2025 Headliners
Byron Ballard
Byron Ballard is a witch and energy consultant; a freelance writer and an urban farmer; a weaver of words and webs. Byron is a western NC native, a teacher, an amateur folklorist, and writer. She is a presenter and teacher at academic and pagan conferences around the world including the Appalachian Studies Association annual conference, the Conference on Current Pagan Studies, Rites of Spring, Florida Pagan Gathering, Gaia’s Womb, Glastonbury Goddess Conference, Hexfest, Pagan Spirit Gathering, Pagan Unity Festival, Sacred Feminine Rising, Sacred Space, Scottish Pagan Federation, Sisters Rising, Starwood, Trees of Avalon, and others. Byron is senior priestess and co-founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple and the Coalition of Earth Religions/CERES, both in Asheville, NC. Her writing appears in many anthologies, and in a regular column on Crone Life for SageWoman Magazine. Her latest book is Feral Church (2024) with Llewellyn.
Learn more at: www.myvillagewitch.com.
Jamie Della
Jamie Della is a priestess, healer, Xicana witch, and creativity mentor. She is the author of nine books, including most recently The Book of Spells: The Magick of Witchcraft, and is the author of the Herbal Journeys column in Witches & Pagans magazine. She has a writer’s spirit and a faery soul, and she loves to teach, create, throw pottery, and get out in nature. Her honors include “Best Reference Book” from the International Latino Book Awards for the Latino Writers & Journalists and “Book of the Month” for Rogelia’s House of Magic by Las Comadres Para Americas. Jamie Della launched the Every Last Drop series: Exposés on the LA/Eastern Sierra water wars.
Learn more at jamiedella.com.
David Shi
David Shi is a shamanic worker and folk magic practitioner who primarily engages in traditional North Asian forms of shamanism. He is primarily of Manchurian descent, but can also trace ancestry to Mongolian, Chinese, Korean, as well as a little Tungus Siberian and ancient Central Asian Turkic heritage as well. Raised in a household that incorporated both Southeast Siberian and North Chinese practices, David has dedicated his spare time to the study of the spiritual traditions of his ancestors and of greater Eurasia. Recognized as a sagaasha/ongodtengertei, a future shaman prior to initiation, among both Mongolian and Korean shamans, David’s practices are deeply rooted in spirit work in which ancestral and land spirits are called to empower all workings. David’s readings incorporate a combination of Tarot, Runes, Bones, Jaw-harp, as well as Mongolian stone divination (known as Kumalak in Turkic Central Asia).
David is the author of the new book “Spirit Voices: The Mysteries and Magic of North Asian Shamanism”, and currently resides in Manhattan, New York where he occasionally provides spiritual services, products, and workshops to his immediate communities. Follow him on Instagram @davidjshi311.
Yeshe Matthews
Yeshe Meryemana Matthews is Mandala Priestess & Sibyl of Tsogyal Lhamo Drayang Ling, the Mount Shasta Goddess Temple. She is avowed and ordained in several different Mystery Traditions, including Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, plant and spirit shamanism, Ifa, Mayan Cosmology, and Goddess Spirituality. With a Master's degree in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College, she has studied women's mysticism and matriarchal communities for over twenty years and teaches in the Temple’s Priestess and Sibyl Training programs. She co-owns, with her beloved husband Albert, The Sacred Well metaphysical shop where she offers Readings, Ancestor Guidance Sessions, Sibyl Sessions, and more. You can learn more about Yeshe’s projects by visiting www.priestessyeshe.com.