Viridis Genii 2015

2015 Lectures:

Marcus McCoy
2015 Key Note Lecture: The Genus Loci and the Genii in the Bottle

Biography
Marcus McCoy is a student of plants since he was a child and holds a degree in Transpersonal Anthropology with a focus on the ethnobotany of magical plants. He is the progenitor of Bioregional Animism, and has published his works on the subject of plant teacher shamanry in Reality Sandwich. He studied with a South American Vegetalista for six years, which is where he started his focus on perfumerismo. He is now a professional perfumer and the proprietor of House of Orpheus, and enjoys a magical practice performing house clearings and cleansing. He lives in the forests of Olympia, Washington with his lovely partner in the cunning crafts, Catamara Rosarium.

 


Dale Pendell
Lecture: Plant Magic / Earth Allegiance

Earth denial is all about us—sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle. This talk and discussion will explore just how deeply earth denial is embedded in our culture, and how the ancient plant-human alliance is more important than ever.

“There are no plants in cyberspace,” I once wrote. Nor in any formal, abstract system. We are fascinated by the logos, the code, and overlook the supporting frame of matter/mother. Then we act “like a person with no relatives,” as the Navajo might say. Plants can be our guides in the realm where ghost sickness is more and more the norm.

Biography

Poet Dale Pendell is the author of the award-winning Pharmako trilogy, a literary history of psychoactive plants. His poetry is widely anthologized, most recently in The Wisdom Book of American Buddhist Poetry. Dale was the founding editor of Kuksu: Journal of Backcountry Writing. In addition to writing, Dale has been a consultant for herbal product development, botanical surveys, and a computer scientist. His most recent books areSeeking Faust, Walking with Nobby: Conversations with Norman O. Brown; The Language of Bird: Notes on Chance and Divination; and The Great Bay: Chronicles of the Collapse, a novel.

He and his wife Laura and a familiar cat live in the foothills of the Sierra in California. Their performance group, Oracular Madness, appeared at Burning Man.


Jesse Hathaway
Lecture: Fire in the Head: Energetics in Indigenous Mexican Herbalism and Curanderismo

The polarities of totona (heat) and cehuia (cold) run through all creation in the indigenous cosmology of Mexican Curanderismo. They are essential to understanding the “how” of traditional herbal cures. Often cited as a reduction of European Hippocratic Humoral systems, or a borrowing of East Asian energetics, the Mexican polarities of hot and cold are actually part of a larger holistic concept of the body and its pathways of energy, the animistic centers of the body, commonly known as the ‘three souls’. Through the use of certain plants to affect change within the hot/ cold balance of each of these souls, curanderos can heal, brujos can harm, and we re-imagine the world around us. The lecture will provide key theory in understanding this cultural conception of herbal healing, and will go into the uses and applications of several plants used within Border and Central Mexican Curanderismo.

Biography

JESSE HATHAWAY DIAZ is a folklorist, diviner, artist and performer living in New York City. With initiations in several forms of witchcraft from both Europe and the Americas, he is also a lifelong student of Mexican Curanderismo, an initiated Olosha in Lucumi, and a Tatá Quimbanda. He is half of Wolf & Goat, wolf-and-goat.com, a store specializing in Occult Art, Materia Magica, and Esoterica from Brazilian Quimbanda to Traditional Witchcraft and Conjure.


