Archives: Digital Events

Rags, Bones, and Other Sacred Objects – Ed Simon – Zoom

Rags, Bones, and Other Sacred Objects

Every culture, every religion, every era has enshrined otherwise regular objects with a significance which stretches beyond their literal importance. Whether the bone of a Catholic martyr, the tooth of a Buddhist lama, or the cloak of a Sufi saint, relics are material conduits to the immaterial world. Yet relics aren’t just a feature of religion. The exact same sense of the transcendent animates objects of political, historical, and cultural significance.

Speaker Bio:

Ed Simon is Public Humanities Special Faculty in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University, the editor of The Pittsburgh Review of Books, and a staff writer for Literary Hub. A widely published writer, he is the author of over a dozen books, including Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology and Devil’s Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain.

Hosted & Curated By:

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Curating the True Crime Corpse: Murderabillia, Fandom and Identity – Tia Price – Zoom

Curating the True Crime Corpse: Murderabillia, Fandom and Identity

From public lynchings to gallows audiences, history has shown us that humans love to watch the body break down on a public stage. Not uncommon to take souvenirs, cuttings and items from the scene of death, it was believed that the blood of the hanged man, skull of the murderer or dirt from the gallows floor, held a potent magic to cure ills and protect the holder. In a contemporary sphere, we continue these practices by consuming the true crime corpse from the civilised comfort of our homes.

Placed within the frames of victim, or killer, and streamed through various platforms, the remediated true crime corpse has become a sought-after item; the booming industry of murderabillia has grown in conjunction with our need.

This talk will discuss the corpse as a remediated commodity, and the dark fandom who seek out engagement and possession of it. With detailed examples of murderabilia, items that can be considered of corpse, by association or proximity, this talk will discuss how the true crime corpse becomes to key to identity building for those who collect and curate it.

Speaker Bio:

Tia Price is a PhD candidate at the University of Portsmouth. Her research examines the corpse in popular culture, specifically in dark fandom. She has presented her work at various conferences including ‘Death in Visual Culture III’ 2020, BAFTSS 2023 and the ‘Inked Up & Marked Out’ symposium 2023. Tia has been published in The Routledge Handbook of Death, Heritage & Museums (2023), The Journal of Popular Communication (2025) and #TrueCrime:Digital Culture, Ethics and True Crime Audiences (2025). She works as a Study Skills Tutor in Higher Education and gives regular talks at The College of Psychic Studies.

Curated & Hosted by

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

What Does it All Mean: Carl Jung and finding meaning in a living world – Rob Faure Walker – Zoom

What Does it All Mean: Carl Jung and finding meaning in a living world

Modernity tells us to ignore the signs and symbols that appear to us in the world, in psychedelic trips, psychotic visions, and even in our dreams. But when we do, and when we know how to interpret them, we find invaluable guidance for how to live our fullest lives. Join Rob Faure Walker at the Last Tuesday Society as he takes us on a guided journey into the animate world that we all inhabit. We’ll embark on a guided meditation to explore the symbols emergent in our minds. But please also be on the lookout for symbols that appear to you and bring them along for the group to explore and find meaning in.

Speaker Bio:

Rob is an ecotherapist and author who lives between the great neolithic monument of Avebury and Stonehenge. When not writing, he can be found bothering the remaining stones and structures of this great ceremonial landscape or helping his clients to find meaning in the few remnants of ancient forest across the area. His last book explored how to find loving transcendence while being forced to live in a transactional market economy. His forthcoming book, Radical Jung, is out in late May and explores healing through Gnostic introspection so that we can act better in the world.

Pre-order Rob’s forthcoming book on Carl Jung here – https://www.revolpress.com/radical-jung

Find out more about Rob’s ecotherapy here – https://www.integratedmindscapes.co.uk/

Curated & Hosted by

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Riders on the Storm: The Nordic Legends of the Wild Ride – Terry Gunnell – Zoom

Riders at the Door: The Nordic Legends of the Wild Ride

This lecture will introduce the main types of Nordic folk legend associated with the Wild Ride, noting the differences between the more southerly types (mainly Swedish and Danish) telling of a single Óðinic rider hunting a supernatural woman, and those more north-westerly legends in which the ride, made up of a mixture of troll-like beings and the dead, is commonly led by a female figure who seems to be associated with the mid winter period. As the article will note, these differences seem to have a background in pre-Christian beliefs that once again underline a difference between western Norway and then Sweden and Denmark. If there is space, the article will note how the western Norwegian beliefs are closely connected to, and reinforced by, ancient active beliefs about groups of supernatural riders who would take over farms at Yuletide, killing or stealing anyone who go in their way. These beliefs in turn seem to have been closely connected to the widespread Nordic traditions of groups of disguised young men who went round farms in the same dark period demanding food and drink. The legend gave character to the tradition, and the tradition gave credence to the legend.

