Essence Podcast with Ben Stimpson Ben Stimpson

My guest for this final episode of season 03 is the wonderful Devin Hunter.

Devin Hunter is the bestselling author of The Witch's Book of Power, The Witch's Book of Spirits, The Witch's Book of Mysteries, the critically acclaimed Modern Witch, and Crystal Magic for the Modern Witch. Initiated into multiple occult orders, Devin is the founder of the Sacred Fires Tradition of Witchcraft and co-founder of the Black Rose Tradition of Witchcraft. He hosts the Modern Witch podcast, recommended by both the AV Club and Glamour, and he's co-owner of Datura Trading Co.

Devin is also a novelist under the nom de plume, Darren Sparks., To find out more about his offerings, events and writing visit him at ModernWitch.com/Devin and www.darrensparks.com

My guest today is Troy Kokoszka, author of "Bogowie: Bogowie: A Study of Eastern Europe's Ancient Gods" from Moon Books.

T.D. Kokoszka grew up in Texas with a Jewish mother and a Polish-American father. While he was aware of roots going back to Eastern Europe from both families, he found it hard to learn very much about them. He knew that Polish people would whack one another with palm leaves around Easter, and he knew that his great-grandmother purportedly believed in forest spirits known as borowy. However, it wasn't until he was in his teens that he became vaguely aware of an ancient people known as the Slavs who gave rise to the Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Slovene, and Czech languages. It quickly became clear to him that this was a family of cultures currently under-represented in popular culture, and even in western scholarship. Not simply a regurgitation of scholarship from the Soviet period - and presenting new analyses by using previously neglected resources - Bogowie: A Study of Eastern Europe's Ancient Gods offers one of the most painstaking scholarly reconstructions of Slavic paganism.

These new resources include not only an overview of folklore from many different Slavic countries but also comparisons with 'ssetian culture and Mordvin culture, as well as a series of Slavic folktales that Kokoszka analyzes in depth, often making the case that the narratives involved are mythological and shockingly ancient. Readers will recognize many European folktale types and possibly learn to look at these folktales differently after reading this book.

Jhenah Telyndru holds an MA in Celtic Studies from the University of Wales, Trinity St. David, and has a bachelor's degree in archaeology. She is the founder of the Sisterhood of Avalon, an international Celtic women's mysteries organization. Jhenah teaches four-day residential training retreats around North America and the UK, and facilitates pilgrimages to sacred sites in the British Isles and Ireland through Mythic Seeker Tours. She is a frequent presenter and guest speaker at academic conferences, religious symposia, Women's Spirituality gatherings, and Pagan festivals. A priestess in the Avalonian Tradition for over 25 years, Jhenah has been following a Pagan path since 1986. Visit her at www.ynysafallon.com and www.sisterhoodofavalon.org.

Chris Allaun has been studying witchcraft, magick, and paganism since 1992. He is one of the founders and an ordained minister with The Fellowship of the Phoenix. He has been an initiate of Traditional Witchcraft since 2002. He is also a Native American Pipe Carrier and studies that path of the Red Road.
He teaches classes and workshops on magick, healing, shamanism, and necromancy. He has been teaching and writing for many years. He is the author of Underworld: Shamanism, Myth, and Magick, Deeper Into The Underworld: Death, Ancestors, and Magical Rites, and Upperworld: Shamanism and Magick of the Celestial Realms.
He continues to study and teach the magickal arts to those who seek to balance the three worlds in their own lives.

find out more at www.chrisallaun.com

My guest this week is Dorian Manticore. He/they is a creative hailing from Narrm/Kulin Nation lands (Melbourne, Australia). They're an author, poet, LARP creator, artist, disability, and trans rights advocate, and crafter/maker.



Dorian has been a practicing pagan and witch for roughly the past 23 years, firstly by solitary practice, then joining the Reclaiming community, becoming involved in numerous events such as the Australian Wiccan Conference, and serving as a committee member for the Pagan Collective of Victoria, a local community not-for-profit organization. They've hosted numerous workshops, talks, and public rituals.



They are the founder of the Sovereigns of the Golden Path, affectionately known as the Sun Cult, a Queer-centering emerging magical tradition with roots in animism, ecstatic witchcraft, Reclaiming, chaos magic, and leftist politics.



They’re a queer, trans, neurospicy nerd, disabled, elder-millennial tragic and cat dad. In his spare time he enjoys dressing like an extra from a post-apocalyptic film, playing video games, and bobbing around in the sea like a cork.

Led deep into the wilds of Wales by dreams and wandering words, Halo has been a practising witch since childhood, and a Dr. of Philosophy since 2022. Their magic has always focused on listening to the spirits of the land, an animistic path which introduced them to the Welsh deities, with an embodied, sensual approach to their craft.

Trained in several traditions of Witchcraft, they have taught at many events over the years, developing their own magical path through observing the interconnection between Fae and Human enchantments. Halo has studied and worked with Welsh stories, gods and magic since moving there in 2005.

Halo is a devotee of the Faery Queen, a storyteller, a philosopher, artist and the founder of the online school of magic and paganism; The Enchanted Academy (or TEA for short) and The Crimson Coven - a magical, creative collective exploring the divine erotic and sacred nature of pleasure and beauty. They also write on these topics as the kinky witch, Ms Quin.

Halo lives in Aberystwyth, UK. find out more at www.haloquin.net