Ninefold Festival

Mindless by Design: Art as Ritual, Stillness as Medicine

Could a profound path to inner stillness begin with a simple scribble?

In this experiential workshop, participants will be guided through the ancient yet accessible practice of meditative scribbling as a healing art form that bypasses the inner critic, quiets the thinking mind, and opens a doorway to the sacred, intuitive self. Rooted in the tradition of art therapy and aligned with the wisdom of Wise Women’s Ways, this session honors the feminine practice of returning to what is elemental: mark, breath, and earth.

We will begin with a brief introduction to the history and therapeutic power of scribble meditation from its origins with art therapy pioneers Florence Cane and Margaret Naumburg to its use today as a mindfulness and healing tool. Participants will then be guided through a grounded, meditative scribble practice: releasing perfectionism, entering flow, and discovering what emerges when the hand moves freely across the page.

This workshop requires no artistic skill whatsoever, only willingness and an open hand. It is an invitation to Return to the Land within us: the landscape of feeling, instinct, and wordless knowing.

Lisa Arroyo is a Brooklyn-based artist, musician, and emerging clinical mental health counselor with years of high-stakes emergency medicine and teaching experience. She integrates expressive arts and mindfulness into her therapeutic work, has performed across NYC, and volunteers with neurodivergent artists. Bringing creativity and healing together has been Lisa’s life’s through-line.

Sacred Earth: Talismans for Everyday Rituals

Spend some time with your hands in the earth. Clay has been used for millenia to create anything from everyday functional vessels to the sacred. In this workshop we will explore the use of small sacred objects found around the world. Afterwards, using your own personal symbols and intuition, you will use clay to create small talismans, sculptures, and offering bowls. Your choice of clay that can either be air dried or, drying time and weather permitting, fired in a ritual fire and tools will be provided. There will be an option available to kiln fire your work at a later date and have the piece mailed to you. Clay is messy; be prepared to get dirty.

https://triplecrescentstudios.com

Rooted in the Realm of Land: A Mindful Outdoor Experience

Join us for an immersive workshop that weaves together plant wisdom, mindfulness, and deep connection to the living landscape. Beginning with a guided herb walk, we’ll identify medicinal and edible plants along our path, exploring their healing properties, traditional uses, and ethical foraging practices, while cultivating a deeper relationship with the land.

Through breath work, visualization, gentle movement and earthing practices, we’ll slow down and attune to the subtle rhythms of nature. The realm of Land becomes our bridge, connecting us to the realms of Sea and Sky, and reminding us that we are part of a living, cosmic whole.

You’ll leave with practical plant knowledge, grounding tools you can return to anytime, and a renewed sense of connection to the Earth’s healing and sustaining energy.

Participants Need to Bring: Comfortable footwear for walking on trails; a towel, mat, or blanket to sit on if choosing to sit; and drinking water if needed. Dress according to the weather.

Diana Byron has been walking the path of healing and self-discovery for more than three decades, guided by a deep trust in the body’s wisdom and the quiet intelligence of nature. What began as a personal practice has become a life devoted to supporting others as they find their way back to themselves.

As a certified Kripalu yoga teacher and Herbalist, Diana’s work weaves movement, stillness, breath, and plant wisdom into experiences that are grounded, intuitive, and deeply restorative. She teaches from the heart, holding space with warmth, presence, and steady guidance.

In 2019, Diana founded Dhyāna Yoga and Wellness in Putnam, Connecticut, as a sanctuary for body, mind, and spirit. Through group classes, private sessions, workshops, and retreats, Diana offers spaces where healing unfolds naturally and transformation feels both accessible and supported.

At the heart of Diana’s work is a simple invitation to slow down, listen inward, and remember the wisdom that has always been within.

https://www.dhyanayogaandwellness.com/

Avalon on Every Corner: Witnessing Local Landscapes through the Eyes of a Priestess.

This presentation will connect the Sacred Sites of Avalon at Glastonbury to principles of Permaculture Design and regenerative landscaping, offering a fulfilling and transformative path of nurturing the sacred in our home communities.

Cartier de Tracy is a certified and practicing Permaculture Designer and holds a Master of Divinity from Emory University. Professionally, she is an Astrologer and Human Design-based Coach.  After deep-diving into the practice of several World religions, living in Ashrams and Buddhist Centers, Cartier found her spiritual truth in the Mists of Avalon and her true home on her first visit to the Chalice Well.

https://providenceastrology.com

Shadow Garden of Avalon

In the mythic landscape of Avalon, certain plants guard thresholds, teaching us about boundaries, resilience, and inner power. Often misunderstood, “dark” plants carried both danger and deep wisdom. This class reframes poison-path lore historically and ethically, focusing on symbolic boundary work and protective herbs. A grounded exploration of shadow integration through plant symbolism, we’ll explore how those teachings show up in the hedgerows and edges of New England woodlands and fields. 

