Courses & Workshops

Treadwell’s hosts classes and courses. These are presented by the most experienced and gifted practitioners we know. Some are organised by us, some by other organisations. Tutors are not only advanced in their subjects but are also able to consider them thoughtfully and critically. Our aim is to make the study of esoteric disciplines available to thinking, well-read enquirers.

Reserve places by email, Skype or by phone, 020 7240 8906. Payment confirms booking. You can also get events updates via an RSS Feed.

We have an archive of past courses, and you can also subscribe to our mailing list.

05 July 2008 (Saturday)
Thelema Intensive
A Serious Introductory Course to the Tradition
Marcus Katz
£93. £45 deposit, with balance due 5 June
9.45 arrival for 10.00 am start, finishing 4.30 pm both days

Runs Saturday and Sunday, 5th and 6th July. Never before offered in London, this course offers a serious yet highly approachable introduction to Thelema and Aleister Crowley.

It looks at Thelema as a philosophy and its place in the Western esoteric tradition - then go on to experience practices and texts that communicate Crowley's magic, including key rituals, the reception of the Book of the Law (Liber Al), and the designs of the Thoth Tarot deck. Throughout, the tutor will explain and explore the world-view underpinning this tradition, to enable familiarity with concepts such as the Aeons, the Gods and Goddesses of the Book of the Law, initiation and the grades of attainment. Marcus Katz will be using material unavailable to the general public, including research conducted in Egypt and notes from Crowley’s original manuscripts. There will be lecture, discussion, document examination, ritual work and meditation.

Marcus Katz is a longstanding magical practitioner who also holds an MA in Western Esotericism (Exeter), now doing doctoral research on western occult groups. He is an inveterate world traveller but currently lives in Cumbria, where he runs an esoteric teaching centre, The Faraway Centre http://www.farawaycentre.com. The course is not affiliated with any particular interpretation or of Crowley's work.

11 July 2008 (Friday)
Some Secret Place
Exploring Pagan Spirituality & Ritual
Peter Mahoney and Friends
£5 payable at time of booking
7.15 pm for 7.30 start

Sold out. Next date available is Momday 14 July.

14 July 2008 (Monday)
Some Secret Place
Pagan Ritual Evening
Peter Mahoney
£5.00 at time of booking
7.15 for 7.30 start

These are monthly beginner's pagan ritual evenings, perfect for those starting out on the pagan path, or as solitary witches. Some Secret Place is made up of some talk, some small group discussion on devotion, ceremony, spirituality, and relationship with deity. Most of all, though, it is experiential. It's about doing and feeling rather than theorising. We hope that people who come along will deepen their personal relationship with the pagan gods. This is for people who have done some reading on witchcraft, Wicca and/or paganism, and who are familiar with at least its general theological tenets. We assume you are pagan and want to practice it, but we don't presume you are experienced.

Group size is small - we don't take more than 17 people for the evening. The organisers want this to be a gentle, intimate and thoughtful experience. You can come once, come regularly, or come intermittently -- whatever suits you best.

Now Some Secret Place has a second monthly date as well , due to popular demand and sold-out dates.

16 July 2008 (Wednesday)
Treadwell's Solitary Witchcraft Course
First Night: The Magical Book / the “Book of Shadows
Christina Oakley and Friends
£10 individual class, or £30 for all four sessions
7.15 for 7.30 start, runs till 9.30 pm

SORRY THIS COURSE IS NOW SOLD OUT BUT IT WILL BE RUN AGAIN IN THE AUTUMN.

This is a short course of four fortnightly evenings in which beginning solitary witches can work practically on some of cunning folks arts. Tuition, guidance, encouragement and hand-on practice form the heart of every session. The tutors are all experienced and will be leading in turn the subject of their various specialities. The group size is kept deliberately small (maximum 18) so everyone can have plenty of attention.

First Session
Every witch has a Big Black Book, in which secrets, spells, recipes and other unknown things are written. Most solitary witches today have a few blank books they mean to turn into the Magical Booke of Arte, but find the prospect a little daunting. This session opens up the world of inspiration, secrets, mysteries, spell and what is the function of such a book. As a solitary, how do you decide how to make one / should you make one? What goes into it, and how do you get started? The activities of the evening will include showing round a selection of actual solitary witches’ books. We will look at the ways of illustrating them, the importance of handwriting, and what you might want to choose to start with, to put into your own one. To this end there will be the presentation of a few invocations and devotional pieces from the books of some of the witches present. Small group discussion and making an action plan on how to start your own book over the following fortnight.

