The 6th annual Tennessee Folk Magic Fest will be Sunday, Sept 10, 2023 from 10 to 8 at AromaG’s Botanica. (Doors open at 9:30 am) A mystical day filled with 8 FREE classes, food, door prizes, sales, and psychics readings.
aromaG’s Botanica hosts the 6th annual Tennessee Folk Magic Festival. Come join us in celebration of all forms of folk magic with EIGHT FREE classes and workshops, plenty of food, door prizes, and psychic readings. We celebrate by coming together for a weekend of community and education about all forms of folkloric stories and traditions.
This year’s teachers:
10:00 to 10:45 am – Iajahhi – Comprehensive Energy Cleansings: The Four Elemental Layers
Maintaining a clear, healthy Aura is the most important (yet often neglected) aspect of any spiritual practice. It’s not only essential to a practitioner’s health and wellness; it will allow for more effective Divination and Manifestation work. Intuitive Energy worker, Iajahnni Von, will be sharing how to cleanse and clear the physical layer of the Aura using crystals, the emotional layer using herbal sprays, the mental layer with fans and bells and the spiritual layer with flame.
In this interactive workshop, participants will:
-Learn the techniques to target and cleanse each layer.
-Discuss which crystals, herbs and other tools to use in addressing specific issues.
-Practice cleansing themselves and other participants.
-Psychically observe and share their perceptions of what happens while each of the layers is being worked on.
This workshop is a must. Not only for Empaths, Highly sensitive people, and practitioners; but also anyone on social media. Daily exposure to negative and chaotic energies has a very real, detrimental effect on our overall well-being, but developing a comprehensive cleansing practice will not only combat those ill effects it will allow you move through your life with more grace and ease.
Iajahnni has been a part of the TN Folk Magic Fest since it began. Some of his previous classes include topics such as: how to read your own energy field; working with magical sugar jars; using lodestones and pyrite in the Hoodoo tradition; and how to absorb negativity and dark magic through the crafting of a ‘black jar.’ He is a Therapeutic yoga and meditation instructor, intuitive consultant, and energy healing practitioner. He lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
11:15 am to 12:00 noon – Kiki Dombrowski – Tarot Magic
In this immersive workshop, we will discuss methods for setting magical intentions and doing spellwork with tarot cards. In this workshop, we will create a money-attracting amulet with a tarot card and also do a spell from Kiki’s upcoming book Transformative Tarot, along with a money-attracting amulet. Note that this class will not teach traditional tarot meanings or be a “How-To” discussion on tarot, instead approaching the tarot as a tool in magic and spellwork. Please bring your tarot cards to class. All other materials will be supplied by Kiki.
Kiki Dombrowski is an active member of the magical community as a teacher, writer, and divination reader. Kiki has a successful writing career, being a long-time writer for Witch Way Magazine, a featured writer in Lisa Chamberlain’s annual datebook journals, and a co-author for Witch Way’s Book of 100 Love Spells. Her book A Curious Future is a well-loved, critically acclaimed collection of unique and unusual divination techniques. Her newest book Transformative Tarot is about approaching tarot for self-development and spiritual exploration. She has appeared as a guest on numerous popular podcasts, including the Witch Daily Show, Penny Royal Podcast, Conspirinormal, Pagan’s Witchy Corner, and 6 Degrees of John Keel. For more information visit www.kikidombrowski.com.
12:30 pm to 1:15 pm – Reverend James – The Buddhist Altar: Implements and Practices
Reverend James will guide you down the path of a Vajrayana Buddhist as he discusses the implements and basic practices centered around the tantric practitioner’s altar. You will learn the symbolism and proper use of ritual items such as the vajra or dorje, bell, damaru or hand drum, and mala, how to properly make water and sensory offerings, and the basics of Ngöndro, or preliminary practices.
Most of what will be taught has a place in almost all sects and lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism in one way or another, but we will be focusing on the Gelug school of Buddhism, which is the school from which the Dalai Lama hails.
Whether you are curious about Buddhism or interested in the path but unsure where to begin, this will be a great primer to the rituals and practices of Tantric Buddhism.
Reverend James is an interfaith minister from Western North Carolina who studied Hoodoo, Chinese Metaphysics, and Buddhism. He is the co-owner of Folk Conjure and Folk Faith Ministries. His passion is learning about folk practices around the world and keeping those practices alive. https://folkconjure.com/
1:45 pm to 2:30 pm – Nikki Jean – Water Magic
Join Nikki Jean in her Water Magic class. We will explore all the fascinating possibilities of using water in your spiritual life. Water is a dynamic element, and by learning to access its power, it will enhance your magic and help you stay in tune with your inner soul.
From cleansing to protecting, the energy of water is all around you and in you! We will show you the many ways to incorporate water into your magic, from washes and baths to spells and rituals. You will learn the importance of all different types of water (rivers, lakes, rain, and oceans) and even how to make your own magical water. We will also go over water and its presence in mythology across world cultures and how they honor this life-giving element.
Nikki Jean is a natural intuitive, healer, and root worker. At an early age, she was able to sense and speak to spirits and energies, with her ability further developing throughout her life. She now shares her gifts with others from a perspective of healing and by way of her tarot and oracle card readings. Some of her studies include the Orishas and Egyptian magic. She is the manager at aromaG’s Botanica and reads for clients weekly in the store and by appointment in her private practice.