Kris Gurky is a natural intuitive and herbal practitioner with Lithuanian and Celtic roots. She grew up foraging the New England woods for mushrooms and healing herbs with her grandmother. She has lead Witches’ Herbal Walks in Salem for the last fifteen years and teaches herbalism, tarot, and intuitive development workshops worldwide. She is the proprietress of Dark Moon & Co. and the creatrix of the Witch City Tarot Gathering in Salem, MA. Kris earned an M.B.A. at Boston University, an M.S. in Herbal Medicine at the American College of Healthcare Sciences in Portland, Oregon, and completed an herbalism apprenticeship at the Boston School of Herbal Studies. She has appeared on an episode of Ghost Hunters and the History Channel.

 https://linktr.ee/darkmoonandco

Priestess as Archetype

Discover the archetypal voice of your inner Priestess. Through the crafts of writing, meditation, and visualization, we will use poetry prompts to engage and discover your unique Priestess voice. No writing/poetry experience required.

Khristina Kurasz has an MFA in creative writing, with a focus on writing as a healing practice. She is  a Program Director for the Maine Arts Commission with a focus on Arts & Health. Khrisitina  gives presentations to organizations on the value of arts and health as a bridge to creativity and wellness. She has two short stories published and is actively working on a memoir. 

https://www.creativeground.org/profile/khristina-kurasz

Geomancy: To Divine the Earth

Fern Lickfield brings thirty years combined experience as a Druid priestess, Faery Seer, Geomancer, ceremonialist, ecstatic dancer, empowerment facilitator, and certified flower essence practitioner. 

Over the last nineteen years, she has held the mantle of teacher, administrator, director, and Chief of the Green Mountain Druid School and Order which she co-founded with her late great husband Ivan McBeth in 2006. 

As steward and temple tender of Dreamland Sanctuary, an eco-spiritual retreat and community center in Worcester, Vermont, she co-creates an enchanted environment for grounded growth and soulful re-membrance. 

https://www.dreamlandsanctuaryvt.com

Devotional Goddess Dance – a Fusion Bellydance Workshop to Invoke Morgan Le Fay

Have you ever yearned for new ways to express your love and devotion for Avalon and the Divine Feminine? In this workshop, award winning Fusion Bellydancer and Choreographer and Priestess of Morgan Le Fay, Suzanne O’Gara (also known as Inanna LeFay), will teach you some key moves and combinations from the Dark Fusion Bellydance vocabulary, as well as a short Sacred Bellydance choreography inspired by, and in devotion to, Morgan Le Fay as Sovereign Goddess of the Isle of Avalon.  This workshop is open to dancers of ALL levels (even beginners), and optional dance veils may be used if you like (I will bring some, please feel free to bring your own).  The dance we will learn is yours to use back home with your women’s circle/coven or in solo or group performance if you so desire!

Suzanne O’Gara, Director of the Herbs of Avalon online course and retreat, and owner of Alchemy of Avalon tea and herb company is a Certified Herbalist, Priestess of Morgan LeFay, and practicing Green Witch. Suzanne has been teaching classes in Herbalism and Witchcraft for over fifteen years, and has appeared as a guest teacher/presenter for the The Western MA Herbal Symposium, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, Bewitching the Waters Symposium, The Water Priestess Confluence, Ninefold Festival, and the Unbound Priestess Summit, to name a few. Suzanne trained in Western Herbalism and Aromatherapy at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, Arizona, under the tutelage of Joann Sanchez, graduating in early 2011. In 2026, look for Suzanne’s upcoming book, co-authored with Annwyn Avalon and published by Red Wheel/Weiser Books (title and cover reveal coming soon)! Suzanne is an active member of United Plant Savers and The Sisterhood of Avalon and also teaches for, and was trained in, Demelza Fox’s “Morgan LeFay Mystery School”. She lives in Western Massachusetts on unceded Pocumtuc land with her husband, two children, and two crazy herding dogs. When not foraging or making potions, Suzanne continues to professionally bellydance and sing whenever possible.

https://www.alchemyofavalontea.com

The Magical, Mystical Apple

Avalon or Afallon has long been associated with the apple, even being known as the Isle of Apples. We will explore the apple in Welsh myth, story, and legend, learning about the past in order to incorporate the power of the apple into our everyday life. We will meditate with Guinevere, the May Queen, who is connected to the apple blossom. We will perform magic using the five seeds of the apple (which form a pentagram or star) as a spiritual focus and guide. We will discover the healing aspects of the apple, for physical and emotional health. At the end of this workshop, you will have the knowledge and skill to utilize the apple as a part of your spiritual path, bringing the spirit of the priestesses of Avalon into the modern world! 

