Paganicon 2024: Day Three

I feel a swirling host of deep emotional currents within me as I sit to begin this post at a quarter to eight in the evening, reflecting on the outstanding day I had and the transformative, evolutionary weekend at Paganicon 2024 this has proven to be for me. Powerful feelings of jubilation and gratitude wrestle with an increasing melancholy as my mind and heart come to terms with the fact that save for the long drive back home tomorrow, this weekend of fellowship, discovery, learning, sharing, and connecting has come to an end. Winter winds whistle through the night air, as if nature itself is keening, partaking of my waxing sadness. Swirling currents. As within, so without. But what wondrous things I have to regale you with, my friends. Do read on…

Paganicon 2024, Day One

A wonderful first day of workshops has concluded and my recap of the day’s adventures will be brief as I’ve got a devotional ritual to Pan to attend that starts at 9 p.m. CST. I know the room will fill up fast as Jason Mankey is co-facilitating it and he’s pretty popular in these here parts.

Hello from Paganicon 2024!

Good evening on this exciting eve of Paganicon 2024, which is organized every March by Twin Cities Pagan Pride. I am excited to be one of the presenters this year of not one but two workshops, starting tomorrow with my Encounters With the Dark Goddess: Ritual Reimagining of Sylvia Plath’s Poetry. I am even more excited that one of my dearest friends, a gal who means as much to me as my own blood kin, is able to join me from far-away Detroit. She came to my house this morning and away we schlepped, in the pouring rain, from far NE Illinois to the suburbs of Minneapolis, a trip that took us just over 7 hours due to inclement weather (at least it wasn’t a blizzard like last year!) and our ogling of curious cliffside rock formations in the delightful, Stephen King-esque hamlet of Black River Falls, Wisconsin. We’re geology nerds, what can I say, and Wisconsin is an ice age enthusiast’s paradise!

Countdown to Paganicon 2024!

I’m counting down the days until Paganicon 2024! Get. Excited!

My Experiences at Paganicon 2019–Part 1: The Workshops

Have you ever had the wonderful opportunity to travel some place totally new, by yourself, for the express purpose of recharging yourself at every level–physically, mentally, emotionally, but especially spiritually? That’s precisely the kind of restorative experience I recently had at my first-ever Paganicon, which took place from March 22-24, 2019, just outside of Minneapolis.

I’m teaching my “Loving and Serving Dark Deities” Workshop at Alchemy Arts Tomorrow Night!

Cue the Norwegian death metal music score and strap on your dildos! It’s time for me to once again lead my popular workshop on the Great God Set and other “Dark” Deities! I’ll be speaking from 7 to 9 tomorrow night at Chicago’s awesome Alchemy Arts Bookstore, located at 1203 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, where the owner has known me since I was a high school sophomore!

Devotionals to Death: An Evening with La Santa Muerte

Mark thy calendars, fellow Chicagoans! I’m going to be giving a La Santa Muerte workshop at Alchemy Arts Bookstore on Wednesday, January 10, 2018, from 7 to 9:30 pm! Behold, my wondrous marketing copy:

Ever since Her humble public debut on All Saints’ Day, 2001, in Mexico City’s barrio of Tepito, the skeletal grin and bony stature of the beloved folk saint known as La Santa Muerte (“the Holy Death”) has been gaining devotees by the millions across the Americas. Who is this feminine face of Death? What are Her different aspects? Which forces are culpable for launching Her cult into what has been called the fastest-growing religious movement in the world? How does one cultivate a relationship with La Dama Poderosa (“the Powerful Lady”)?

This fantastic, Mexican-made green lucite statue of La Santa Muerte Verde, the Lady of Justice, is one of my favorite devotional touchstones. I am looking forward to sharing my love of La Flaquita with Chicago’s occult/metaphysical communities at Alchemy Arts! 

Join Fellowship of Isis Priestess and devout Muertista Rev. Anna Applegate for a lively two-and-a-half hour workshop that covers both theory and practice: a historical overview and discussion of La Santa Muerte and the rise of Her cult will be followed by a devotional religious service to Her for spiritual protection and empowerment. If you feel so inclined, you may bring an offering of a red apple for Her altar.

People of all spiritual backgrounds are welcome!

A donation of $10 per person is requested to help with printing costs for the booklet that participants will receive, though no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Viva La Santísima!

Loving and Serving “Dark” Deities: My Next Workshop at World Tree Healing

Mark your calendars, Chi-Town readers! My next Polytheist-centric workshop at World Tree Healing metaphysical resource center in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood will take place on Saturday, April 15 (the day Venus goes Direct!), from 5 to 7 p.m. Behold, my glorious marketing copy:

I’ll Be Teaching a Workshop on Ancient Egyptian Magic at World Tree Healing in Chicago on March 18!

Mark your calendars, Chi-Town peeps, and anyone who may be visiting the city on Saturday, March 18 who may be interested in learning about ancient Egyptian magic! I’ll be leading a two-hour “Hands-On Heka” workshop at World Tree Healing metaphysical resource center in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood from 5 – 7 o’clock that evening.

Behold, the power of marketing copy:

“Hands-On Heka: Magic in Ancient Egypt”

For centuries, much of the world agreed with Clement of Alexandria (3rd century C.E.), who referred to ancient Egypt as “the mother of magicians.” In this workshop, Rev. Anna Applegate, a legally ordained Priestess in the international Fellowship of Isis, will give an overview of magic, or heka, in ancient Egypt, focusing on the three main divisions of funerary magic, ritual magic (performed in temples), and everyday magic. Participants will get to experience hands-on heka by creating papyri talismans to keep.

The Workshops I’ll Be Presenting at This Year’s Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG)

And the people cried out: “Huzzah!” That’s right, the two workshops I submitted for this year’s Pagan Spirit Gathering, which takes place the week of June 14-21 this year at an Illinois location for the 5th consecutive time, have just been accepted! As with the Sekhmet and Nebet-Het workshops and rituals I led at last year’s PSG, my two workshops are the only ones representative of Kemetic polytheism. Given my “everday Egypt” hair and makeup that characterize my appearance–even in the midst of quasi-primitive camping conditions and the unpredictability of the elements (mission creep makes my campsite more of a glamper’s paradise with each passing PSG, and this will be my 5th time attending)–I’ll be easily recognizable in my gold-accented Middle Eastern attire and beaded headdresses in the sea of aging naked hippies that will be surrounding me. 😉