2025 Presenters
Tickets On Sale December 21st at The Poisoner’s Apothecary
Botanica Obscura Conference is a gathering of herbalists, plant medicine practitioners, green witches, alchemists, botanists and other plant-passionate people from around the world. We seek to connect with people and plants and facilitate community and resource sharing between plant practitioners of all kinds.
All presentations are live and recorded!
Promotional graphic design by Steven Thomas Pearson-Walsh
Emily Íviðja is a practicing seiðkona and artist. Growing up on a farm in New Hampshire, Emily has spent their entire life interacting with the spirit realm. They have been studying and practicing seiðr for three years through lived experience and rigorous academic study. They are a devotee of Angrboða, the Wolf Mother of the Norse tradition. Day-to-day, Emily can be found in their studio creating ritually-crafted artwork from ethically sourced animal remains for their business ULVWITCH.
Follow @ulv.witch
Lilith Dorsey MA holds a minor in plant science from the University of R.I., as well as a degree in anthropology focusing on ethno-botany. They are also the author of six traditionally published books with each one having a section about folklore of herbs and native plants. They began their professional urban gardening efforts with a community garden and botanical labryinth over 30 years ago at the Center for Arts and Spirituality in Rhode Island. They were the garden designer of the Native Plant Peace Garden at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2023, and are currently the land steward for the Bulbancha Blooms Community Garden in the Upper 9th Ward in New Orleans.
Follow @lilithdorsey
Isaiah Dearborne and Charly McCreary are plant magic practitioners, teachers, spiritual mentors, and co-directors of the Mystery School of Lothloriȅn. Isaiah is a writer, a spiritual counselor and workshop facilitator with over 30 years of experience on the path of self realization. Drawing from a rich tapestry of spiritual traditions and practices, Isaiah specializes in ancestral healing techniques and supporting his clients and students in actualizing their potential. Outside of his professional endeavors, Isaiah is an avid traveler and enjoys sports and games of chance. Charly is a priestess, writer, astrologer, ritual theater performer and director, and avid gardener. She has been a student of the Mysteries for over 25 years, and finds fulfillment in supporting others with their spiritual work as a mentor, teacher, and ritualist. Together, Isaiah and Charly tend 7 acres of land in Northern California where they cultivate hundreds of species of plants including baneful and poisonous varieties. The garden is their greatest teacher, revealing insight into the Mysteries as the seasons turn. Charly and Isaiah have previously presented their work at ConVocation, Paganicon, Botanica Obscura, Astro Magia, and many other conferences and events.
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Josh Williams is a traditionally-trained clinical herbalist in practice in Salt Lake City, Utah. He works an ancient elemental approach to herbal medicine and is in deep relationship with the green realm. Josh is the author of two books, Spiritual Herbalism and The Green Arte, both published in London by Aeon Books. In addition to his private practice, Josh offers free weekly classes, advanced monthly classes, courses, guided plant spirit journeys, and more at www.TheGreenArte.com
Follow @thegreenarte
Phoebe Hildegard Finch is a traditionally trained conjurer, card reader, and writer. Originally brought to earth after a series of baleful magical experiments, she currently resides in Denton, Texas as apprentice to Professor Charles Porterfield. A lifelong herbalist, her work with plants is the loamy heart of her craft, anchoring the arcane in the physical.
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Varla A. Ventura is the author of Enchanted Plants: A Treasury of Botanical Folklore and Magic (New Page: April 2025) as well as Varla Ventura’s Paranormal Parlor and Fairies,Pookas & Changelings along with several other books on folklore, magic and strange history. When not poking around her poison garden or hunched over her writing desk, she can be found wandering the woods and cemeteries near St. Paul, Minnesota.
Follow @varlaventura
Sean Croke is a wildcrafter, gardener, practitioner, medicine maker, and teacher. They live on a 25 acre plot of land with their family and a bunch of other humans, animals, and plants on occupied Chehalis tribal territory, but they work and move extensively within Skokomish, Squaxin, Nisqually, and Lummi lands in the area often called “Washington State”. They are a father of two children and love to take care of living things of all sorts. They are the head teacher and founder of The Hawthorn School of Plant Medicine, a nine month program that connects plants to people by visiting the many different landscapes that exist within the Pacific Northwest and the plants that live upon them, while also learning cultivation, medicine making, and clinical skills.
