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Speaker Lineup

Keynote Speakers


Erik Davis, PhD

Independent scholar and author

Underground icon, independent scholar, author, award-winning journalist, sometimes podcaster, and popular speaker. (more…)

    Christine Ferguson, PhD

    Professor in English Studies

     Professor in English Studies in the Division of Literature and Languages at the University of Stirling. (more…)

      Lionel Snell aka Ramsey Dukes

      Contemporary magician and author

      Contemporary English magician, publisher and author on magic and philosophy, who publishes under many aliases, including, most famously, Ramsey Dukes.


        Speakers, Practitioners, Performers and Contributors


        LEVIN HANDSCHUH

        Artist and Director

        Levin Handschuh is a theatre director from Hamburg, Germany, and specializes in performance art and opera. His works have been shown at Theater Bremen, the Gelsenkirchen Opera, Theater Hof and the Bavarian State Opera, as well

        SCOTT JEFFERY, PhD

        Lecturer in Sociology, University of Highlands & Islands

        Dr Scott Jeffery is a lecturer, artist, and author of The Posthuman Body in Superhero Comics (2016). His latest publication, Difference, Repetition, and the Superhero Comic appeared in the collection Superheroes and Excess: A Philosophical Adventure

        ADAM MALONE

        Artist / Producer

        Having previously worked as an Immersive Event Producer and Audio-Visual artist, Adam Malone's interest in immersive storytelling was inspired by his academic study of the Tarot. His dissertation for the MA in Myth, Cosmology, and the

        MELISSA ARTEMIS SHEMANNA

        Artist

        Melissa Artemis Shemanna is a visionary artist & art gallery curator, residing in an off-grid forest tree house studio in the Yarra Valley, Australia. Her paintings hold an evolutionary enquiry into deeper human and cosmological intelligence,

        SHANNON TAGGART

        Artist and author

        Shannon Taggart is an artist and author based in St. Paul, MN. Her photographs have been exhibited and featured internationally, including within the publications TIME, New York Times Magazine, Discover, and Newsweek. Her work has been

        HEATHER D. FREEMAN

        Professor of Art at the University of North Carolina

        Heather D. Freeman is a Professor of Art - Digital Media in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She holds a BA in Fine Art and German

        DANNY NEMU

        Author & Esoteric Practitioner

        Danny Nemu is interested in the regenerative powers of nature, both in terms of curing people and bringing degraded land back to life. After getting ill and getting better in the Amazon, he founded RAIN (Regenerative

          Kirsty Wagstaffe

          Senior Lecturer and Artist

          Kirsty Wagstaffe is a fine art practice-based PhD student at De Montford University,

          COLE JAMES GRAHAM

          PhD student, Ohio State University

          Cole J. Graham is a dog enthusiast, an autistic trans man, and a PhD student in History of Art at the Ohio State University. Previous study has taken him to Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and

          ORRYELLE DEFENESTRATE-BASCULE

          Artist / Occultist

          Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule is an esoteric artist in many media, including painting, writing, sculpture, sound, film and performance art. He is the writer-director of Australian-originating Metamorphic Ritual Theatre Company who have presented many major original productions

          MICHAEL N. GODDARD, PhD

          Reader in Film and Screen Media at Goldsmiths, University of London

          Dr Michael N. Goddard, is Reader in Film and Screen Media at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has published widely on international cinema and audiovisual culture as well as cultural and media theory. He is also

          JOHN MOLETRESS

          Performance Artist

          John Moletress is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator and Founding Director of force/collision, an interdisciplinary performance ensemble. Their work has been seen within the US at The John F. Kennedy Center, Abrons Art Center, Basilica Hudson,

          FREE FRAME

          Independent researcher and co-founder of the Bohemia Alchemy Institute

          Free Frame is a researcher of alchemy and magic in the Renaissance period in the former Kingdom of Bohemia. He co-founded the Bohemia Alchemy Institute and has created a library of alchemical and esoteric books in

            SARAH COFLAN

            Independent Scholar

            Sarah Coflan is an independent scholar whose love and focus mostly lie in the way literature, film, and other art engage with the Underworld and shadow work. She earned her Masters of Arts degree at Goddard

              a6rax1s (PETER DUCHEMIN, PHD)

              Artist / Philosopher / Performer

              a6rax1s (Peter Duchemin, PhD) This entity is describable as an eclectic scholar and artist who has explored issues related to magic, to the liminal threshold of practice and study (the emic/etic divide), and to how time

              BEN JEANS HOUGHTON

              Multidisciplinary artist

              Ben Jeans Houghton's multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, installation, film, drawing, painting, writing & performance. Through these media he investigates magic; the art of transformation and its methodologies, technologies, agencies, and implications, through art-praxis, as-gnosis, informed by

              The Inner Space Exploration Unit

              Art Collective

              Judith Noble (attending in person) is Head of Academic Research and Associate Professor at Arts University Plymouth. Dominic Shepherd (attending in person) is a UK-based artist and associate professor of Fine Art at the Arts University Bournemouth. Evie

                BERND-CHRISTIAN OTTO, PhD

                Scholar of religion, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg

                Bernd-Christian Otto is a scholar of religion, currently situated at the university of Erlangen-Nürnberg. His research focuses on the history of magic, where he combines different methodologies such as conceptual history, discourse analysis, social theory, and

                  JULIAN VAYNE

                  Independent Researcher / Occultist / Author

                  Julian Vayne is a British independent scholar and author with over three decades of experience within esoteric culture: from Druidry to Chaos Magic, from indigenous Shamanism through to Freemasonry and Witchcraft. Growing up in the Britain