Kim Schwenk
Lecture: The Oak and Weed: Mistletoe and Myth in the Druidic Canon

The Druids are central to the cultivation of esoteric mythology. Because little empirical evidence documents the holistic lifestyle and culture of the Druids, traces of history are pieced together through archaeological records, excavations, and written histories from the Roman era accounts and poetic verse. Early scholarly attempts to quantify ritual and pagan religious practice are often theatrical observations of the Druids, accounting for much of the identity and relationships to the natural, biological world. Even as Pliny the Elder, in Naturalis Historia, (77-79 A.D.) conveniently observed and identified “mistletoe” as a singular plant championed by the Druids, the medicinal properties and subsidy to the culture is largely speculated. Known in Gaelic as uil’-ice, Mistletoe (lat: Viscum album) has transgressed from ancient culture as a mythical and magi cal all-heal plant to a formidable icon in post-pagan Christian society. Yet, the medicinal value is undermined and certainly suspect of use to early Celtic society. Identified in genus as a parasitic shrub, the species is favored to grow virally on many deciduous trees, including the Oak. The true power of mistletoe does reside with the dual symbiotic essence of the plant, and especially symbolizes the histrionic story the Druids exemplified. Looking at both an anecdotal world and evidence-based literature, this talk attempts to construct a contemporary space for medicinal uses and practices with mistletoe built on the mythical and misunderstood canon of the Druids.

Biography

Kim Schwenk is a rare books librarian and archivist at San Diego State University, Special Collections & University Archives, devoted folk herbalist, and artist. Her areas of research include Northern European and nomadic peoples’ history and medicine, early medieval botanical illustration, and folk mythology. In every facet of life, her interests of art and ecology mirror the critical need to archive and use folk medicine traditions and document our knowledge. Her paintings and block prints depict mythical and occult themes, as insight into the whimsical and spiritual aspects of nature. She also operates an online herb shop, Of Oak and Ash Botanicals, and distributes education about herbalism through the printed word.


Ryan
Lecture: Tryptamine-Containing Grasses of the PNW and San Joaquin Entheogens

For the last few years I have been in the field researching the Phalaris species occupying the Pacific Northwest; their potential for biofuel, basket weaving, livestock feed, erosion control, and medicinal values. So far my group has discovered a new active source of entheogenic tryptamines from P. Paradoxa(Festi and Samorini only detected alkaloids in 1993-1994) and quite a bit more presently unknown attributes of the entheogenic effects of these grasses. My hope is to present data at this symposium to share and expand the current knowledge of these tryptamine sources and their safety. I have written 2 complete underground “zines” on the genus Phalaris and am following up with information on Phragmites, Arundo, and Digitaria spp. from Oregon and Washington. The dmt-nexus.me and sharetheseeds.me have been my main public channels of conveying such information but a larger public venue is needed, I believe, so more are able to confidently embrace these entheogens for personal and collective healing and awareness of the pristine and archaic beauty of magic that lies beneath our feet and covers so much territory in the Pacific Northwest.

My studies sprouted two new small projects entitled the Northwest Urban Soil and Plant Improvement Project and the Phalaris Pasture Propagation Association which seek to evaluate the best nitrogen-fixing plants to add to pastures and at-home endeavors. Legumes such as Vicia, Medicago, and Lupine spp. have been studied and contrasted with their ability to increase crop yields. The Phalaris have been the tell-all of if these plants are improving their usual conditions and how. Other plants that have been added to this study are from the Elaeagnaceae (Elaeagnus Umbellata and Hippophae Rhamnoides), which may also have a place in the world of Tryptamine/Beta Carboline interactions, commonly known as Ayahuasca Analogues.

Information on the potentials of Phalaris grass synergy and the medicinal to entheogenic usage of the plants involved will be of topic, and much of it completely fresh to the ears and eyes of the world.

Aside from the information on tryptamine containing grasses of the Pacific Northwest, I have also been traveling to California to collect plant samples and analyze the possibly unknown abundance of entheogens from the San Joaquin Valley and study the shamanic usage of early plants in that region as well. Most plants are actually introduced but take up a large part of the valley landscape so are indeed important allies in medicine.

This lecture will discuss the cultivation of various grass species (Phalaris, Phragmites, Arundo) in terms of how to raise them as medicinally significant plant teachers and healers and displaying such other important usages such as paper making and biofuel production. The main plant genus featured will be Phalaris though studies on other Northwestern grasses containing constituents of interest will also be discussed. Though I am no expert, it is in my highest regard to share an experience with these tools of wisdom and exploration with conscious intention. May the sunshine bless and gleam and the moonlight caress you as you dream.