Sean runs a small herbal medicine company called Black RIver Botanicals that produces small batches of tinctures, essential oils, and other extracts along with fresh or dried plant material from either the farm or the wilds. Black River Botanicals also functions as a nursery of the genus Trichocereus, selling live plants, cuttings, and seeds. Sean graduated from The Evergreen State College in 2012 with a BA/BS in Ethnobotany and Organic Chemistry and maintains a deep love of phytochemistry. They were a practitioner and the main medicine maker for the now defunct Olympia Free Herbal Clinic for five years, and continue to see clients on a sliding scale down to zero in the name of keeping herbs accessible to everyone. Sean is currently really excited about planting alders and camus, and hopes that the salmon will run thicker than ever in the centuries to come.
Follow @black.riverbotanicals
Hi I’m Natalia Lopez an educator and cannabis consultant working actively within the budding health & wellness industry. I emphasize the power of setting intention, the power of breath & mind connection. Throughout my own healing journey, plant allies supported me to re-regulate my nervous system and essentially creating transmute & dissolve ptsd and general stress. I found treating my pain, stress and overall trauma to be the key to embodying my bliss! This is a mission to help support those willing to do the work!!!!
Follow @natii.kush111
Dr Alexander Cummins is a contemporary cunning-man and historian of magic, whose magical specialties include: geomancy, folk necromancy, and the grimoires of early modern Europe. His published works include Nazarth: Pillars of Gladness (Hadean Press, 2022), An Excellent Booke of the Arte of Magicke (Scarlet Imprint, 2020) with Phil Legard, A Book of the Magi (Revelore Press, 2018), and diverse articles on various aspects of cunning-craft for both academic and occult publishers. His works, writings, classes, and services can be found at www.alexandercummins.com
Follow @grimoiresontape
With thirty years of experience working with rocks and minerals, Nicholas Pearson is among the foremost experts in crystals in healing and magic today. By combining his extensive background in mineral science with a love of folklore and hands-on experience in healing and occultism, Nicholas provides a practical, down-to-earth approach to healing, magic, and self-transformation. An internationally acclaimed teacher, he offers online and in-person classes around the world. Nicholas is the author of ten books, including Crystals for Psychic Self-Defense, Flower Essences from the Witch’s Garden, and The Witching Stones (forthcoming). He lives in Orlando, Florida with his husband and photographer extraordinaire.
Follow @theluminouspearl
Amber Haase's personal study of many modalities of witchcraft spans several decades. She is the creator of Element Botanicals, a niche beauty brand of 20 years as well as the owner of Wild Craft Mercantile, a brick and mortar occult apothecary, celebrating 5 years. Amber teaches classes on many topics and her passions are plant magick, folk herbalism and alchemy as well as natural perfumery. She lives in rural British Columbia, Canada.
You can find her at @elementbotanicals (elementbotanicals.ca) and @wild_craft_shop (wildcraftshop.ca)
It’s no accident Christian Rasmussen decided to use the word “nice” when naming his ethnobotanical company, Minnesota Nice Ethnobotanicals. It was a philosophy that worked phenomenally well for his great-great-great-grandfather and has already served Rasmussen well since the launch of Minnesota Nice Botanicals in May 2021.
A self-proclaimed nice guy who grew up with a love of nature, Rasmussen was fascinated by the plants and mushrooms growing in his parent’s backyard. Finding himself drawn to Amanita Muscaria from a young age, Rasmussen couldn’t help but shake the feeling that this mushroom would some day play a major role in his life. Fast forward to 2019 while building his CBD business, Rasmussen was dealing with a grueling benzodiazepine withdrawal. He found himself back in his parent’s backyard taking in the beauty of the plants and mushrooms growing on their land, and in a moment that would bring his life full circle, he came across an Amanita Muscaria mushroom and decided to pluck it out of the ground. His life has never been the same.
After intensive research, he found Amanita Dreamer, an Amanita Muscaria educator and advocate who has guided Rasmussen on his entrepreneurial journey of becoming the largest vertically integrated ethnobotanical company in the US.
