SassyCon 2025: Full Schedule

9:00am CDT

Introduction to Modern Totemism

Friday May 9, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

Totem Animal magick is ancient and primordial, as old as the magick of herbs, stones, ancestors, and bones, and is the birthright of humanity. Modern Totemism is a modern tradition created to help the magickal practitioner of today’s world connect with and work with those primordial animal energies within themselves. Totemism is a path of knowing the true self, a way of deep reflection, through understanding those essential animal energies of the human spirit. Explore the tradition of Modern Totemism with it’s co-creator and the author of the 2019 book The Modern Totemist, Stephanie Brown Discuss the nature of totems, the structure of Nine Totems within every person used in the tradition, and how to work with totems to improve your life, your magickal work, and your understanding of yourself.

Speakers

Stephanie Brown

Friday May 9, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #2 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

9:00am CDT

Introduction to the Bones

Friday May 9, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #1

Osteomancy is an ancient form of divination that involves using animal bones, typically shoulder blades or other flat bones, to gain insight, guidance, or answers to questions.The divinator interprets the bones to finding messages and clues holding symbolic meanings to uncover hidden truths or predict future events. Osteomancy has been and is practiced in various cultures, including ancient China, Africa, and Indigenous America.

Speakers

Toumba Roux

Friday May 9, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #1 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

9:00am CDT

The Consequences of Magickal Action: Aftercare and Healing

Friday May 9, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

St. Joseph's Room

This workshop will explore methods to deal with bad reactions or injuries sustained in ritual, when magical work sours, or in outright attacks. Quick and simple diagnostics will be presented to choose a response, if one is needed. The middle- and long-term impact of magickal action will also be addressed so you can remain healthy and strong for more years. Wear and tear ignored is often more damaging than injuries or acute situations. Rest, healing, and aftercare are the key to staying power for the long haul.

Speakers

Ivo Dominquez Jr.

Friday May 9, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Joseph's Room 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

10:45am CDT

Collections as Mastery

Friday May 9, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #1

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europeans from the highest to the lowest echelons displayed their mastery of the world through Kunstkammer (Cabinets of Curiosity), Maps, collections, and Libraries. To possess and display items suggested a mastery over their contents. In this session, we will examine the ways in which occult and cultural objects and texts conveyed mastery and power in real and imagined ways. In the second part of the class, we will discuss how these practices have influenced our own collections, displays and altars.

Speakers

Meg Raphoon

Meg Raphoon grew up gazing at the ocean and climbing trees on the north shore of Long Island. She currently resides in Detroit Michigan with her amazing son and the cats who have adopted them. She is on the Board of Directors for the Magical Education Council and one of the Convention... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #1 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

10:45am CDT

Fighting Back With Black Magic

Friday May 9, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #2

The definition of black magic varies based on the region, faith, and era, but it almost always includes curses – which is to say magic designed to cause harm. Because we live in a world that is perceived to be unfair, destructive magic is both one of the most sought-after modes of magic and the most condemned; though perhaps it should not be. The use of destructive magic has the potential, and the historical employment, to address grievances of injustice when it seems as though both heavenly and earthly institutions seem to be fast asleep. In this lecture we will cover the mainstays of the practices of destructive magic in multiple traditions, separate fact from fancy, and give some useful examples of effective magical combat that expand your power and your understandings of what may be possible through magic.

Speakers

Clifford Hartleigh Low

Clifford Hartleigh Low is the impossible man who does impossible things. He’s been described as a living encyclopedia of the arcane, and is recognized by his peers as one of the most accomplished practitioners of magic and divination alive; summoning spirits in front of witnesses... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #2 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

Company Suggested class to take prior to Journeying Beyond: Exploring Liminal Realms with Nightshade Truffles

1:30pm CDT

On Spirits and Phantasms: How To Work With Them, and Why We're Afraid of Them

Friday May 9, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT

St. Joseph's Room

We live in an enspirited world. This is a truth known to the witch and sorcerer alike. But are spirits something we should fear, or befriend, or avoid? How might we understand spirits better? And how can we begin to engage with, or strengthen our work with them? In this class we will discuss the nature of animism and apply it towards an understanding of the otherworld and its inhabitants. We will explore the ways in which spirits have been viewed historically as well as ways we might un-learn ideas which stand in the way of our success with spirit work. Drawing upon twenty years of experience with spirits, Matthew will discuss a common sense approach towards spirit work, as well as when/if we should fear them as well as methods of protection, and insights on conjuring, communicating, and contracting with spirits in our magical work.