Biography

Growing plants is my passion, and when they teach me a lesson not available in any pharmacology journal or botany book, I am profoundly grateful. I have dedicated myself as an underground researcher of plants and their healing properties for close to half a decade. It is my belief that direct experience and unfiltered information brings about the supreme understanding and open hearted relationship with plants that conforming to reductionist scientific data will never bring. Life forces detailing the pathways to liberation are readily accessible at any given moment. They simply ask that we set down our egos momentarily and dissolve as a salt particle amidst the endless ocean of this floating life vessel. Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for the past few years has allowed me to connect on a deeper level never expected with these magical dream grasses to facilitate a closer love for my fellow human beings and relieve personal anguish. They have called to me and I hope to do everything in my power to spread their wisdom and seeds for any ears of entheogen explorers that are opened and absorbing.


KATHERINE WHITE & DIANA GARCIA-LYONS
Lecture: Spiritual Plants used in Curandismo (Meso-American traditions)

During this lecture I will explain and demonstrate use of plants in limpias (spiritual or energetic/aura cleansings). We will discuss use of plants in ritual baths and the use of teas as supportive measures for limpias and baths.

Biography

Katherine White is a retired RN, an herbalist of 10 years, having studied under Tieraona Low Dog,MD, Rosemary Gladstar and a Michael Moore-trained teacher. She is a student, and apprentice of Curandismo for 7 years, having studied locally in New Mexico and in Mexico. She does limpias (spiritual or energetic cleansings) and chakra balancing, and is a temazcalera (water pourer/facilitator in traditional Mexican sweat lodge). She is also a reiki practitioner.

A dedicated gardener, she grows many of the herbs she uses in her practice, and in making medicines. She is also a published poet and an artist.


Shonagh Home
Lecture: Woman As Visionary Plant Medicine Shaman

In this talk Shonagh will discuss the role of women through the ages who have worked with visionary plant medicines. She will delve into the role of the oracle and her relationship with sacred plants, as well as the classic healer who is assisted by the plant spirits. She will share some of her personal experiences with the sacred mushroom and the incredible synchronicities that have occurred as a result. Shonagh will offer some of her own rituals for approaching the medicine and calling in the teachers.

Biography

Shonagh is an author, shamanic practitioner, teacher and public speaker. She has been practicing the shamanic arts for a decade and in the last few years has been working closely with the sacred mushroom teachers. Her work with this medicine has resulted in a book, ‘Love and Spirit Medicine,’ which chronicles the demise of her marriage and her shamanic immersions through the portal of the mushroom. As a result of her work with this teacher, she has come into a very old form of shamanism that has long been the domain of women, where the spirits temporarily possess her, offering wise guidance to small circles of seekers. The mushrooms have gifted her with two very beautiful guides, White Owl and the Honeybees. These “beings” as she calls them, inform her work with both individuals and students, taking them into the shadow realms of the soul to deepen their self-awareness. She teaches in the Pacific Northwest and around the country, and has led groups on spiritual journeys in the Yucatan with her shaman friend, Miguel Angel Vergara. She has authored the books, ‘Ix Chel Wisdom: 7 Teachings from the Mayan Sacred Feminine,’ ‘Love and Spirit Medicine,’ and the upcoming, ‘Honeybee Wisdom: A Modern Melissae Speaks.’

There are precious few women speakers on the topic of sacred plant and fungi medicine and she is endeavoring to be a voice for the reverent use of these sacraments. She has spoken at the Women’s Visionary Congress 2 years in a row and recently published an article in The Journal of Contemporary Shamanism titled, ‘Woman As Visionary Plant Shaman.’ Her website is www.shonaghhome.com At the top of the Interviews page is a talk she gave that was podcast on Lorenzo Hagarty’s ‘Psychedelic Salon. The talk is a 90-minute discourse on woman and plant medicine and how the respectful use of these medicines can affect the course of one’s life.


Rebecca Beyer
Lecture: Mugwort: Mater Herbarum

Mugwort’s name alone inspires thoughts of witchery. Let us examine how this unique, fragrant Artemesia has been used for magic, medicine and food from the Iron age to the present, and why it is special enough to be given the name “Mater Herbarum” or Mother of Herbs. We will look back through history and end with a focus on modern era folk usage in healing and magic.

