Talks 2023
Live talks in Scotland Will be Recorded for Online Attendees.
'Greek and Roman Necromancy' - Dr. Daniel Ogden
Abstract: The talk surveys what we can know about ideas and practices of necromancy in the ancient world. 'Necromancy' here is taken in its strict sense of 'divination from the dead.' Consideration will be given both to the four great 'Oracles of the Dead', which one could visit to speak to ghosts, and to imaginative descriptions of necromantic practices in Greek and Latin literary texts. The latter include Lucan's lurid description of the reanimation of a corpse by the horrid witch Erictho, a scene that, in the modern age, has inspired representations of Dracula and Frankenstein alike.
WHEN THE SPIRITS WALK AMONG US:
THE ART OF CRUTHNEACHT - SHAMANIC EMBODIMENT
By Caitlín Matthews
Caitlín Matthews is one of the few practitioners in Britain teaching embodiment. In this talk, she explores how she was introduced to its practice by the spirits, and why she now supports those who have the aptitude for embodiment. Drawing on the ancient Fith Fath tradition, she opens some of this craft and why it is essential for our society that our beloved spirits still walk among us.
Astrology, Oracles, and True Divination in the Theurgy of Iamblichus - Dr. Jeffrey S. Kupperman.
Divination and theurgy have something of a rough relationship. Focusing especially on astrology, Iamblichus goes so far as to call any human made forms of the art false. It seems that only divine possession is true divination, and yet he also alluring mentions a kind of theurgy astrology. This paper will explore the nature of divination in relation to later Neoplatonic theurgy.
Living with the Second Sight with Gaye MacDonald
(Live in Scotland)
In this talk, Gaye MacDonald introduce us to the Scottish Second Sight. Daughter of Highland Seers, Swein and Isobell MacDonald. Heir of their gifts, Gaye has a deep insight into the gift of vision, as the daughter of the famous seers but also as someone that has the gift herself. She has plenty to share about the subject, including her trials and tribulations moving back to the Highlands to a small community with her gift and moving forward into the future of Second Sight in Scotland.
Healing The Dead - Rev Chris Allaun
In this workshop we will learn how to heal the dead. There are many reasons why we might want to heal the dead. Sometimes death may be quick or traumatic and the dead may be left confused or even lost. Other times the dead may not be ready to transition and may have unfinished business on the physical plane. We will learn how to heal the dead with energy work and help them transition to the after life. With spirit helpers, ancestor work, and energy work we will be able to heal the dead as well as help them find their way through their final journey.
Olivia Robertson - Prophetic Vision for the New Eon and the re-emergence of the Goddess - Luke Eastwood
(Live in Scotland)
Together with Lawrence and Pamela Durdin-Robertson, Olivia founded the Fellowship of Isis, in 1976, a trail-blazer for the goddess movement that would eventually gather huge interest around the world. Part of her work included prophetic visions and oracles, that were given at significant times of year, regarding various goddesses and and also within the FOI Foundation Centre temple at Huntingdon Castle (Clonegal, Ireland). Luke Eastwood knew Olivia for the last 10 years of her life, being ordained by her in 2009. He was fortunate to spend time with her both in the temple and on a one-to-one basis, during the her final years and he is dellghted to be able to speak about her work and enduring legacy.
Trance and Divination - Susana Aguilar
(Live in Scotland)
Trance is a considerable part of many oracle and scrying practices. Divination through water, fire, or crystal balls needs us to get into deep inner space. Trance can also help us to be an oracle for the Goddess. Inner silence allows us to hear her messages and give them to another person. In this talk, I will share my personal experience with trance as a priestess of Avalon, Feri practitioner, and devoted to the Exus.
A Deeper Look At Elementals - Ivo Dominguez.
The Elementals are spiritual entities whose life essence and form arise from one of the Elements. These beings are much more than the sylphs, salamanders, undines, and gnomes of the popular lore. They range in size and complexity from beings as small as microorganisms to those that are larger than our imaginations. The nature of their consciousness, intelligence, and level of individuality also vary greatly. They are often called upon in creating sacred space or in doing spell work but there is much more that they can offer. The Elementals are also helpers and guides in the process of spiritual development. This workshop is a new and deeper look at an old story, and offers a way to move beyond the basics.
A Beginners Guide To Lithomancy - Jessica Howard
What is lithomancy? This ancient divination practice is older than tarot, yet much less unknown. Join Jess Howard as she takes you through this fascinating form of fortune telling using nothing more than stones from your back garden or a handful of crystals. Learn how to build your own lithomancy set, how to cast your stones, and how to interpret your readings for yourselves and others so you can try your own hand at lithomancy.
