PUF 2025 VIPs

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.

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.

Christopher Penczak is a modern Witch working in the Temple of Witchcraft tradition and community he helped co-found. His practice focuses on the intersection of Love, Will, and Wisdom as an ethos for today’s Witch, and focuses upon relationships with the plant realm, the patterns of astrology, traditional occultism, and the use of trance in the Craft. He is the author of many books, including the award winning Temple of Witchcraft series, The Plant Spirit Familiar, and The Mighty Dead, as well as the co-owner of Copper Cauldron Publishing. The Temple of Witchcraft offers in-person and online mystery school and seminary training based upon his teachings. Christopher keeps an office in New Hampshire and sees clients in-person and online for readings, healing, and personal consultations, though he travels extensively teaching throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. His vision is of an evolving Witchcraft culture making magick accessible to all, yet preserving the heart of the mystery. For more information, visit www.christopherpenczak.com and www.templeofwitchcraft.org. We are so excited to have Christopher back at PUF!