Biography

Becky Beyer is a farmer, woodcarver, herbalist, witch, and illustrator from Asheville, NC. She holds a B.S. in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Vermont and has been learning and teaching in the Primitive Skills community for the last 5 years. She currently teaches at Wild Abundance and the Permaculture School in Western North Carolina. Her passions include natural horsemanship, organic gardening with heirloom vegetables, botanical illustration and writing her blog: Blood and Spicebush. She is currently working towards a PhD in Ethnobotany and creating a reference book on the folk use of medicinal plants in the Southern Appalachians and in designing a course on Traditional Witchcraft from historical perspectives.


Gail Faith Edwards
Lecture: Benedicaria – The Blessing Way of Southern Italian Folk Tradition

Benedicaria – The Blessing Way of Southern Italian Folk Tradition – For the past decade I’ve spent 3-6 months each year in my ancestral village in Southern Italy. My companions and teachers have been elder village women who still practice the ancient traditional ways of the indigenous tribes of Southern Italia, closely aligned and intricately woven with the earth’s seasonal changes. This class will be an exploration of the healing rituals, ceremonies, prayers, chants, processions, trees, fruits and herbs that have long been at the center of life in this remote village, situated at the foot of Mt. Cervati, dedicated to the Goddess Diana since the most ancient times. I bring a message of hope and healing from a place where pagan earth practice is well married to early European Great Mother-centered Catholicism and still rich in the ways of earth magic and sacred plant medicine.

Biography

Gail Faith Edwards is a Community Herbalist with three decades of experience serving her rural Maine community as well as the elders in her ancestral village in Southern Italia where she spends several months each year. She is the founder/director of Blessed Maine Herb Farm and Blessed Maine Herb Farm School of Herbal Medicine. Gail is the author of three books on herbal medicine; Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs, Traversing the Wild Terrain of Menopause and Through the Wild Heart of Mary. She refers to her approach to working with herbs as The Way of the Wild Heart and helping others learn to connect with the sacred earth in an intimate, healing and reciprocal way is an essential theme of her work. One of her great joys is leading the annual 12 day Earth & Spirit Tour to Southern Italy, intended as a secure space where participants can come into m eaningful contact with our common, ancient spiritual history, culture and inheritance. Some of the places Gail has taught include the Sambhavana Clinic, Bhopal, India; The Gardens of Monte San Giacomo, and Giardino della Minerva, Salerno, Italy; Gdansk, Poland; Yale School of Nursing; University of Maine and College of the Atlantic. Gail is the mother of four home born, organically raised, fully grown children and the grandmother of three beautiful boys!


 

2015 Workshops:


Micah Nilsson
Workshop: Spagyrics and Initiation: Climbing the Ladder of Lights

“Every herb is a terrestrial star growing towards heaven; every star is a celestial herb in spiritual form.”

So wrote the philosopher and healer Paracelsus, explaining his work of Spagyrics, a form of herbalism based on Hermetic principles. Spagyric processing refines and elevates all aspects of the plant’s being, from its healing chemicals to its energetic intelligence. These energies are connected to the seven classical planets, and each plant can be seen as an expression of one of these planets, put here on earth for our initiation.

In this experiential workshop, participants will take a tasting journey through the seven planetary archetypes as expressed in Spagyric Magisteries made by myself and my partner Paul. Ways of using these Spagyrics to imbue the self with the best aspects of each planet will be discussed, and the path up the ladder of lights will be undertaken as a way to seek balance between the inner and outer cosmos.

Biography

Micah studied herbalism for many years as a teenager and young adult, and had an informal practice working with natural medicines and healing in her circle of friends. Looking for something more meaningful and spiritual in herbalism, she met Paul and found that each had the knowledge the other needed for the next steps on their path. In 1991, Paul and Micah created Al-Kemi, a company offering Spagyric herb and plant medicines and initiatics.

In Al-Kemi, Micah’s work is in the medicinal and healing properties of herbs and communicating that Materia Medica to others through websites, lectures, and writings. Micah has lectured at many events and schools, including the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland and Bastyr University in Seattle.