Speakers

Matthew Venus

Teacher, Author, Apothecary, Diviner, Spiritus Arcanum

Matthew Venus is an artist, folk magician, and traditional witch based in Salem, Massachusetts whose craft is centered around a deep heart of animism and a dedication to ancestral and land-based traditions. His practice is further enriched by his role as Tata Ndenge in a lineage of... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
St. Joseph's Room 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

3:15pm CDT

Multiverses in Hermetic Macrocosms and Microcosms

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #1

The connection between macrocosms and microcosms is a central tenet in Hermetic Alchemy with “As Above, So Below” governing the practices of both historical and modern alchemists. In this session we will examine the most commonly understood relationships in historical models as seen in the writings of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, John Dee, and many other scholars through the connection of prayer (preparation, meditation, life practices) and the main work (performing the experiments and manipulations). In the second part of the class, we will explore ways to create these connections in our lived practice in the modern world to efficiently and effectively harness alchemy.

Speakers

Meg Raphoon

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #1 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

3:15pm CDT

The Witch of King's Cross and "Black Magic"

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm CDT

St. Joseph's Room

Join Ashara Mayim to explore the extraordinary work and life of trance artist and occultist Rosaleen Norton. A true embodiment of the spirit of the Divine Rebel, she lived her life with fearlessness and honesty most people can't even imagine. Roie was a devotee of Pan since childhood and is best known for her volume, "The Art of Rosaleen Norton with Poems by Gavin Greenlees," though she explored deeper mysteries through "Thorn in the Flesh: A Grim-Memoire." She is a powerful Aquarian ally for those who wish to live their lives with truth and bravery, in accordance with their divine Will, and powerful force who feel ostracised or outcast from their mainstream communities. She was often ostracised, criticized, and even targeted by law enforcement for her attempts to share her visions and occult experiences with the world. Explore the work and life of the Witch of King's Cross and meditatively enter and experience her piece, "Black Magic."

Speakers

Ashara Mayim

Ashara Mayim is an ordained High Priestess in the Temple of Witchcraft and a teaching assistant for the Witchcraft 1 Online Mystery School. She has been an educator by trade for 16 years and deeply enjoys using her educational background to further education, understanding, and acceptance... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm CDT
St. Joseph's Room 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

9:00am CDT

Jewish Magic-Ancient and Modern

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #2

According to Abrahamic spiritual traditions, the relationship between words and magic goes back to the very creation of the world. In this class, Tamar will focus on Judaism, the earliest of these traditions, and the deep and ancient magic it and its language hold. These include spoken and written practices, communal and solitary practices, in Hebrew, and English (and some Aramaic!). We will also touch on modern magical practices that derive from this ancient magic. She will explain the magic of the Hebrew letters (the Aleph Beit) themselves, the messages and meaning they contain, the words and sentences they make, and the ancient Hebrew writings that have survived into modern times.

Speakers

Tamar Baskind

Born and raised in Jerusalem, Tamar has been steeped in the city’s magic and energy all her life. This ancient place has shaped her development, as both a person and a practitioner. Always drawn to the unseen forces around and within us, she began consciously practicing at the age... Read More →

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #2 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

9:00am CDT

Magic of the PGM

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

St. Joseph's Room

Often referred to simply as The PGM, this refers to a collection of ancient Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, Roman magical practices from the late classical era, from about 100 BCE to the 400 CE. These papyrus manuscripts contained a curious assortment of both thaumaturgic and theurgic magical spells, hymns, and rituals that were in common use. This talk will highlight the sources and antecedents of this diverse magical tradition and focus on accessible workings for a modern practitioner.

Speakers

Emily Schumacher

Emily Schumacher is an educator, writer, and ritualist. She is an initiate of multiple traditions and oversees curriculum at Académie Gnostique, a school of magic and esotericism in New Orleans. Emily is also an artist working in textile and paper mediums creating tarot, book bindings... Read More →

Saturday May 10, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Joseph's Room 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

10:45am CDT

Standing at the Threshold: The Spirits, Lore, and Transformational Magics of the Doorway

Saturday May 10, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #1

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. This work is practical, effective, and at times incredibly illuminating and enriching. And may be seen as an extension of working with and relating to the home as both a spiritual entity and an ecosystem of spirits that we might better know and form closer relations with.

Speakers

Matthew Venus

Teacher, Author, Apothecary, Diviner, Spiritus Arcanum

Saturday May 10, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #1 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

10:45am CDT

Using For Sympathy: The Powwow and Hexerei approach to magical healing and spirituality

Saturday May 10, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #2

This presentation examines the inter-connected history of the magical practices employed by the American "Powwow doctor” or “Hex." This un-licensed counselor, spiritual advisor and community healer was and remains a powerful figure in certain areas of the rural United States. The practice of Braucherei or Powwowing, known in the America as “Using for Sympathy” or simply “using,” was brought from Europe and nurtured by people of Germanic origin who migrated from Switzerland, Germany and later from New England, Maryland, Pennsylvania and settled in rural areas of North and South Carolina and Georgia. Various magical procedures and incantations will be examined along with their relations with more conventional religious traditions. Famous Carolina and Pennsylvania Powwow doctors will be profiled, and excerpts from field transcripts will be presented to provide evidence and context to this unique and enduring folk magical/religious heritage.

