SassyCon 2025

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.

Within the magickal tradition of Modern Totemism, the nine animal totems we each carry within us are our connection to the foundational aspects of magick. And yet, it can be challenging to connect with our totems, especially in the beginning. How can we learn what our totems are and how can we bring them forward? One method is Shamanic Journeying, a type of active meditation ritual that helps one access the spiritual worlds both within and without. Join Stephanie Brown, co-creator of Modern Totemism and the author of the 2019 book The Modern Totemist, and learn how to Shamanic Journey. You will be guided through a basic Shamanic Journey ritual to bring one of your totem animals forward. We will also discuss Shamanic Journeying as part of neo-Shamanism and Core-Shamanism to give participants the basic knowledge they need to begin incorporating Shamanic Journeying into their spiritual practice.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Wander through the hidden corridors of your psyche with the aid of ChatGPT. In this interactive session, we’ll experiment with a dynamic framework for dream analysis and interpretation that harnesses generative AI to tap into the unconscious mind. Clothes should be relaxed as if you are going to practice yoga.

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.

The Art of Poeting Tarot This interactive event delves into how clients and readers can use tarot imagery as poetry therapy. This class will show you how to encourage you or your clients to serve as active participants in their personal healing journey.

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.