Tutors: Peter Mahoney of ‘Some Secret Place’ ; Rebecca Wood of Hedgewitches’ Kitchen; Rebecca Beattie of Hedgewitches’ Kitchen; Marysia Kay, actress and witch; Christina Oakley Harrington of Treadwell’s.

30 July 2008 (Wednesday)
Treadwell's Solitary Witchcraft Course
Second Night: Altar and Ritual
Christina Oakley and Friends
£10 individual class, or £30 for all four sessions
7.15 for 7.30 start, runs till 9.30 pm

SORRY THIS COURSE IS NOW SOLD OUT BUT IT WILL BE RUN AGAIN IN THE AUTUMN.

Second Session
This session looks at some actual witchcraft altar formats, and what goes onto a pagan altar – and indeed what asks what, for a pagan witch, is an altar for? From there we expand to look at what kinds of ritual can you, as a solitary witch, do – and find meaningful. The session will include demonstration of constructed altars in a few different formats, a layout of a pagan circle for one person, a short talk on how to practically apply the four elements four directions. We will do some hands-on practice of ritual, noting how it is tailored for working alone in a small space at home. The emphasis is on drawing upon tradition and upon maximising your personal spiritual experience. There will be small group discussion, a short meditation, and making an action plan on how to set up (or build upon upon) your altar and a personal ritual over the following week.

Course starts Weds 16 July and meets fortnightly. See that date for more details .

08 August 2008 (Friday)
Some Secret Place
Pagan Ritual Evening
Peter Mahoney and Friends
£5.00 at time of booking
7.15 for 7.30 start, runs till 9.30 pm

These are monthly beginner's pagan ritual evenings, perfect for those starting out on the pagan path, or as solitary witches. Some Secret Place is made up of some talk, some small group discussion on devotion, ceremony, spirituality, and relationship with deity. Most of all, though, it is experiential. It's about doing and feeling rather than theorising. We hope that people who come along will deepen their personal relationship with the pagan gods. This is for people who have done some reading on witchcraft, Wicca and/or paganism, and who are familiar with at least its general theological tenets. We assume you are pagan and want to practice it, but we don't presume you are experienced.

Group size is small - we don't take more than 17 people for the evening. The organisers want this to be a gentle, intimate and thoughtful experience. You can come once, come regularly, or come intermittently -- whatever suits you best.

13 August 2008 (Wednesday)
Solitary Witchcraft Course
Third Night: Herbal Magic
Treadwell's
£10 individual class, or £30 for all four sessions
7.15 pm for 7.30 start

SORRY THIS COURSE IS NOW SOLD OUT BUT IT WILL BE RUN AGAIN IN THE AUTUMN.

Third Session
Everyone knows that the old solitary witch knows the secrets of herbs, and can rustle up a charm for luck, love or prosperity. But how does one get proficient? Well, this session gets you started and active with a hands-on session. The underlying principles are explained, and then we get into making three actual herbal magical items in the class. By the end of the evening you will be confident to make things at home, in your own kitchen, often with the ingredients that are there already. Lots of question-and-answer time on practicalities, with free advice on what worked for us. You will be making a sachet, a potion and a candle spell. But also, you will be drawing up your own personalised action plan for what you’d like to make or do at home over the following week.

Course starts Weds 16 July and meets fortnightly. See that date for more details .

27 August 2008 (Wednesday)
Solitary Witchcraft Course
Fourth Night: Seals, Sigils and Talismans
Treadwell's
£10 individual class, or £30 for all four sessions
7.15 pm for 7.30 start

SORRY THIS COURSE IS NOW SOLD OUT BUT IT WILL BE RUN AGAIN IN THE AUTUMN.

The cunning man and the old woman in the woods, we all know, can draw strange seals upon scraps of parchment, then seal them with wax and thread, in order that ‘things happen’. What are those seals and sigils? Where on earth do you get parchment? and if you did learn what it all meant, what on earth is done with the sealed up little wrap? This session is on the seals and sigils of what can be called ‘talismanic magic’. We show you the guidelines, and the shapes of these actually work – we’ll hand round a few 16th century grimoires to give you a bit of the history of the tradition. Activity for the night will be you making a couple talismanic parchments and a wax seal yourself, and discussion and plans on how you can do this at home on your own. As always, by the end of the evening you should feel confident that you can get started doing these on your own in the following week.

Course starts Weds 16 July and meets fortnightly. See that date for more details .

30 August 2008 (Saturday)
The Empress of the Tarot
A Goddess Day for Women
Caroline Wise and Friends
£30.00
12 noon - 5.45 pm

This is a one-day goddess intensive for women, centred on the Empress card of the tarot. This beneficent aspect of the goddess bestows abundance, creativity, sensuality and the earthing of desires.