                  DANIELLA VALZ GEN

                  Poet / Artist / Card reader

                  Daniella Valz Gen is a poet, artist, and card reader. Their work explores the interstices between languages, cultures, and value systems with an emphasis on embodiment and ritual, through the mediums of performance, installation, conversation, and

                  NIKKI WYRD

                  Independent Researcher

                  Nikki Wyrd is a well-known figure in occulture, and has helped spread chaos magic techniques by crafting writings, publications, talks and workshops since 1990. She has attended and organized numerous rituals, residential meetings and public events,

                  LIBBY BOVE

                  Artist

                  Libby Bove is a multidisciplinary artist based in North Somerset. An unconventional home-school upbringing and an early adult life submerged in D.I.Y. culture, have helped to shape her eclectic creative practice. Bove’s artist’s practice began to

                  ALEXANDER SMALL

                  Artist

                  Alexander Small's practice explores ideas of the Trickster as an archetype and how these are represented in visual culture. The trickster mythos includes characters such as Puck and Bugs Bunny with themes around these often including

                  HARPER FEIST

                  Esotericist / Scientist / Historian

                  Harper Feist is an esotericist, a scientist and a historian. She’s interested chiefly in magical innovations of late antiquity, and the use of these tools and methods today. She is involved in both the OTO (Ordo

                  JOHN-DAVID KELLEY

                  Astrologer / Astral Magician

                  John-David (JD) Kelley is a professional astrologer and enthusiastic astral magician with a background in anthropology and education. He is the chairperson of the Scottish Astrological Association, the president of the International Association of Astral Magicians,

                  EMMA WATKINSON

                  Artist

                  Emma Watkinson is a Fantastic Realist contemporary fine art oil painter, originally from Dartmoor, now living in Sussex, U.K. Her inspiration comes from her explorations in consciousness and esoteric study.   She is

                  SARA HANNANT

                  Artist and Photographer

                  Sara Hannant is an artist and photographer, my publications include Mummers, Maypoles and Milkmaids: A journey through the English Ritual Year (2011) and Of Shadows: One Hundred Objects from the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic (2016).

                  DEJA WHITEHOUSE, PhD

                  Independent scholar

                  Following a 25-year career in business analysis and training consultancy, Deja Whitehouse returned to academia in 2016, completing her PhD at the University of Bristol under the supervision of Professor Ronald Hutton in January 2020. Her

                    SONJA RENDTORFF

                    Artist / Filmmaker

                    Sonja Rendtorff is a Copenhagen-based artist and filmmaker. She graduated with an MFA from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2010. She has since been involved in filmmaking and has been an artist in residency

                      LARA LUNA BARTLEY

                      Artist and Lecturer

                      Lara Luna Bartley is an artist and PHD candidate at the University of the West of England's Digital Culture Research Centre (DCRC), focused on engaging audiences in debate about the monetary, banking, and financial system through

                        JEFF HOWARD, PhD

                        Senior Lecturer, Falmouth University

                        Ludomancer, Technomage, Occult Game Designer. Dr. Jeff Howard is Senior Lecturer in Games at Falmouth University in Cornwall, where he specializes in occult, metal, and Gothic themes and mechanics. His theory and practice converge in his

                        Stephen Godfrey

                        Photographer & Artist

                        Stephen Godfrey has been a professional photographer since 1989 and a practicing photographic artist since 2000, he has developed a dedicated skill set through his extensive work at the University of Northampton, where he

                        GILLIAN MCIVER

                        Associate Lecturer and Artist

                        Gillian McIver started her artistic journey by picking up a camera and shooting bands, and then progressed to underground cinema-making. After a spell at film school,

                        TOM BANGER

                        Writer, Artist, Cultural Disruptor

                        Tom Banger has lectured internationally and has been published in The Fenris Wolf, Rituals & Declarations, The Trapartisan Review and many other publications. He founded the Temple ov Psychick Youth North America in 1986. Over the

                        MOGG MORGAN

                        Independent Scholar / Publisher / Practitioner

                        Mogg Morgan is CEO of leading occultural publisher Mandrake and a respected literary catalyst. He is the holder of an advanced degree in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford where he benefited from a Wellcome

                        AARON J. FRENCH

                        Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Erfurt

                        Aaron J. French is a Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Erfurt. I specialize in the history of science, modernity, Western esotericism, German Romanticism, and science and technology studies. My dissertation focused on “Disenchanting

                        YOSHE

                        Musician, dancer and academic

                        Yoshe is a musician, dancer, and academic. She completed an MPhil in music at the University of Cambridge specialising in online subcultures, which has informed her ongoing research into cyberfeminist activism. Having performed from a young

                        KASPER OPSTRUP, PhD

                        Writer / Researcher

                        Dr. Kasper Opstrup is a Copenhagen-based writer and researcher. Currently, he is connected to the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid as a researcher while writing on a book about the 20th century’s myths of the future.

                        KARIN VALIS

                        Writer / Musician / Machine learning engineer

                        Karin Valis is a Berlin-based writer, musician and machine learning engineer, with a deep passion for everything occult and weird. Her work focuses mainly on combining technology with the esoteric: projects such as ‘Tarot of the

                        SIMON MAGUS, PhD

                        Psychiatrist / University of Exeter

                        Dr Simon Magus BSc (Hons) MB BS MA PhD is a psychiatrist with a special interest in Early Intervention Psychosis. He studied medicine in London at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, now part

                          FERDINANDO BUSCEMA

                          Magic Experience Designer

                          Ferdinando Buscema is a Magic Experience Designer — a professional trickster and an international specialist who designs “magical experiences”. With a background in mechanical engineering, humanistic psychology and hermetic traditions, Ferdinando has been chosen as a

                          Please note: This is not a finalised line up, further minor changes to the programme are likely over the coming months and we reserve the right to make said changes without prior notification.

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