Jason Winslade, PhD is a scholar and writer in the fields of Performance Studies, popular culture and media, and Pagan Studies. He has taught at the university level since 1997 and has published essays in various journals and anthologies. He is an editor for Crossed Crow Books, a Pagan press based in Chicago, where he also produces events with his organization, Ritual Rhythms Chicago and performs as a musician and drummer in his band Secrets of the Beehive and with a bellydance ensemble.
Meeting Our Multiversal Selves. Stories of parallel universes have a long history in literature and folklore, and are even backed up by quantum physics. Recently, several films such as Everything Everywhere All at Once, and various superhero properties, have brought the idea back to the forefront of popular culture. If we could contact our other selves, what could we accomplish? Are there applications in magickal practice? All Welcome. Sirius Rising: Tuesday, July 18
Tell Them Stories: Sandman, His Dark Materials and More. Based on properties from the late 80s and 90s, recent television adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials are focused on the power of storytelling. In this workshop, we will discuss the art of storytelling as a magickal act, how entire civilizations are built upon powerful narratives, and how these works from Gaiman and Pullman explore these concepts. We’ll also share our own ability to weave stories with each other. All Welcome. Sirius Rising: Thursday, July 20
Revisiting the Paganism of the 90s. In the late 1990s, Paganism and its study went through some major changes in our understanding of our history and practices, especially with the work of Ronald Hutton and others. Some recent reprints of works written before that shift highlight the differences between then and now, especially for those of us who were trained and initiated in that time. In this workshop, we’ll discuss what we can take from the wisdom of that era and what belongs in the past. All Welcome. Sirius Rising: Saturday, July 22