wasn't ready until now but my Mum still wanted to show that she has never truly left me. I have so much to still unpack but I'm so willing to dive down that research rabbit-hole.
Overall, the whole Conference was amazing!!!! I never want them to end, even before they begin but this one was so inspiring and thought-provoking, giving me alternative perspectives, new ideas to trial and general information to integrate into my Craft.
I will be forever grateful to the day I discovered Emily and Wise Woman Witchery, for the opportunity to co-create, to learn and discover new ideas that I might otherwise have discarded or been too fearful to try. I cannot recommend or have more hope for you to connect with her to see what else she might have to offer you and for news on future conferences.
Peace and love to all!!!!
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