Follow @mn_nice_ethnobotanicals
Kamden S. Cornell
Kamden Cornell is a witch living in Albuquerque, NM. They are the author of The Tameless Path: Unleashing the Power of Invasive Herbs in Witchcraft and On Needles and Pins: A Witch's Book of Poppetry and Figure Magic (to be released in 2025 by Crossed Crow Books)
Follow @hearts_ n_ vine_apothecary
Vex Blòðstjarna is a self-taught occultist and hermit for over twenty years, focusing his work on living and dead animal spirits, as well as the Northern mysteries. His practice ties animism from his surroundings and from familial roots of Scandinavian hunting rituals. Vex is a Mead Brewer, distiller, wild crafter and the primitive theurge and skin carver of Fera Aruspex. Vex is an artist of the bones, skins, roots and flowers of the animal and plant spirits that he venerates, as well as a crafter of Neolithic stone tools. Vex likes fire, exploring the forests and enjoying the company of his four-legged companions.
Follow @vexblodstjarna
Jason lives in St. Petersburg, Florida and has devoted his life to serving, protecting and advocating for our natural world. He has a background in cellular microbiology and single-celled organism physiology. He studied and developed techniques in the mass-cultivation of beneficial marine phytoplankton, founding a company that supplied such entities as NASA and the USDA Honeybee Laboratory with live cultures for scientific research. After many successful years growing terrestrial and marine plant life, Jason once again fell in love with another form of life on earth - fungi. Combining a knowledge of microbiology with a passion for experimentation, he devoted his time to creating easy-to-use solutions to common home mycology pitfalls. Primal Biologics was formed in 2023 with a single purpose: to share a love of mushrooms with the world and to help everyone benefit from home cultivation. The ultimate goal is simple; heal the earth and heal its people. Primal Biologics will continue to evolve and push forward towards this goal, spreading spores of love and health along the way.
Follow @primal_biologics
Mortellus is a lineaged 3° Gardnerian High Priestex, Mortician, Necromancer, Medium, and world-renowned thought leader in deathcare and the magic of death. Mortellus is a Mortician, and in addition to their degrees in Mortuary Sciences, holds degrees in Design, Education, and Fine Arts. Their areas of expertise include necromancy, necrobotany, mediumship, and the funerary rites of minority faith groups. Currently residing in Western North Carolina on three acres that doubles as the Covenstead for the Coven of Leaves with their spouse and twin children. Their adult child, who resides in Asheville North Carolina, is a student of Health Sciences at UNCA.
Follow at linktr.ee/acrowandthedead
Starting her journey in astrology 10 years ago, Magi found herself connecting the stars and the earth. On the quest of purpose and passion, Magi became an herbalist and astrologer. In embracing the eclectic nature of her Puerto Rican ancestry, she found herself exploring a multitude of cultures from all over the world. Thus, inspiring her new path of working toward expanding her career into the world of anthropology and archaeology. This has led her to taking a unique approach to spiritual work. She strongly believes in the experience that spirit is always speaking to us and through everything. Naturally, the poison path became illuminated on the path of medicine making. As Paracelsus once said, “Sola dosis facit venenum”, “the dosage makes the poison”. Integrative healing is a huge part of her herbalism and personal practice. Thus, inspiring an anthropological approach to spirituality and medicine. Now Magi uses her online platforms Priestess of Moonlight and Moon Priestess Apothecary to share the eclectic nature of healing and the medicine path.
Visit www.priestessofmoonlight.com
Follow @priestessofmoonlight
Kaz Goodweather and Fiona Heckels are the Seed Sistas; herbal drama queens, eco-activists and medical herbalists. They are published authors, most recently on the witching herbs in Poison Prescriptions. Their first book The Sensory Herbal Handbook has been widely praised. Their work has been featured on BBC Sounds podcast series ‘Witch’, award winning podcast ‘Ritually” and they regularly travel to speak at international conferences on their blend of medical and magical herbalism.
