The Sacred Space Conference

Join J.R. Mascaro in an exploration of the Rúnatal, a selection of stanzas from the Hávamál in which Odin tells the tale of receiving his rune-ken. Using the concepts found in Odin’s rune song, engage in a discussion on using runes as an all-purpose magical language, a language of existential programming, to craft technically simple and magically profound charms, protections, and other effects.

Reconnect with the shamanic power of the Bear by understanding the Paleolithic roots of these beliefs. Our relationship with Bear as a teacher, guide, midwife, and healer can be extracted from today’s fairy tales, heraldic designs, and current superstitions. While in prehistory, the lore of the Bear can be determined from archaeology, amulets, word origins, and plant names and uses. Learn about the Celestial Bear Mother and her daughter, the Bear connection to Groundhog’s Day, and the monasteries with healing bears that evolved from the Pagan practices. Dr. Woodruff’s research is filling in the Slavic-shaped hole in magical beliefs and connecting the missing links of cross-cultural studies.

Many who have an inclination towards magic may not have a room or dedicated space set aside for performing spellwork and ritual workings. However, most of us have a front door, and it is here that we are invited to engage with and perhaps re-enchant a part of our homes which is often taken for granted except when we find ourselves locked out or fumbling with our keys. In this talk we will explore the front doorway of our home as a locus for spirit work, practical charming, and magical workings. We will examine diverse perspectives, folklore, and approaches towards engaging with our doorway as a nexus of power and potentiality. 

The famous Rorschach test was created by Swiss psychologist, Hermann Rorschach. Rorschach used symmetric inkblot prints in a projective psychological test to analyze subjects’ perceptions. The Rorschach test is a psychometric examination of pareidolia, the tendency to perceive a meaningful interpretation of a stimulus and detect a pattern, object, or meaning from that stimulus. In this class, we will examine why using symmetric inkblot prints in a psychiatric setting is controversial and how using symmetric inkblot prints as a tool for divination can be pure magick! We’ll discuss examples of pareidolia in art and popular culture and how we can use the interpretation of inkblot prints in our own divinatory practices. 

Sefer HaOtot (The Book of Seals) is a Hebrew language manuscript of Solomonic pentacles. The specific manuscript we’ll be talking about was written in 1729, copied from older manuscripts. To the best of our knowledge, it was never published, even in Hebrew, and certainly not in an English translation, until our project. In this workshop, we’ll teach you about the text, but we’ll also talk about our personal journey with the text, about the nature of magical translation, interpretation, and illustration, and about what it means to bring a new grimoire into the world. This class will be co-taught with Elisabeth Empyrean.