 


 
Katherine White & Diana Garcia Lyons
Workshop: Ceremonial Traditions of the Temazcal (Mexica sweat lodge)

During this workshop participants will receive an in depth explanation of how the temazcal works, including its symbolism and the use of plants in the ceremony. A ‘no-sweat’ simulation of a traditional temazcal will follow.

Biography

Katherine White is a retired RN, an herbalist of 10 years, having studied under Tieraona Low Dog,MD, Rosemary Gladstar and a Michael Moore-trained teacher. She is a student, and apprentice of Curandismo for 7 years, having studied locally in New Mexico and in Mexico. She does limpias (spiritual or energetic cleansings) and chakra balancing, and is a temazcalera (water pourer/facilitator in traditional Mexican sweat lodge). She is also a reiki practitioner.

A dedicated gardener, she grows many of the herbs she uses in her practice, and in making medicines. She is also a published poet and an artist.

 


 
Glen Nabel 2 workshops
Workshop: The Sacred Healing Ales and Ferments

Join Dr. Glen Nagel in a beginner’s workshop on creating herbal healing ales. In this workshop we will learn about the art of fermentation in theory and practice. We will discuss the process of making herbal ales, including selection of herbs, yeast and equipment. We will select herbs together as a group and process the wort in group ceremony to make a unique healing ale.

Workshop: The Art of Herbal Grazing for Humans

Humans like many animal species have long used the skills of grazing for edible and medicinal plants. Today many of us have lost the skills needed to walk through the woods and taste plants to determine the use in food and medicine. This herb walk and talk will focus on the ancient art of herbal organoleptic skills, the ability to sense the usefulness of herbs. We will then practice walking and sampling local plants to sense there use. We will combine the esoteric and practical uses from magic to medicine under the supervision of a naturopathic physician.

Biography

Glen Nagel ND, RH (AHG) Glen has been a practicing herbalist and all around herbal wise guy for the last 25 years. Glens back ground as an herbalist began with apprenticeship with Herbal Ed Smith and Sara Katz, as well as Ryan Drum PhD and Cascade Anderson Geller. Glen has worked in the herbal industry and an herbal educator offering classes and courses in herbal medicine. Glen’s passion is to have students learning directly from the plants. Glen is also a licensed naturopathic physician in Oregon and has practiced naturopathic medicine since 1993. Glen is a former assistant professor of botanical medicine at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. Currently Glen works as fulltime faculty in botanical medicine at NCNM in Portland, Oregon. Glen has a lifelong interest in plants and nature and believes in teaching with humor and hands on experience.

 


 
Sean Croke

Workshop: Plant Teachers of Cascadia – Plant Walk

Learning to communicate directly with the plants that we work with as medicines and as teachers is one of the most basic and essential tools that an herbalist can have. It is a practice that takes a lifetime of study to become deeply proficient at but it is not a terribly difficult path to begin walking on. This type of communion with the plant world is as natural and intimate as your own breathing.

In this workshop we will be walking through the forest to meet some of the beings that live there. This will be primarily an experiential workshop in which we will work on honing our abilities to communicate with the plant people. We touch on techniques for grounding, deep listening, and feeling the messages that the plants give us in our bodies. There will be work with the group and some time to be alone with the plants. We will also go over some of the known energetic characteristics of some of the plants that we will be working with. Having a journal and something to write with is advisable.

Biography

Sean Croke is a wild-crafter, medicine maker, and gardener who has been working with the plants of the Pacific Northwest for ten years. He is a co-founder of Understory Apothecary which produces small batch tinctures of local herbs and provides fresh harvested medicinal herbs to medicine makers, and is also involved in Cascadia Terroir which produces essential oils from native plants. He has also recently co-founded The Hawthorne School of Plant Medicine. He is a graduate of The Evergreen State College with a BA/BS where he focused on Ethnobotany and Organic Chemistry, including doing independent research on the medicinal constituents of Lavender and Devil’s Club. He has studied at The School of Forest Medicine and under Sean Donahue. Sean can be found vending at the Olympia Farmer’s Market, is the main medicine maker for the Olympia Free Herbal Clinic, leads classes around the PNW, and would love to help out in your garden.

