WF Witch Hunt with Melissa James, Sarah Sharkey Pearce, Matthew Venus, Nick Dickinson and Michael M. Hughes

Feb 16, 2024

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Michael M. Hughes is an author, speaker, and magical thinker. He is the creator of the internationally viral Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him, the largest magical working in history. He speaks on magic, pop culture, psychedelics, the paranormal, and teaches popular tarot and magic courses. http://theartofmagicalliving.com

Matthew Venus is an artist, folk magician, and traditional witch based in Salem, Massachusetts whose practice is informed by a deep heart of animism and a dedication to ancestral traditions. Additionally he is a an Aborisha in the Lucumí Orisha tradition and a Tata Ndenge in a lineage of Quimbanda de raíz. Matthew is co-founder of Salem Witch Fest @SalemWitchFest as well as the owner and lead apothecary of Spiritus Arcanum @spiritus_arcanum an online and brick and mortar shop which specializes in handcrafted ritual incenses and oils,talismanic art, and a diversity of occult wares. Over the past two decades Matthew has been sharing teachings on various aspects of magic with students around the world through classes and courses which explore elements and approaches towards traditional witchcraft and folk magical traditions. https://spiritusarcanum.com/en-ca

Nick Dickinson (he/she/they/fae) is Headmistress of Circe Academy of queer feral witchcraft through The Cauldron Black in Salem MA, and a professional witch and witchcraft educator with over 35 years of experience working with clients and students in both public and private settings. Ordained and initiated in a variety of tantric yoga traditions (Mahayana Buddhism), and a teacher of 1,000s yoga teachers and psychics, his classes and workshops are deeply influenced by the intersection of classical yoga theory and modern witchcraft practice. Operating through a multidimensional animist lens with a focus on Greek folklore, Nick’s content welcomes all traditions at all levels and can be approached in a purely secular way. https://linktr.ee/UrbanWizard

Melissa James is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Vancouver. Recently, she produced the feature documentary "Satan Wants You," chronicling the untold story of the Satanic Panic, which premiered at SXSW in 2023. Additionally, she co-directed the short documentary "Witch Hunt" with Sarah Sharkey Pearce, exploring the connection between magic and politics. This documentary premiered at Salem Horror Fest and won Best Documentary at the Denver Underground Documentary Film Festival. Prior to this, she directed and produced the cult music documentary "No Fun City," examining the effects of gentrification on local punk and DIY music venues. Melissa strives to bring a personal and authentic perspective to her work; she also practices witchcraft and has spent several years researching the occult through a diverse community of witches across North America and beyond.

Sarah Sharkey Pearce, an award-winning Executive Producer, Writer, and Director based in Toronto, is directing her feature documentary debut, "Resident Orca," with her boutique studio Everyday Films for Crave Originals. Her 2023 short doc, "Witch Hunt," co-directed with Melissa James, premiered at Salem Horror Fest and recently won Best Documentary at the Denver Underground Documentary Film Festival. Currently, she is show-running a 3-part premium doc series for BBC Arts and Blue Ant Studios, delving into the rise and fall of art fraudster Inigo Philbrick. Previously, she served as an Executive Producer on "Evil by Design: Surviving Nygård" for Blue Ant Studios, a 3-part investigative series that aired on CBC and Starz. She also was the showrunner for "The Devil You Know," a 6-part premium limited documentary series produced by Vice Studios, exploring a murder-suicide that reveals a far-right conspiracy for VICE TV. Additionally, she worked as the Creative Director for Academy Award-nominated Paperny Entertainment. Sarah holds an M.F.A. in Documentary Media from Toronto Metropolitan University (2010) and a B.F.A. in Film and Video from York University (2001).

About Missing Witches

Amy Torok and Risa Dickens produce the Missing Witches Podcast. We do every aspect from research to recording, it is a DIY labour of love and craft. Missing Witches is entirely member-supported, and getting to know the members of our Coven has been the most fun, electrifying, unexpectedly radical part of the project.

These days the Missing Witches Coven gathers in our private, online coven circle to offer each other collaborative courses in ritual, weaving, divination, and more; we organize writing groups and witchy book clubs; and we gather on the Full and New Moon from all over the world.

Our coven includes solitary practitioners, community leaders, techno pagans, crones, baby witches, neuroqueers, and folks who hug trees and have just been looking for their people.

Our coven is trans-inclusive, anti-racist, feminist, pro-science, anti-ableist, and full of love.

If that sounds like your people, come find out more. Please know that we've been missing YOU.

https://www.missingwitches.com/join-the-coven/