We walk this world together; we have different spiritual ways of interacting with our deities, our ancestors, our families, and our rites, but ultimately we share many similar traditions and techniques of relating to the sacred. At Paganicon 2016 we will focus on embracing diverse cultures, engaging with folkways and traditions of magic, continuing our discussion of identifying and avoiding cultural appropriation, and investigating what we can do for our “global village” in this age of interconnectedness. Please join us as we come together; add your unique note to the harmony of our Global Visions and Voices.
Our events include rituals, programming, music, vendor room, art show, healing arts room, and much more. More information will become available as we approach the date, but for now, please feel free to click on the link below to see our programming offerings. Thank you for visiting.
We’ll keep you dancing all night with a heady and eye-opening mix of world music, global beats, enchanting lights, light snacks and desserts, and a cash bar. We’re delighted to have DJ Chaos and his extensive selection of world music to entertain you throughout the evening. With over 25 years of experience, he has a passion for multi genre music.
Add in his mesmerizing light show and you’ve got plenty of reasons to dance the night away! Don’t forget to make time to visit the party suites as well!
2016 Guests of Honor
T. THORN COYLE
Hailing from the Bay Area, T. Thorn Coyle is a magic worker and Pagan committed to love, liberation, and justice. Thorn’s work reaches people all over the world through spiritual direction, soul readings, vibrant workshops, and online classes. Thorn is the author of the novel Like Water as well as the spirituality books Make Magic of Your Life: Purpose, Passion, and the Power of Desire, Kissing the Limitless, Evolutionary Witchcraft,and Crafting a Daily Practice.
Thorn believes we all have the capacity for magic. She is founder and head of Solar Cross Temple and Morningstar Mystery School. A lifelong activist, Thorn’s current alliances are with Martin de Porres House of Hospitality in S. F. and the Anti Police-Terror Project in Oakland California which organizes with the families of those affected by police violence.
Nels Linde of our local Pagan news service, PNC Minnesota, recently interviewed Thorn, resulting in this lovely conversation – click to read more:
While Thorn has made several visits to Minnesota to teach, this is the first time she’ll be coming to Paganicon, so be sure to reach out and welcome her! Visit her facebook page or check out her website, www.thorncoyle.com, to learn more about this unique and wonderful person.
TAMARA L. SIUDA, MAMBO CHITA TANN
In her own words, Tamara L. Siuda is a curious individual. Encouraged by her parents and a large multicultural, multiracial extended family, she has been involved in many different spheres of life: from the histories and cultures of her Onondaga (Six Nations Iroquois) and various European ancestors, to those of Egypt, Western Africa, and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean.
As Mambo Chita Tann, Tamara is a Haitian Vodou priestess, and the author of Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti’s Indigenous Spiritual Tradition. She is the head of Sosyete Fos Fe Yo We, a Vodou house in the lineage of Mambo Marie Carmel Charles of New Orleans, Louisiana and Haiti, and has been a practicing Vodouisant for 15 years.
Separately, Tamara is a professional Egyptologist and the founder and Nisut (spiritual leader) of the Kemetic Orthodox Religion, a modern form of ancient Egyptian polytheism. She has written books and academic papers about Egypt, was featured in a History channel documentary, and was the 2014 Polytheist Leadership Conference’s keynote speaker. Tamara has more than 25 years of experience as a teacher, author, and lecturer on ancient Egypt and its religion.
She also supports interfaith work and social justice issues, and was a delegate to the 2004 Parliament of World Religions’ assembly of religious leaders convened to discuss international debt.
Ivo Domínguez, Jr. is a visionary, and a practitioner of a variety of esoteric disciplines. He has been active in Wicca and the Pagan community since 1978, has been teaching since 1982. Ivo was a founding member of the first coven of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, a Wiccan Tradition where he currently serves as one of its Elders. The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel is a Wiccan syncretic tradition that draws inspiration from Astrology, Qabala, the Western Magickal Tradition and the folk religions of Europe. Ivo’s techniques and insights are rooted in a synthesis of traditional metaphysical teachings, modern science, and memories from past lives.
Demonstrating his commitment to preserving knowledge for future generations, he is one of the key organizers of the New Alexandrian Library. He also blogs about spiritual issues at Witches & Pagans Magazine.
Ivo is also a professional astrologer who has studied astrology since 1980 and has been offering consultations and readings since 1988. Ivo is the author of Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans; Casting Sacred Space: The Core Of All Magickal Work; Spirit Speak: Knowing and Understanding Spirit Guides, Ancestors, Ghosts, Angels, and the Divine; and Beneath the Skins.