 


 
Tintalle Foxwood
Workshop: 5 Herbs for the Hedgewitch

The path of the witch, occultist, shaman and visionary requires an immense amount of demands on the physical form. In this workshop we will discuss the role of nervines in supporting ongoing spiritual work. We will discuss 5 nervines and how to prepare them for personal use. Herbs will be sampled and participants will have the option to prepare a tea blend for their personal use.

Biography

Tintalle Foxwood is a Clinical Herbalist, artist, traditional Celtic Witch of the Foxwood Temple of the Old Religion, and a long time apprentice and practioner of Faery Seership. One of Tintalle’ s first jobs after leaving the United States Army did not offer health insurance- igniting her journey into herbal medicine. Since then she abandoned her pursuit of becoming a psychologist and planted seeds to become an herbalist. She holds a Master’s of Science in Therapeutic Herbalism from the Maryland University of Integrative Health (formerly known as Tai Sophia) as well as a Post Master’s Certificate in Clinical Herbalism. A permaculturalist, Tintalle is committed to using and working with locally grown, ethically harvested herbs wherever possible. She is a firm believer in herbal medicine as the people’s medicine, honoring the inherent wisdom of herbs in suppor ting the body and our ancestral connections to earth based healing. Tintalle integrates her practice with her connections to the natural world.

 


 

Catamara Rosarium

Workshop: The Rose in Sensorium: Rose, Thorn, Vine & Hip

Biography

Catamara Rosarium is a master herbalist, ritual artist, botanical alchemist, and proprietor of Rosarium Blends. Her extensive herbal experience is motivated by a deep attraction to plants, scents, and how they impact the senses. She has undertaken numerous unique training programs, including the Hermit’s Grove Master Herbalism Program (Paul Beyerl), the Herbal Kingdom work at the Spagyrics Institute of Practical Alchemy (Robert Bartlett), Hoodoo and Rootwork (Catherine Yronwode), and the Arte of the Wortcunning Incense Tradition (Leon Reed). For the past seven years, Catamara has co-organised the Esoteric Book Conference, and is the founder and convenor of the Viridis Genii Symposium. She has published works n Sorita D’Este’s Hekate anthology, Her Sacred Fires (2010), Verdant Gnosis, by Rubedo Press (2015). More information on Catamara’s herbal work can be found on the Rosarium Blends website.

 

Jesse Hathaway
Workshop: Um Clarão nas Matas: Working with Plant Spirits in Brazilian Quimbanda

Working with plants in the Afro-Brazilian tradition of Quimbanda is a practice centered around a relationship with the ‘Reino das Matas’, or Kingdom of the Weeds. Like all of the Seven Kingdoms of Quimbanda, the Kingdom of the Weeds has its specific rulers and spirits that work within it, many of which are deified plants indigenous to Brazil. Combining native plant lore with European and African, the Tata Kisaba (Herbalist) utilizes the innate healing properties of plants to bring balance to human, animal and spirit alike. This cannot be done without understanding the spirits of the plants themselves, and the spirits that in turn mediate between human and plant in the Kingdom of the Weeds. In addition to discussing and exploring these spirits through song and ritual, the workshop will demonstrate making traditional herbal baths and herbal washes for ritual items. A s mall patuá (charm) will be completed by each participant that so chooses, empowered through the axé of the spirits of the Kingdom of the Weeds, offering further exploration with one or more of the plant spirit allies of Quimbanda.

Biography

JESSE HATHAWAY DIAZ is a folklorist, diviner, artist and performer living in New York City. With initiations in several forms of witchcraft from both Europe and the Americas, he is also a lifelong student of Mexican Curanderismo, an initiated Olosha in Lucumi, and a Tatá Quimbanda. He is half of Wolf & Goat, wolf-and-goat.com, a store specializing in Occult Art, Materia Magica, and Esoterica from Brazilian Quimbanda to Traditional Witchcraft and Conjure.

