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H. Byron Ballard has called western North Carolina home since her birth. Her education includes a BA and MFA in theatre. She studies and practices Appalachian folk magic, a traditional folkway that she's dubbed "hillfolks' hoodoo." Her research in its origins has led her to fieldwork throughout the British Isles. Her books on the subject include "Staubs and Ditchwater: an Introduction to Hillfolks Hoodoo" (Silver Rings Press) and "Asfidity and Mad-Stones" (Smith Bridge Press). "Embracing Willendorf: a Witch's Way of Loving Your Body to Health and Fitness" (Smith Bridge Press) debuted in 2017. She has served as a featured speaker and teacher at festivals and conferences that include Sacred Space Conference, Pagan Spirit Gathering, Southeast Wise Women's Herbal Conference, Glastonbury Goddess Conference, the Scottish Pagan Federation Conference and Mystic South. A member of the Appalachian Studies Association, she recently presented the paper "The Ragged Wound", which has become the core of her current work-in-progress. Byron serves as senior priestess and co-founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple in Asheville. She is also one of the founders of the Coalition of Earth Religions/CERES, a Pagan nonprofit, and she does interfaith work locally and regionally. She is a folklorist, a playwright, a gardener, and a tai chi student who blogs irregularly and talks about Tower Time far too often. You can find her at her website www.myvillagewitch.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

Jason Mankey is a third-degree Gardnerian High Priest and helps run two Witchcraft covens in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Ari. He is a popular speaker at Pagan and Witchcraft events across North America and Great Britain and has been recognized by his peers as an authority on the Horned God, Wiccan history, and occult influences in rock and roll. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @panmankey. Jason is the author of several books, including The Witch’s Book of Spellcraft, The Horned God of the Witches, and Transformative Witchcraft.

Ken Hooker was born in 1961 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Growing up, in California Bay Area, he was fascinated with sword and sorcery type stories that lead him to learn martial arts, fencing, and archery in a drive to be like the heroes of the early swashbuckling films.  Later he developed a love of Scuba diving that has taken him all over the world to see the underwater world as maybe Captain Nemo once did. As a young adult, he studied seminary as a Christian Missionary but ended up joining an eclectic Unitarian church that had a more open approach to deity. Ken gained his Ordination with the church some years after that. This training led to more exposure to the craft. When open rituals piqued his curiosity about the Wicca, he joined a wicca 101 course and then got initiated one year later as a 1st degree Gardnerian. He spent many years studying different traditions such as Gnostic, Mythraic, Faery, and Alexandrian. Once he achieved his 3rd degree, he hived off and formed a coven with his wife, Zoe (who is also a 3rd degree Gardnerian HPs). They have held several Wicca 101 courses since moving to the South and he still enjoys being the High Priest of their learning coven to this day.