Speakers

Jack Montgomery

Professor, Coordinator, Acquisitions and Collection Services, Western Kentucky University Libraries

Jack G. Montgomery: Biography Jack was born in 1953 in Columbia, South Carolina. His family though Christian, practiced elements of folk religions which he later came to learn stemmed from his maternal great-grandfather who was a Powwow Doctor who specialized in healing animals through... Read More →

Saturday May 10, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #2 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

1:30pm CDT

Are you a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?

Saturday May 10, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #2

The idea that magic can be divided into "good" and "bad" magic is pervasive in our culture, but is not universal. This class looks at history, starting in antiquity and up through the middle ages and renaissance, to get a deeper understanding of where this distinction came from and how it became so pervasive.

Speakers

Dr. Greg Stevens

Saturday May 10, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #2 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

1:30pm CDT

Love Work

Saturday May 10, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT

St. Joseph's Room

Love work is one of the most requested magical workings I receive. Love is a powerful force that can bring people together or tear them apart. I understand why so many people would wish to control the tides of love, but the truth is that real and lasting love cannot be controlled. From my experience of working with this incredible force, I can confidently say that it is not up to us when and how we fall in love; that responsibility belongs to a higher being. God knows why our hearts pump harder for one person opposed to another, but the creation of a true and lasting bond is beyond human understanding. That being said, I still perform love drawing workings for my clients. There are nuances in this vein of work that can lead to a client meeting that special person, and I work with those nuances to produce results. There are two main ways love can be worked with from a spiritual/magical perspective. One path of drawing love is what I call “good” and the other path is what I call “bad”. I’ll be using these two terms for clarity, but I want to make it clear that the philosophical understanding of those two polarities become “grey” in this context.

Speakers

Sen Elias

Sen Elias’ journey to Hoodoo began with his grandmother’s guidance and wisdom and ancestral Gullah blood. Hereditary spiritual practices empower Sen Elias’ work. In 2015, he founded Crescent City Conjure, a full-service Hoodoo shop in the heart of New Orleans. Sen Elias is a... Read More →

Saturday May 10, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
St. Joseph's Room 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

3:15pm CDT

Introduction to Traditional Astrology

Saturday May 10, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #2

Astrology is more than a means of predicting the coming month and assessing compatibility; astrology is both a worldview and a complex set of tools that informed the ancient world to the early modern world from around the time of Alexander the Great until the 1800s. The older form of astrology, which we call traditional, is as lean as it is complex; it uses only seven planets and four aspects and ignores outer planets, asteroids, and minor aspects. Despite this, it has a reputation for predictive accuracy and dependable tools to forge a path toward hope, knowledge, and success from when life was far more dangerous and difficult than today. The four pillars or expressions of traditional astrology were Horary, which used a horoscope chart (a distillation of celestial motions) as a means of answering questions like tarot cards, Electional astrology which is the picking of lucky and unlucky times, Natal astrology which predicts the character and health of a person born at a particular time, and Mundane astrology which explains and predicts world events. In this lecture, we will describe an overview of these views and practices and learn the basics of how we can use these ancient tools in the modern world.

Speakers

Clifford Hartleigh Low

Saturday May 10, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #2 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

9:00am CDT

All Acts of Love and Pleasure: Let's Talk about Sex, Baby!

Sunday May 11, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #2

Sex, both the enjoyment of it and the use of it as a means to an end, have been demonized and maligned in organized religion and our larger culture for thousands of years. Ideas such as associating virginity with innocence and celibacy with purity are deeply ingrained in our culture. But as followers of pagan traditions, we can learn to see sex not only as healthy, natural, and enjoyable: a sacred act in and of itself. Witchcraft is a religion of fertility and nature. All of us are, at our core, natural and sexual beings. It is in harnessing the power of this birthright that we find its inherent creative power. In this spicy workshop, Ashara Mayim examines sex magick through a Witchcraft lens: its history, theory, and practice.

Speakers

Ashara Mayim

Sunday May 11, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #2 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

9:00am CDT

Designing Effective Rituals

Sunday May 11, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

St. Joseph's Room

The creation of new rituals that are safe, moving, and efficacious is both an art and a science. We will start with a quick listing of sources for inspiration, guidance, and power for the creation of rituals. In this workshop, several models for describing, testing, and balancing ritual outlines will be presented. Methods for dealing with small groups and large public rituals will also be shared. We will also talk about why rituals work and how they have the potential to touch and change us. The methods and paradigms offered will be applicable to a wide range of traditions.