They run a social enterprise furthering access to herbal knowledge with a vast free blog, online members area, the Coven of Herbal Secrets and in person events. seedsistas.co.uk
insta:seed_sistas
Her published works include “Avalon Within: A Sacred Journey of Myth, Mystery, and Inner Wisdom” (Llewellyn, 2010), "The Avalonian Oracle: Spiritual Wisdom from the Holy Isle” (Schiffer Books, 2016), “Pagan Portals – Rhiannon: Divine Queen of the Celtic Britons” (Moon Books, 2018), “The Mythic Moons of Avalon: Lunar and Herbal Wisdom from the Isle of Healing” (Llewellyn, 2019), “Pagan Portals – Blodeuwedd: Welsh Goddess of Seasonal Sovereignty” (Moon Books, 2021) and “The Ninefold Way of Avalon: Walking the Path of the Priestess” (Llewellyn, 2023).
A trained herbalist and practitioner of plant magic with three decades of experience, Jhenah is particularly focused on the ethnobotany of the British Isles in her work and her writing. She has undergone formal study in several holistic healing modalities including Network Chiropractic, and has developed a unique Avalonian energy healing system. She creates herbal vibrational elixirs, crafts incense blends, and guides others into relationship with the plant spirit realm.
As a member of clergy, Jhenah performs rites of passage in her community, and is in service as a Transpersonal Tarot Counselor and teacher. Currently completing her training to become an Awenydd and member of Anglesey Druid Order (ADO), she is also a certified Amicus Mortis (Friend of Death/death doula) through the Order. A priestess in the Avalonian Tradition for over 35 years, Jhenah has been following a Pagan path since 1986. To find out more about her and her work, she invites you to visit www.ynysafallon.com, www. sisterhoodofavalon.org, and https://linktr.ee/YnysAfallon.
Follow @ynysafallon
Debora Greer was born and raised in a family of Makumbeiros, a Brazilian spiritual tradition born of the forced interaction between enslaved Africans and Native Brazilians, and in some cases, also influenced by European witchcraft. She had the privilege of being initiated by her Godmother Felicia, who was the matriarch of her family for many years and her title within her family is of Cambone or Ekedi.
After moving to the United States, Debora, alongside the Spirit Pombagira Gypsy of the Road started the Moon Garden: a virtual place of spiritual studies, oracle readings and community rituals. She believes that shared magic is multiplied magic and loves supporting fellow magical practitioners. Debora loves studying and is constantly looking to deepen her knowledge about the things she loves. She has herbalism, incense making and phytotherapy certifications and is also a gifted tarot and cowrie shells reader. Even though Debora still activally practices Makumba, she also made other Spiritual friends along the way who have enriched her life greatly and is happy to share her knowledge about Them through her classes and private lessons. Debora is totally in love with mushroom foraging and enjoys long nature walks with her life partner. She is a cat person and a dandelion lover.
Ig: @moon7garden
Micah Abraxas Nilsson started studying herbs in her teenage years, and is the co-creator of Al-Kemi, a company making Spagyric and Alchemical extracts of herbs and minerals for healing, meditation, spiritual and magickal practice.
She has lectured at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland and Bastyr University in Seattle, as well as at many conferences on entheogens, herbalism, and magic. With her partner Paul, she is the co-founder of the School of Spagyric and Alchemical Arts, which she taught at for 10 years.
In her 34 years in this work, her focus has been in connecting directly and deeply with the plant beings, communing with them as both a healing and spiritual path. Weaving together the scientific and initiatic in her teachings, she helps others connect with the green spirit of nature, which surrounds and flows through us all.
Micah's work with Al-Kemi can be found at:
www.al-kemi.com
www.instagram.com/alkemispagyrics
www.facebook.com/alkemispagyrics
email: alkemi@al-kemi.com
Albert Björn lives in downtown Reykjavík, Iceland and works closely with the spirits of this magical landscape. His magical practice spans 15 years with an extensive background in Icelandic folk magic and Sussex cunning craft. Albert teaches classes, designs magical runestaves and speaks out against racism and neo-nazism. He recently released his first book Icelandic Plant Magic: Folk Herbalism of the North published by Crossed Crow Books.
Follow Albert on Instagram @sussex_pellar
Learn more at linktr.ee/albertbjorn94
Aerik Arkadian is a 3rd Degree Gardnerian High Priest, aborisha, musician, writer, and witch. He runs a coven and an active prison ministry with his wife, Selene. Aerik is passionate about the power of music, occult teachings, and spirituality. You can find him online at www.AerikArkadian.com, where he writes witchy articles, or on YouTube at his 'Music, Myth, and Magick' channel.