Speaker Bio:

Terry Gunnell is Professor emeritus in Folkloristics at the University of Iceland. Author of The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (1995), he is editor of Masks and Mumming in the Nordic Area (2007), Legends and Landscape (2008), and Grimm Ripples: The Legacy of the Grimms’ Deutsche Sagenin Northern Europe (2022), and co-editor of The Nordic Apocalypse: Approaches to Völuspá and Nordic Days of Judgement (2013); Málarinn og menningarsköpun: Sigurður Guðmundsson og Kvöldfélagið 1858–1874which was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Award in 2017; and The Old Norse God Freyr

New Perspectives in Mythology and Religion. He has also written numerous articles and chapters on Old Nordic religions, folk legends and belief, festivals, folk drama and performance, and is behind the creation of the Icelandic folk legend database Sagnagrunnur, and two other digital databases on the creation of national identity and the early collection of folklore in Iceland in the late nineteenth century.

Curated & Hosted by

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

WTFpots: putting the anal into artisanal clay workshop – Sarah Sharp – Zoom

WTFpots: putting the anal into artisanal clay workshop

Join me, Sarah Sharp from WTFpots live on zoom to find out how I make people feel uncomfortable with clay. You’ll learn how to sculpt and paint sculptures to creep people out by using different textures, orifices and many, many flappy bits. Join us for a fun and creative evening full of laughter and interesting conversations.

Speaker Bio:

Sarah from WTFpots is known for crafting everything from stomas to custom dick pics and creating props for the BBC. Expect the absurd and a whole lot of clay anatomy.

Curated & Hosted by

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Common Phantoms: An American History of Psychic Science – Alicia Puglionesi – Zoom

Common Phantoms: An American History of Psychic Science

Séances, clairvoyance, and telepathy captivated public imagination in the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century, and a new kind of investigator emerged to seek the science behind such phenomena. Psychical research was not only the province of eminent men of science; countless ordinary Americans took up psychical experiments in their homes.In this talk, Alicia Puglionesi will share stories of these forgotten participants in psychical research and describe the system of knowledge-making they developed in the hope of capturing mysterious dimensions of the human mind. The scientific methods used to study nature in the field and the laboratory ultimately proved inadequate for the borderlands of consciousness, permeated by belief and doubt, dream and delusion.

Alicia Puglionesi is a historian of science and medicine. Her second book, In Whose Ruins: Power, Possession, and the Landscapes of American Empire (2022), examines four sites of resource extraction that also yielded scientific and spiritual narratives core to US settler-colonialism. Her first book is Common Phantoms: An American History of Psychic Science (2020). Other writing, scholarly and journalistic, deals with mediumship, haunting, and memory in the American landscape.

Curated & Hosted by

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Mummies, Magic, and the Macabre: Inside the Victorian Egyptian Obsession – Dr Jay Sullivan – Zoom

Mummies, Magic, and the Macabre: Inside the Victorian Egyptian Obsession

The Victorians had a lot of kooky quirks, but their obsession with ancient Egypt might be the weirdest one.

From mummy unwrapping parties and stolen limbs to tales of shape-shifting beetles, the nineteenth century’s blend of colonial guilt and lust for conquest produced something truly wild.

In this online talk, Dr Jay Sullivan, author of Egyptian Gothic, will take you through the history of modern Egyptomania, from the mummy as medicine through to Tutmania. Meet the people who took human heads as souvenirs, discover what really went on at a mummy unwrapping party, and uncover the truth behind the mummy’s curse. Along the way, we’ll answer some of the strangest questions of the era: What was in mummy brown paint? Who had a secret stash of mummy penises? And did a mummy really sink the Titanic?