Speakers

Ivo Dominquez Jr.

Sunday May 11, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Joseph's Room 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

9:00am CDT

The Secrets of the Four Ms: Advanced Astrological Magic

Sunday May 11, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #1

Traditional Astrological Magic (based primarily on the work of Agrippa, Ficino, and the Picatrix) is immensely complex and profound. It is far more than the creation of talismans and petitions that warp reality; it is a stepping stone towards a deeper understanding and mastery of the cosmos. Clifford Hartleigh Low has been a pioneer of Astrological Magic for the past twenty years, longer than nearly anyone else alive. He has made more talismans than anyone on Earth and performed more petitions—a practice that he revived. In the process, he has made discoveries that radically rewrite the history of this tradition and its context, as well as powerful techniques that expand the range of the possible beyond providing health, immense wealth, and delicious romances. The subject of his secret research over the past twenty years, he calls the Four Ms. What they are and how they work will be revealed fully for the first time in this lecture, true secrets that will unlock greater magical power than ever before. It will be a journey through ancient literature, Dante’s Divine Comedy, world politics, spirit possession, and much more. Because everything you know about Astrological Magic is wrong.

Speakers

Clifford Hartleigh Low

Sunday May 11, 2025 9:00am - 10:15am CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #1 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

10:45am CDT

Tadeáš Hájek’s Alchemical Life

Sunday May 11, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #1

Tadeáš Hájek was a naturalist, physician, and astronomer in the late 16th century who fashioned his career using hermetic philosophies during the reigns of Maximillian I and Rudolf II. He declared himself the leading authority and authenticator of true alchemists and through his service to the Holy Roman Emperors and their Courts he transformed his own life, eventually becoming ennobled at the highest titles. We will examine careers like his and modern success stories through the lens of alchemical and astronomical practices to uncover how the lived practice of hermetic magic results in success and elevation of status and power.

Speakers

Meg Raphoon

Sunday May 11, 2025 10:45am - 12:00pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #1 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

1:30pm CDT

Ensouling the Effigy: Image Magic, Poppetry, and Enspirited Objects

Sunday May 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT

St. Joseph's Room

The creation of humanoid figures is an act with origins which predates recorded history. Such work aligns us with the art of the gods as conjured by humanity's earliest imagining, and creates both a conduit for power and an anchor for spirit. In this discussion we will explore the use of the dolls and effigies in various magical traditions throughout history, as well as examine practical ways that we may meaningfully incorporate them into a contemporary practice based upon sound tradition. Going beyond the often misunderstood “voodoo dolls” presented through horror tropes, we will discuss the use of poppets, doll babies, and effigies for all manner of spellwork from healing and love drawing to reversal magic and of course hexing. We will then explore the deeper realms of this art by discussing techniques and approaches towards employing effigies as spirit houses and devotional objects. And finally, we will conclude by discussing the various materials and methods we might use for the construction of effigies, as well as methods for consecration and enlivening them for magical purposes.

Speakers

Matthew Venus

Teacher, Author, Apothecary, Diviner, Spiritus Arcanum

Sunday May 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
St. Joseph's Room 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

1:30pm CDT

In His Dark Garden: Plants of the Underworld

Sunday May 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT

St. Ann's Cottage #1

When it comes to re-enchanting our modern world, myth and story contain instructions hiding in plain sight. Greek mythology is full of plants and animals, and these beings are important parts of the story — they not only have the power to enrich our magical and ritual practices, but they can also enhance our understanding of complex, multifaceted mythological figures like the gods. In this presentation, Jamie will introduce a surprising variety of plants associated with the Greek god Hades and his Underworld. She’ll share her methods for identifying and investigating the magical properties of these plants, while also discussing their usage and mythic origins. (Here’s a hint: it's way more than just that infamous pomegranate!)

Speakers

Jamie Waggoner

Priestess & Author

Jamie Waggoner is an author, Pagan priestess, and occult expert. She has been a practicing witch for 25+ years. Jamie is the author of Hades: Myth, Magic and Modern Devotion (Llewellyn, 2024), and contributor to Witchology Magazine, Haunted Magazine, and The Feminine Macabre, among... Read More →

Sunday May 11, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
St. Ann's Cottage #1 717 Orleans St. Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Lecture

3:15pm CDT

Capturing Lightning In A Bottle

Sunday May 11, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm CDT

St. Joseph's Room

This class explores the whys and wherefores of practices that imbue physical objects with spiritual powers. This is one of the most prevalent yet little discussed part of esoteric work. Whether this be charging a crystal, consecrating a magickal tool, preparing oils, or storing a spell in a knotted cord, there are underlying principles that connect the practices. The nature of different materials and the difference between inherent and imparted attributes will be explained as well. The use, storage, and ethical disposal of materials that contain magick will be presented.

Speakers