Free form to Automatic Writing: Connecting to Spirit - Rhonda Alin
(Live in Scotland)
Free form writing is a technique writers use to quickly grab their thoughts and, without consideration for spelling or grammar, get words down onto paper.
While automatic writing is considered guided writing from Spirit, many feel they are unable to practice this form of divination.
Using the technique of free writing as launching pad, we can move ourselves through meditation into the practice of automatic writing and connecting to spirit.
In this talk we will learn the basics of free form writing, practice moving into a meditative state and connecting to our guides, guardians or other well and elevated helpful spirits around us.
Scrying mirrors in history, legend and literature - Lucya Starza
In ancient Egypt, mirrors sacred to the Goddess Hathor were used to scry the true nature of things. John Dee and his partner Edward Kelley used a crystal ball and obsidian mirror to consult angels. In the fairy tale Snow White, the queen consults a magic mirror, with dire consequences. This talk covers the use of mirrors for divination from ancient times to the current day and also looks at how such things are depicted in folklore and literature. It is a offered as a useful background to the workshop I am offering on how to scry with dark mirrors and crystal balls.
Around the World with the Oracles
with Tiffany Lazic
Using intuitive tools to connect with the Divine is a practice that goes back thousands of years and touches every country in the world. The intent for Divine connection may be common ground to diverse cultures, but the oracular form shifts and changes as one travels around the globe. As done by those intrepid "Around the World in 80 Days" adventurers, we will climb into our 'hot air balloon' and set off to explore many lands and their specific, unique intuitive tools.
with Stephanie Rose Bird
Across the African continent, divination, using nature-based oracles helps people
understand the present and predict the future. This talk by African American magick-maker and
author of multiple magickal books, focuses on the hakata, an ancient oracle, barely understood
outside of Southern Africa. Hakata tablets similar to dice are referred to in different languages
as akata, ditaola and bone throwing. Bird will help attendees understand how to use the hakata
as an oracle through understanding the groups of people who use them and their cosmology.
Ultimately, it is the spiritual practices, beliefs, mythic stories, folklore and cultural outlook of the
Shona people, as well, as how geography shapes that outlook, that enriches and informs the
ability to consult the powerful Hakata Oracle.
"The Oracle and Psychism: Differences in Divination." - Oracle Hekataios
Most people feel today that all psychics function as oracles, generally speaking. They also feel that oracles are psychics; that the two terms are interchangeable. But are they? What do we know of oracles? How do they present both in the past and with current experiences? What is the telling sign of an oracle? And does an oracle need to be a psychic, or vice versa?
Skull Sorcery a workshop to enhance your skills and expand your magickal toolset - Starr Ravenhawk
(Live in Scotland)
In this Live Workshop you will learn the following:
▪ Some thoughts about working with candles
▪ Loading Inscribing and Petitioning Skull Candles
▪ Skull candle spells
▪ Divination with skull candles
The Shadows of Marseille - Cara Hamilton
(Live in Scotland)
Cara Hamilton, takes us in this talk on a journey to discover the shadows that hide behind the cards of the Marseille Tarot deck.
Breaking the (Victorian) Glass Ceiling: How the Spiritualist Movement Brought Opportunity for Women to Change Their Lives with Varla Ventura.
The Spiritualist Movement, which saw its height of popularity in the United States, British Isles,
and Europe, between roughly 1840 to 1930s, is based on the belief that not only that we could
speak with the dead, but that the dead had messages to give us that would provide spiritual
guidance in our daily lives. Additionally, the dead could give insight into what was going on in
that Great Beyond. Though speaking with the dead was by no means a new art form-
communication through oracles and with the Other Side has existed as long as we have known
we are mortal beings - the Spiritualist Movement put this belief system in the parlors of
ordinary households. For women, in particular, the popularity of these psychic arts possessed a
freedom they might not have otherwise. They could write, paint, and even tour the country,
without the necessity of a man, a husband, or a master leading them. In this talk, we will explore
some of these remarkable women, from the famous Fox Sisters and their unfortunate demise to
the woman who channeled a "lost novel" of Mark Twain, after his death of course, via the Ouija board.
Join author Varla Ventura in this presentation as we discover women of the occult both known
and obscure, from sex educators who slept with ghosts to poet laureates.
Opening to the Oracular: Divination for the Newcomer with Lisa McSherry
When oracular information comes, it may be difficult to understand what you are being told when you are just starting on a spiritual path. In this discussion-based workshop, we'll look at different forms of divination and how they can be incorporated into daily life. Achieving the necessary trance state takes practice, and we'll discuss various ways to find the quiet and sacred space to make it happen more easily. We'll also look at how (and when) you might want to invite various Powers - Elementals and Deities - to your divination work. This workshop aims for practical rather than theoretical or historical, so come prepared to do divination!
AND MORE TALKS TO BE ANNOUNCED!
