Taliesin Govannon

Taliesin Govannon has been a student of the occult since 1986, studying a potpourri of topics ranging from hauntings and poltergeists to UFOs, demonology, tarot, ceremonial magick and beyond. He has followed the path of Witchcraft since 1991, partaking in everything from solitary practice to Celtic Traditional Craft; as well as leading a myriad of eclectic open circles along the way. He's a dedicated humorist, author of the now-infamous original set of redneck Pagan jokes, as well as former humour-columnist for "The Witches Brew" magazine. Taliesin is the Writer/Director/Producer of "Dark of Moon", the first film made with 100% realistic Pagan/Wiccan characters. He's also serving as the "Pagan Pundit" every month on the Desperate Housewitches internet radio show, where he explains complex political topics in ways anyone, even Michele Bachmann, can understand.

The "Fam Trad": Paganism's Urban Legend

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Alex Sanders. Aside from starting the "Alexandrian" tradition of modern Wicca, Alex inadvertently gave us another legacy that refuses to die... that of the "Family Tradition", or "Fam Trad", where people claim to be a part of Paganism separated from the rest of the Earth Spiritual community. While such claims are ultimately debunked as frauds, the idea of a shadowy magickal tradition that holds otherwise unknown wisdom is too tantalizing to give up, and so people keep falling for it. In this workshop, Taliesin will go over the history of the "Fam Trad" and give warning signs for frauds.

The Pagan Pundit

In this workshop, Taliesin will take what he does every month on internet radio and bring it to Starwood: answering questions people have about politics in a way anyone can understand. What is a "chained CPI", and do I want to try it in the bedroom? Why do politicians vote for laws that they actually hate (besides money)? Why should we stop calling idiot politicians "douchebags"? Taliesin will answer all of these questions and more in this informative and humorous workshop.