Speaker Bio

Dr Jay Sullivan is a writer and researcher based in South London. She holds a PhD from the University of Roehampton and an MA in Victorian Studies from Birkbeck College. Her research blends museum, sensory, and gothic studies with a focus on the Victorian Egyptianised Gothic genre. Egyptian Gothic 1884-1920, published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2025, is her first book.

Curated & Hosted by

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience, Lena’s New Book – Mythical Creatures in Scandinavian Folklore is now available on Amazon

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Drawing ghosts – a workshop with Sian Ellis – Zoom

Drawing ghosts – a workshop

An online workshop with Illustrator Sian Ellis in which participants will learn how to draw ghosts. Whether cartoonish, cute, terrifying or ominous we’ll cover all the basics of how to capture a spirit in visual form. In this workshop we will study examples of ghosts in art throughout history before creating a hand-drawn haunted illustration of our own. Sian is an award-winning illustrator based in Sheffield and known for her playful ghost illustrations. She is the creator of the quarterly zine ‘Tell the Bees’ a catalogue of tales from folklore, fiction and history. Each zine is themed from Folklore in Film to Britain’s Weirdest ghosts. She also creates detailed maps and zines of geographical areas illustrated with local folklore, ghost stories and strange places which have been featured on the BBC and The Week Junior.

Artist Bio:

Sian Ellis is a Sheffield-based illustrator and mural artist known for her bold, playful, and highly distinctive visual style. A self-taught artist who describes herself as “just a northern lass who hasn’t stopped drawing and painting for 30 years,” Ellis has built a vibrant career producing illustrations, murals, and graphic artwork for businesses, organisations, and creative spaces across the United Kingdom.

Her client list includes well-known names such as Barker and Stonehouse, Brewpoint Brewery, Jersey Zoo, Whirlow Hall Farm, Yellow Arch Studios, and Pieminister. Through these collaborations she has created a wide range of commissioned works, including mural paintings, window displays, event posters, article illustrations, flyers, social media graphics, book illustrations, and illustrated signage.

Ellis’s work is characterised by strong lines, intricate hand-drawn details, and vibrant digital colouring. Her pieces often combine humour, storytelling, and a lively sense of character, resulting in artworks that are both visually striking and immediately recognisable.

Alongside her commissioned work, Ellis also produces a collection of artist prints, jewellery, and small objects d’art. Each design begins as a hand-drawn illustration—often rendered in meticulous detail—before being digitally coloured and prepared for print. These works are available through her online shop and at independent markets and stockists across the UK.

Ellis remains enthusiastic about new commissions and collaborations, and welcomes enquiries from individuals, businesses, and organisations interested in creating bold and playful visual projects.

Curated & Hosted By:

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

Spirit of Creativity – Zara Waldeback – Zoom

5. Spirit of Creativity

The fifth instalment of Fey’s Shadow Salon is where we’re putting our knowledge of the Unseen to the test. Having traversed the Unconscious, studied the psi and the psychedelic, and analyzed the ancient oracle, we’ll see how we can practically and personally channel the Unseen via the creative process.

___________

Inspiration creates Life. In many languages, including English, the word “inspiration” relates to being breathed upon by the Spirits, a process that animates the moment. There are many ways to be inspired, and in this talk, you will experience ways to listen and relate to creativity beyond the human self.

To engage with creative processes – whether artistic, scientific or structural – is to engage with life. It can help us to remember that there is more to a project than our own minds see and what we think we know. Opening beyond our human self, our senses become alive and attuned and creativity becomes both a living process and a process aligned with life. We become willing and wise partners, knowing there is a bigger picture waiting to be revealed, as we learn to listen and open ourselves to genius (stemming from “Genie” or “Jinni”, a guardian deity or Spirit who guides and governs us through life).

When we connect with Spirits and invite them to be a conscious part of creation, a greater story comes to life. It becomes a vibrant process, starting with a question and a meeting, then weaving through the unchartered territories of imagination, that meeting place between human and unseen, where inspiration takes us beyond our own ideas.

In the animistic worldview, stories are alive and inspirited. They are containers of sacred wisdom and living meaning. Stories from Nature can allow us to listen to voices beyond the human and live in a way that respects all life. When we are willing to listen with connection rather than control, Stories help us to find our way.

This talk will be partly experiential and include writing and meditative exercises. Please bring pen and paper, a candle and matches.