 


 

Robert Bartlett

Workshop: the Spagyric Method , a phrase coined by the Physician and Alchemist, Paracelsus in the 15th Century, meaning to separate and recombine. Learn about the Three

Essentials and how they correspond to the Mind, Spirit, and Body of the Plant and why all three are necessary for a powerful tincture or elixir. Learn to create your own easily and simply without expensive laboratory equipment, and the fascinating history and meaning behind Alchemy itself!

Biography

Chemist , Alchemist, student of Frater Albertus and the PRS, Cheif Chemist of Paralab. Headmaster of Spagyricus School of Practical Alchemy. Author of Real Alchemy and the Way of the Crucible. Lecturer and Teacher of the Herbal Works as well as advanced work in Spagyric Tinctures.


2015 Performances:

 

Soriah

Soriah, which translates as “Milky Way” from Sufi, is the stage persona for the internationally recognized artist, Enrique Ugalde. Soriah’s craft is a blending of traditional Khöömei (Tuvan Throat Singing), tempered with Soriah’s own visceral force. Performances vary from being steeped in tradition and bound to its constructs to more experimental fascinations with electronic and acoustic accompaniments, and introducing Butoh and Ritual Performance Art.

Soriah’s use of Khöömei as a transportive medium is an offering to nature in her own tongue, that of organic sound whether it be wind, water or the mimicry of animals. Soriah takes an annual sabbatical to Tuva to study with various masters and to compete. The 2008 Fifth Quinquennial Ethnomusicology Symposium, “Khöömei: The Cultural Phenomenon of Central Asia”, has honored Enrique Ugalde, “Third Place”, the highest a non-native to Tuva has yet placed. The Tuvan Republican Kargyraa Competition Awarded him 2nd place in 2014. The Üstüü-Khüree Festival awarded him “Best Foreigner” for their 2008 selection. The rest of the year Soriah travels the globe with extended tours performing in various cities and enclaves of Japan, crooning in the cathedrals and ruins of Mexico, and intoning in ocean caves and amidst the swamplands of America and fringe festivals in Europe. The artist has been invited to perform at society events such as The 2009 Peace Ball in Washington, D.C. for Obama’s inauguration, and by brigand artist elites, to sing at various installations of note at the Burning Man Festival. One becomes encased in an awe-laced ceremonial pallor while in attendance at a Soriah performance. A deep spiritualism imbues each piece performed, whether entirely traditional or exhibiting a fusion of music, movement and meditation that Soriah describes as Vocalized Ritual Drone.


 

2015 Hosts:

 

Catamara Rosarium

Catamara Rosarium is an Alchemist, Master Herbalist, and Ritual Artist. She is the sole proprietor of Rosarium Blends, a business dedicated to concocting various alchemical and talismanic creations to enliven the senses. She is Administrator and Host to The Esoteric Book Conference, an annual international event held in Seattle, WA since 2008. She has been a student and practitioner of various Western and Eastern traditions over the past 15 years. Her current studies and practicum include Herbal Alchemy, Tantra, Spagyrics, Wortcunning, and Cunning Craft Sorcery.

Her continuous passions lie in esoteric arts, with an emphasis on cross diversification, working to cultivate networking and community based events wherein diverse belief systems and traditional practices may be shared and to offer deeper understanding and education through these communal experiences.

Rosarium Blends On Facebook Esoteric Book Conference

 


 

Marcus McCoy

Marcus McCory is a student of plants since he was a child and holds a degree in Transpersonal Anthropology with a focus on the ethnobotany of magical plants. He is the progenitor of Bioregional Animism, and has published his works on the subject of plant teacher shamanry in Reality Sandwich. He studied with a South American Vegetalista for six years, which is where he started his focus on perfumerismo. He is now a professional perfumer and the proprietor of House of Orpheus, and enjoys a magical practice performing house clearings and cleansing. He lives in the forests of Olympia, Washington with his lovely partner in the cunning crafts, Catamara Rosarium.

House of Orpheus On EtsyVesta Home Clearing

 


 
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