3:00 pm to 3:45 pm – Papa Gee & Rev Roy – Dance of Shadows: Balancing Light and Dark Magic
Join Papa Gee and Reverend Roy as they team up for the first time as teachers to take on three magical topics and explore the intricate balance between light and dark, good and evil. Many magical practitioners believe embracing both allows for a more comprehensive and well-rounded practice. Just as day and night coexist, so do the forces of light and darkness.
We will discuss establishing an ethical framework that guides your magical practice and how light and dark magic can be used for positive or negative purposes, depending on your intentions. By welcoming in both sides of the magical spectrum, we can tap into a deeper understanding and a more profound connection with the energies that surround us.
Papa Gee is a folklorist, tarot reader, artist, and folk magic practitioner. He is the author of over 12 books on the magical arts and crafting and is the creator of the Good Mojo Lenormand Oracle deck.
Reverend Roy is a tarot reader, rootworker, and healing arts practitioner. He has been in the metaphysical and healing arts for over 20 years now. The focus of everything he does comes from a place of healing, to help bring his clients to the place in their lives they want to be.
Reverend Roy and Papa Gee are the owners of aromaG’s Botanica
4:15 pm to 5:00 pm – Heidi Holton – Tasseomancy: How to Read Tea Leaves
Are you curious about the future? Do you enjoy relaxing with a cup of tea? Then tasseomancy might be for you. Let’s tap into our intuition and creativity with an interactive introduction to Tea Leaf reading, an age-old form of divination that can be performed daily in the comfort of your own home. We’ll explore the history of tasseomancy, the symbolism behind the art, and how to make the perfect cup of tea. You’ll have a chance to practice reading your own tea leaves and come away with a simple fortune-telling ritual that will enhance your life and delight your friends and family. This class is suitable for both the absolute beginner and the experienced fortune teller; for left or right-brained thinkers – there’s a little something for everyone to learn at the bottom of the cup.
Heidi Holton is a Hoodoo practitioner and Delta blues artist from western North Carolina, who is passionate about empowering her clients to trust in themselves and take control of their own lives. She specializes in down and dirty rootwork, tarot and tea leaf readings, and documenting both historical and modern magical arts in her songs. You can find out more about her work at heidiholton.com
5:30 pm to 6:15 pm – Reverend Art – Spirit Communication and Techniques
Come along with Reverend Art on a journey to uncover your unique connection to the Spirit world and learn to unlock your abilities to bridge the divide between this world and the worlds beyond. Communicating with Spirits has fascinated people for centuries, like a metaphysical switchboard providing insight, advice, and solace. From seances held in Victorian-era parlors to psychic readers drawing cards in nondescript locales, messages gleaned from the Spirit world have changed the life course of individuals and countries alike. From apports to trumpet, we’ll delve into the realm of Spirit to awaken your inner Medium!
We’ll discuss a brief history of spirit communication, the language of spirit, methods, and tools used by practitioners, uncover your psychic ‘type,’ share tips on developing your abilities, and provide demonstrations. No two readers are exactly alike! Discover your primary strengths, increase your intuition, and begin your metaphysical adventure in a way that only you can.
Seasoned practitioner or weekend dabbler, there’s something for everyone in this class. Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to unlock your potential, unleash your innate abilities, and raise your vibration to new heights.
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and now residing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina — the heart of Appalachia – Reverend Art is an ordained minister of the Order of Melchizedek, a medium, a certified Reiki Master, and Teacher of the Usui Sensei lineage, a life coach, rootworker, and energy healing practitioner. He has worked with Spirit since early childhood, actively growing, learning, honing, and adapting his sensory perception abilities of clairvoyance, clairsentience, and clairaudience. Through practice and formal study, he has learned to implicitly trust his gifts of intuition and his guides, engaging them to support and coach clients through the twists and turns of life to find love, prosperity, growth, understanding, and healing. As a Rootworker, he utilizes his skills to supplement his client’s needs and mitigate their conditions with spell work individualized for their situation. You may read more about Reverend Art at www.folkconjure.com
6:45 pm to 7:30 pm – Kyndyll Lackey – Sex Magick
In this intrepid class—not for children or the faint of heart—we’ll explore ways to use your own sacral energy in your magick. From solo and partnered sex magick, to altar and electronic devotions, to blood magick, get some entry-level knowledge on how to use your desire to get MORE of what you desire.
Since 2002, M. Kyndyll Lackey has provided professional intuitive consultations, transformational coaching, Reiki treatments and attunements, tarot and occult classes, and ministerial services to clients across the country. She works in the Crowley-Harris Thoth Tarot tradition, augmenting her claircognizance with a background in human development, trauma-informed care, social justice, social services, and psychology, as well as more than two decades of practice in tarot, astrology, Qabalah, Reiki, crystals and stones, and practical chaos magick. Her latest area of study is the intersection between sex, magick, and queer relationships.
So, what is “folk magic,” anyway? It is related to the term “folklore,” which generally refers to cultural expressions, such as narratives, jokes, beliefs, proverbs, legends, myths, music, songs, dances, costumes, food, and festivals, through which individuals and groups shape their regional beliefs.
Folk magic refers to a wide range of magical beliefs and rituals that were usually performed by these normal, everyday people to address community evils such as healing the sick, giving love or luck, driving away bad forces, locating lost items, delivering good harvests, granting fertility, and reading omens. Plants, coins, nails, wood, eggshells, twine, stones, animals, feathers, and other ordinary materials were employed. In some aspects, folk magic can cross over into what is known as “folk religion.”