Throughout October, Professor Sharmistha Ray’s feminist collective Hilma’s Ghost will present at the Occult Humanities Conference in New York and lead a spell-jar workshop at the Circus of Life Counterpublic convening in St. Louis.
Occult Humanities Conference
New York, NY | October 17-19, 2025
The sixth Occult Humanities Conference brings together researchers and artists engaging with esoteric traditions. On October 18, Hilma’s Ghost will join a panel titled “Magic Maker: Artist as Magician,” alongside Jesse Bransford and Edgar Fabián Frías, moderated by Pam Grossman. The discussion will explore how artists invoke symbolic and magical practices in their creative work, blurring the boundaries between ritual, performance, and visual art.
Counterpublic’s Circus of Life
St. Louis, MO | October 24-26, 2025
During Circus of Life, the inaugural Counterpublic Convening festival, Hilma’s Ghost will take part in two events: hosting an artist booth styled as a Witches’ Salon, and leading a workshop titled “Bottled Resistance: Crafting Spells for Revolutionary Magic” on October 25 from 3:30–6pm. In the workshop, participants will create spell jars as symbolic vessels for healing and resistance, using materials like plants, sigils, keys, and more, while exploring historical and contemporary practices of magic and protection.