Follow @aerikarkadian
Brenna Lilly is a community herbalist based in the New Hampshire Seacoast, and owner of
Brisingamen Botanicals, specializing in organic herbal tea blends. She is a trained Sacred
Gaian herbalist and pelvic steam practitioner.
Follow @brisingamenbotanicals
Founder of Faemana Herbal Magick and SOTEIRA music project.
Vrylak Faemana
Animist herbalist, hekatian, Green Witch, Occultist, Marialionza Spiritism practitioner, oracle reader, coca leaves and tobbaco reader, naturalista, perfumera, musician and artist. Eternal student of the Green Wise and the ancient art of Spagyrics. I'm researcher with a curious heart, always looking for understand the secrets of nature, studying plants and communicating with their Genii in order to learn about them, and share this wisdom with the world. My practice finds its roots in shamanism, walking the path of entheogenic allies, witchcraft, Latin American curanderismo and marialionza spiritism practices.
Social media: https://linktr.ee/Vfaemanna
Ben Stimpson, BA (Hons), MBACP (He/They/Them) is an integrative therapist, spiritual director, award winning author, podcaster, and independant scholar of folklore and history. A member of the modern NeoPagan and queer communities, Ben’s personal life helps to inform his professional and research work. Ben holds a BA (Honours) in Medieval, Classical and Religious Studies from the University of Waterloo; a post-graduate Diploma in Spiritual Psychotherapy; and a Diploma in Social Service Work. As a therapist, he excels in working with members of the queer community and other marginalized populations, and ascribes to transpersonal, systemic and narrative approaches to therapy. He is the host of Essence podcast, a weekly show interviewing fellow authors and practitioners in the field of alternative spirituality and therapy. His debut title, Ancestral Whispers: A Guide to Developing Ancestral Veneration Practices was released by Llewellyn Worldwide and won the 2024 Gold Medal at the COVR Awards.
Follow @benstimpsonauthor
Website Link Ben Stimpson
Eimi OstaraMoon
Eimi OstaraMoon, the witch and bee steward behind Poison and Bee, started her journey on the Poison Path with a handful of Datura inoxia seeds, and a dream of having her own Poison Garden on her farm in rural Texas. With the help of her honey bees, the garden has since grown to include baneful allies such as different datura varieties, henbane, deadly nightshade and mandrake, as well as various magical, medicinal and culinary herbs. As a practitioner of alchemical herbalism, plant spirit medicine and natural beekeeping, Eimi focuses her work with poisonous plants and honey bees by understanding their nature and needs, and developing a harmonious symbiotic relationship between plants, insects and humans. “Poison as medicine”, both physically and spiritually, is the guiding principle that Eimi follows on the Poison Path.
Follow Eimi on Instagram @poisonplantwitchery
Coby Michael, owner of The Poisoner’s Apothecary
Coby Michael
is an occult herbalist and magical practitioner specializing in poisonous plants, ethnobotanicals and witches’ herbs. He has been a magical practitioner for over 20 years and has delved into areas such as American folk magic, traditional witchcraft, alchemy, astrology and the grimoire tradition.
Coby is an author, artist and teacher who recently celebrated the publication of his first book, The Poison Path Herbal: Baneful Herbs, Ritual Entheogens and Medicinal Nightshades, published by Inner Traditions/Bear & Company. Coby is a researcher and writer at heart. He attended Arizona State University where he majored in religious studies with a focus on European witchcraft and American folk magic. Coby contributes articles to The House of Twigs, Patheos Pagan, and the Pagan Archives at Valdosta University. He has written many articles of poisonous plants, entheogens and their applications in modern witchcraft.
He runs The Poisoner’s Apothecary, an online educational resource consisting of articles, classes and subscribed content for people interested in pursuing the Poison Path. The Poisoner’s Apothecary supplies over 150 different products featuring custom herbal formulas for entheogenic ritual and magic. Coby has been studying and practicing herbalism for over ten years with a special focus on poisonous plants. He applies this knowledge to his flying ointments, ritual oils and smoking blends.
The Poisoner's Apothecary (thepoisonersapothecary.com)
learn.thehouseoftwigs.com
patheos.com/blogs/poisonersapothecary
Instagram: @poisonersapothecary