Speaker Bio

Zara Waldeback began as a screenwriter, filmmaker and teacher, specialising in creativity. Born in Sweden, she lived for 30 years in the UK, working as Senior Lecturer at London College of Music and Media. She established an MA in Creative Screenwriting and researched music and sound as the unconscious of cinema. She has published two books about writing: Writing for the Screen and The Creative Screenwriter.

In 2006 she stepped consciously onto a spiritual path and has for over 20 years been actively exploring how creativity and Spirit can dance with each other. In 2022, she developed the Writing with Soul programme, to offer simple inspiring ways for people without a Spirit practice to learn to listen to hidden voices, inside and out. Over the years she has facilitated many events exploring the intersection between the unseen and human words, such as Stories of the Earth at Schumacher College, Spirit fairy tales at a shamanic conference in Dorset, animistic presentations for the Earth Rights international conference in Sweden, and ceremonies for Aurora Nature and Spirit conferences in Italy.

Together with her partner Jonathan Horwitz of Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies, she runs Åsbacka, a small retreat center in southern Sweden. Here they teach shamanism both in person and online. She is also engaged in the Rights of Nature movement, encouraging people to listen to the Living World. She offers her services as creative mentor for those who want to bring the Voices of more-than-human Nature to human ears, and help us remember that we are all in this together.

LINKS: https://www.shamanism.dk/about-zara  and  https://www.writingwithsoul.org/

Hosted and Curated by:

Fey, a mediator between the otherworldly and the mundane. Outside of the salon (Ada Kałużna), a researcher with interest in philosophy of mind, psychedelic experience and the extraordinary Past scientific officer at the Beckley Foundation. Community-builder and traveler.

LINK: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ada_Kaluzna2

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day

 

Fey’s Shadow Salon – a lecture series where we explore the elusive, chart the intangible, and investigate the invisible. Come around as we initiate the first season of the Salon, the Study of the Unseen, on the eclipse of 3rd March and stay for the ride through labyrinths of the human psyche, from the seven circles of the Jungian unconscious, to the psychedelic fountains of creativity, to the tall peaks of imagination where the ancient Spirits dwell.

1. “Books of Visions”: Jung, Dante, and the Making of the Red Book – 3 Mar 2026

2. Psychedelics as Catalysts of Creativity – 30 April 2026

3. Dreams of Death: Navigating States of Dazzling Darkness – 14 May 2026

4. The I Ching Oracle – 28 May 2026

5. Spirit of Creativity – 28 July 2026

6. The Unseparated State – 26 Sept 2026

 

Live from Norway: Celebrate the 17th of May! – Live Stream with Lena Brennand

Live from Norway: Celebrate the 17th of May! 🇳🇴Join us for a joyful live-stream celebration of Norway’s Constitution Day (17. mai) — a day filled with music, flags, laughter, and the unmistakable spirit of Norwegian tradition.

From the sound of marching bands and children’s parades to the sight of bunads, waving flags, and festive streets, this special broadcast invites you to experience the heart of Norway’s most beloved national celebration — wherever you are in the world.

Expect stories about the history and meaning of 17. mai, glimpses of the celebrations across Norway, traditional songs, and the warm atmosphere that makes this day so unique. Whether you are Norwegian, have Norwegian roots, or simply love Nordic culture, this livestream will bring the celebration straight to you.

What to expect

  • A look at Norway’s most cherished national traditions
  • Music, flags, and festive atmosphere
  • Stories from Norwegian history and culture
  • A chance to celebrate together across borders

So put on something red, white, and blue, pour yourself a cup of coffee (or perhaps a glass of bubbly), and join us as we celebrate Norway’s birthday — live!

Hurra for 17. mai!

Hosted by:

Lena Schattenherz Heide-Brennand is a Norwegian lecturer with a master degree in language, culture and literature from the University of Oslo and Linnaeus University. She has been lecturing and teaching various subjects since 1998. Her field of interest and main focus has always been topics that others have considered strange, eccentric and eerie, and she has specialised in a variety of dark subjects linked to folklore, mythology and Victorian traditions and medicine. Her students often point out her thorough knowledge about the subjects she is teaching, in addition to her charismatic appearance. She refers to herself as a performance lecturer and always gives her audience an outstanding experience

don’t worry if you miss it – we will send you a recording valid for two weeks the next day