Capital Witch: Between the Worlds 2012 Overview

Please share this post This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the 5th Between the Worlds conference, hosted by Assembly of the Sacred Wheel in Wilmington Delaware. This rare events happens in accordance with various astrological influences and only happens every few years. This is the fifth event with previous conferences held in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2007.

As a learning conference, Between the Worlds is designed to cater to intermediate and advanced students of the esoteric traditions. This is quite apparent with the number of renown teachers who attended to present workshops on a variety of topics. Sam Webster, Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, John Michael Greer, Christopher Penczak, Anaar, and Jason Miller are just a few examples of the workshop presenters. Read more about the full list of teachers who attended here.

The workshops varied in scope and I found myself torn at every single time slot trying to determine which workshop to attend. Attendee's had 40 workshops to choose from, varying in scope from Shamanic Body Posture to Strategic Sorcery to Secret Societies and more. This feel of the workshops at this event was unlike anything I've experienced at past Pagan conferences and conventions. With a target audience of advanced practitioners, the instructors clearly felt comfortable with skipping past cursory introductions to topics and dove right into the depths of the topic at hand. With the many options available in each time slot, classes stayed at respectable sizes small enough for questions from participants and responses from the instructors. Nothing I attended felt rushed or impersonal. Of course, there were presentations by world-renown occultist Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki which filled an entire ballroom of people, but other workshops tended to stay at around thirty people or less.

Two of the conference mornings began with a topic-based panel. The first was in regards to the turning of the ages (the theme of the event) and the second was a practical discussion on practice of operative magick. I've never seen a panel of Pagans that required so little moderation before. The discussion involved from all panelists was thoughtful, quick, and quite often amusing. For an early-morning program, these panels were a hit with a packed room of just about every participant each morning.

Another event hosted within BTW was a collective honoring of Sandra L. Harris for success of her M. Div. degree at Cherry Hill Seminary (among other shining accomplishments). Holli S. Emore, executive director of CHS, was there to speak of Harris' career as a minister and what he success means for the seminary as well as the advancement of Pagan chaplaincy.

Although this BTW was intended to be the last of its kind, popular demand of the event resulted in another series being started up again in the coming years. The next Between the Worlds will be held from March 12 - 15 in 2015 during "7th Uranus Square Pluto and Saturn Station." I was unable to figure out the meaning of that astrological occasion but perhaps an ASW member can inform us in the comments below.

Finally, the below images are a small handful of nearly 100 photos taken at the event. This reporter was having difficulty converting the files (hence the delay of this post) so a separate online album will become available with the whole set in the future.