Ivo will be a familiar face to many of you since he was a Featured Guest at Paganicon 2014, where he was very well received and provided us with abundant learning opportunities, ritual experiences, and gracious help in setting up in our ballroom! Feedback forms included comments like “Ivo Dominguez, Jr. was a wonderful guest! All of his workshops were tremendously informative and useful,” and numerous requests for him to return, saying “He’s cool, can speak on any subject, and leads a huge community on the East Coast.” All the good stuff our attendees have said about his is true; he is a helpful, modest, and thoroughly grounded human being and we can’t wait to see him again. Learn more about Ivo at his website, www.ivodominguezjr.com, or follow him on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ivodominguezjr.
Featured Guests
In addition to our esteemed Guests of Honor, we also warmly welcome the following Featured Guests.
Crystal Blanton is a social worker, activist, writer, priestess, mother and wife from the Bay Area. Blanton is a board member for the Solar Cross Temple and the 2015 Keeper of the Light for the Pagan Alliance. She is the author of Bridging the Gap and Pain and Faith in a Wiccan World. She is the editor of the Shades of Faithand Shades of Ritual anthologies, and co-editor of Bringing Race to the Table: Exploring Racism in the Pagan Community. She writes for the Wild Hunt, Sage Woman, and the Daughters of Eve blog on the Patheos site. She is the founder of the 30 Day Real Black History Challenge and website, promoting understanding and reflections of the experiences of Black people throughout history.
Blanton is passionate about the integration of community, spirituality and healing from our ancestral past, and is an advocate for true diversity and multiculturalism within the Pagan community. She continues to work in her local community, and within the Pagan community, by facilitating and participating in discussions on topics of social justice, diversity, leadership, and the use of restorative justice practices to empower the community voice. Visit her online at www.CrystalBlanton.com.
Heather Greene is a freelance writer living in the South. She has a masters degree in Film Studies from Emory University and a background in media, technology and the performing arts. She spent the first part of her professional career working for a NYC-based Advertising and PR agency. In 2001 she left the corporate world to become a freelance writer.
While in college, Heather started studying Witchcraft and eventually joined The Temple of the Phoenix Rising, an eclectic Wiccan coven in Georgia, through which she eventually received her 3rd Degree. Over the past ten years, she has increasingly devoted her professional skills to the Pagan community. As a member of Covenant of the Goddess, Heather served as Public Information officer. She has taught Public Relations at Cherry Hill Seminary; worked with Lady Liberty League and has been published in Circle Magazine.
Heather is currently the managing editor of The Wild Hunt, the only online news journal dedicated to serving Pagan, Polytheist and Heathen communities worldwide. Along with Heather, many other writers and contributors to The Wild Hunt will be joining us at Paganicon this year; check them all out at http://wildhunt.org/.
Nsasi Vence Guerra comes from a family of seers and spiritualists. She is an educator, spoken word artist, and poet. Her poetry has been featured in various anthologies including Shades of Ritual: Minority Voices in Practice and Shades of Ritual: Minority Voices in Paganism.
Nsasi is a practitioner of Espiritismo (Spiritism). She is initiated into IFA and 21 Divisions, and is a Level II Reiki practitioner. Nsasi is a recent transplant from Chicago to St. Paul.
Featured Ritualist
Our Featured Ritualist, hailing from the Southern Hemisphere, will truly bring us into global ritual. Jane Meredith (Australia) is a writer and a priestess of the Goddess who presents her workshops and rituals internationally. She is the author of Rituals of Celebrationand Circle of Eight (Llewellyn Worldwide) and Aphrodite’s Magic andJourney to the Dark Goddess (John Hunt Publishing). Jane is a frequent guest at the Glastonbury Goddess Conference and Australian Goddess Conference and has been running Wheel of the Year Rituals for more than fifteen years. Her newest book, Magic of the Iron Pentacle, was coauthored with Gede Parma and will be released February 2016, just before Paganicon. Visit her online athttp://www.janemeredith.com/.
We will provide more information on the opening ritual before Paganicon so everyone may decide whether they wish to attend the Friday night ceremony. For now, Jane promises that, following her tradition in Australia, the ritual with start with recognizing the people who are indigenous to our land here in Minnesota, and bring us all into community with each other, each of us bringing our own microcosm of diversity to the circle. She says,
“All land is sacred land. The emphasis of the sacred is in us: what we carry in our bloodlines, our heritage, our intentions, the lands and traditions we come from and therefore bring with us.”