The day will be made up of talks, visualisation, meditation, and practical exercises and we meet Ishtar, Isis, Venus, Ceres, and Athena. There will also be a nod to Florence Farr and her 'Sphere Group' within the Hermetic Order if the Golden Dawn, and tarot artist Pamela Colman Smith (artist of the famed Rider-Waite deck).

Caroline Wise has not only a long involvement with the Fellowship of Isis but is deeply committed to the legacy of women magicians in Britain. Coming originally from an earth mysteries background, her workshops also incorporate a strong sense of place and locality. She has been an occultist for over 30 years.

07 September 2008 (Sunday)
Ritual and Magical Candle-Making:
A Hands-On Training Day
Nathalie Beveridge of 'Little Owl'
£45, includes materials and candles made on the day
11am- 6 pm

This full day focuses on the art of making candles by hand, and is taught by Nathalie Beveridge of Little Owl Company, specialist candle-makers for ritualists and magicians. It is an opportunity to learn the techniques from an experienced maker, in order to obtain especially good results in both techniques of candle-making: dipping and moulding. A practitioner herself, Nathalie will also lead a discussion on how to use them in magical workings and in ritual. Each participant will make and take home two types, and will have the knowledge to make candles at home with basic equipment. This day is ideal for practitioners who want to be able to make personal candles for their own practice, be it ceremonial magic, hedge witchcraft or shamanistic working.

21 September 2008 (Sunday)
Day-long Intensive Workings with Orryelle Defenestrate Bascule
Tarot for Conjuration -and- Web Mandalas
£70. £40 deposit, with balance due 21 Aug
11 am - 6 pm

This is a full day intensive with one of the most up-and-coming free-thinking maverick magicians of the post-chaos period.
Orryelle will be taking the group into two areas of exploration: the Tarot for conjuration, and Web-mandalas.

Here's what he says about it: "From observation in the present, our future is not a set definitive, but an array of probabilities. A belief in destiny does not preclude Free Will and the ability to consciously Co-Create this Fate. What is the use of divinatory arts if they merely give us glimpses of where we are headed, yet we are powerless to then affect this? Even just by looking at the current pattern of our lives, we may effect where we are going –why not consciously craft our path? We will work on a number of practical techniques for Tarot ‘writing’ as well as reading, to alter the course of our destiny by changing ourselves and our lives in the present to effect future outcomes. Also, we will go into ritual creation and use of spiral web mandalas/veves to map time onto a spatial plane in your magick circle and navigate rays of potentiality thereon."

Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule is an artist, performance artist and magician and can best be described as working in the Chaos/post-chaos current. Director of Metamorphic Ritual Theatre Co., his ritual-performance workings have been documented in contemporary journals. An artist, he is the creator of The Book of Kaos Tarot Deck (www.crossroads.wild.net.au/tarot.htm). Following his exhibition last year at the Horse Hospital Gallery in London, he has been signed by the prestigious occult art publisher Fulgur, Ltd. Biographical on Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule: http://www.crossroads.wild.net.au/bio.htm

This workshop will follow the launch of his new Graphic Grimmoire 'Conjunctio' from Fulgur Limited (www.fulgur.co.uk).

27 September 2008 (Saturday)
Dark Goddess Workshop
Descent to the Underworld
Jane Meredith
£110. £60 deposit, with balance due 27 August
10am - 5 pm, both Saturday and Sunday

This is a two-day workshop for women which runs on Sturday 27th - Sunday 28th September, whose theme is centred round the Sumerian myth of the descent of Inanna to the Underworld.

Here is how the organiser describes the course: "The Dark Goddess is all the parts of women that have been shamed and denied and hidden. She is the mother of suffering, change and renewal and it is in her realm that the mysteries of healing and personal transformation are found. Her names are Kali, Morrigan, Lilith, Ereshkigal, Mary Magdalene, Sekhmet and many others. The Sumerian myth of the goddess Inanna’s descent into the Underworld to meet her sister, the Dark Goddess, provides a brilliant map, outlining the path step by step that can be taken to descend into the darkest places and emerge, reborn. This essential journey is always about transformation and integration.

This workshop incorporates working with the myth through ritual, meditation and personal process. The two days span a ritual enactment of the descent into the Underworld to meet, heal and integrate one's personal shadow, as well as to acknowledge and empower the long-repressed dark feminine in her own right, and learn some of the paths that lie within her realms."

Registration is now open and Treadwell's are accepting bookings. For more on the workshop's content and on Jane Meredith, the leader, see http://www.janemeredith.com/northeast/workshops/dark-goddess.html