Michelle Skye Santos is a Unicorn Healing® practitioner, Angel Healing® practitioner, Merfolk Healing Master-Healer-Teacher, a New Paradigm Master-Healer-Teacher, Shamanic healer, and a Usui Reiki II healer. She is also the author of three books focusing on the feminine divine: Goddess Alive, Goddess Afoot, and Goddess Aloud. She has written two children’s books: Harriet Tubman, Follow Your Star and Clara Barton, Angel of the Battlefield. She is passionate about empowering people to follow their own path, claim their power and voice, heal old wounds, and experience relaxation, joy, and grace. Michelle has presented at almost every Ninefold Festival (even the one out in Colorado)! She has been a member of the Sisterhood of Avalon for twenty years and following the Goddess path for twenty-five years. Michelle has offered in person and on-line classes and rituals for over twenty years on various topics concerning the Pagan Path. Michelle aspires to bring magic, positivity, and love into the world every day. 

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleSkyeAuthor

We Are the Sacred Lady: Reclaiming the Sovereignty of Women to Heal the Land

Our Earth is in need of healing – from our land, waters, skies, living creatures, to our humans. In many Celtic folkloric myths and tales, the vitality of the land is represented by a woman or group of women—sovereignty goddesses, well maidens, ladies of the lake, and even faery brides.  It is the mistreatment, violation, and/or exile of these mythic women that leads to the wasteland and maladies of the land.

In this offering, we will weave lecture, discussion, and guided journey to explore the potential to work with this spiritual truth from the inside out. We will consider the power of healing and reclaiming ourselves as divine human women, to restore balance to the land and to bring about the positive change our world needs at this time. We all carry a piece of the Sacred Lady within us, and that gives us power for healing our Earth.

https://RoseofVenus.com

Dreaming With the Land

In this presentation, we will explore the use of magickal skills and practices to aid the land in healing and awakening from generations of abuse and neglect in human relationships. From land spirit communication and allies, to offerings and specific workings, participants will leave with an inspired and confident readiness to deepen their relationship with the land they belong to.

Eryn Shrader‘s family has been farmers, gardeners and preachers for generations. She has continued the family legacy by combining the two worlds into the work of druidry. Eryn considers herself an Earth Priestess and has completed training with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Ancient Order of Druids in America, and the Black Forest Circle and Seminary. She is also a trained spiritual director, community herbalist, and board certified holistic RN. Eryn has presented in many venues, including Sacred Space Conference in Maryland. 

https://www.TheRebelHerbalist.com

So it’s not Stonehenge

When thinking of sacred sites, we tend to focus on the famous ones like Stonehenge or Chalice Well, but often overlook those that are closest to us—as if they somehow aren’t as worthy. In this presentation, we will look at what makes a sacred site. Is it the energy of the space? Is it the former people who lived there? Or, is it just the beauty of a place that makes it sacred? We will also discuss how to discover sacred sites in our own vicinity. With that in mind, we will explore how to honor and protect these sites,  preserving them for future generations.

Kindling the Cauldron: Brewing the Songspell of Inspiration

Join us for an immersive evening of sacred chant, drumming, and movement as Jhenah Telyndru guides us in a bardic ritual of song to kindle the catalytic fires of our inner cauldrons. Bring your voices, your percussion instruments, and your desire to open yourselves up to the flow of Awen—Divine Inspiration from the Cauldron of Cerridwen. A bardic sharing circle, co-facilitated with Maddi Jabin, will follow the working: we encourage you to bring your songs, instruments, poetry, stories, and other forms of expression to share!

Jhenah Telyndru (MA, Celtic Studies) is a priestess, author, and educator. She founded the Sisterhood of Avalon in 1995, and serves as Academic Dean of the Avalonian Thealogical Seminary. Jhenah hosts residential training retreats around North America and the UK, presents internationally at conferences and festivals, teaches online workshops and immersion programs, and facilitates pilgrimages to sacred sites in the British Isles. Jhenah has been a priestess in the Avalonian Tradition for over thirty-five years, is an Awenydd Druid in the Anglesey Druid Order, and has been following a Pagan path since 1986.

To learn more about her work, please visit: https://linktr.ee/YnysAfallon.