Gwen Gardner has been the High Priestess of the Garden of the Crescent Moon Coven since 2007, when the Coven was first Birthed. She is a 3rd Degree Witch in the Fellowship of the Elder Path, which is an offshoot of some of the Reconstructionist groups out of Berkley, CA in the 1970’s. She holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology and Wiccan Ministry and has 4 years of study towards two different Master’s Degrees, in Counseling and Interfaith Communications. She has 4 years of study in Ceremonial Magick, which makes her an Adeptus Minora in that path. She has studied Shamanism with Sandra Ingerman, Norse Shamanism with Cissi Williams and most recently Celtic Shamanism with Jane Burns.
Gwen considers herself a Hedgewitch, which means a witch who travels the liminal spaces, the hedges and edges, the boundaries between worlds and realms, seeking healing, guidance, knowledge and wisdom from those who dwell there. She has been dedicated to Freyja, the Norse Goddess who is a teacher in the ways of Seidth, Norse magickal practice, since 2017. Gwen also loves hiking, camping, gardening, singing, drumming, reading books and communing with nature, along with her dog.
“Not all who wander are lost”.
Logan Nickel is studying the history of religion at the University of Montana with a minor in Anthropology. He served as Speaker of the Hel's Gate Heathen Kindred for 7 years and is considered one of the most knowledgeable members of the kindred when it comes to spirituality, paganism, and history. Last year he traveled to Germany and Norway for the first time to begin training under several highly respected shamans and has continued this training with them since. Logan created the kindred study group and has been hosting it for the last five years.
At age 17 Logan began working with wild and domestic animals at Wolfkeep Wildlife Sanctuary, including wolves, lynx, coyotes, foxes, and wolfdog hybrids. He continued working with dogs (and cats to a lesser degree) over the next decade. Specializing in communicating with aggressive animals, Logan has helped many wounded dogs learn to trust again and find healing.
Having grown up in Montana, Logan is a lifelong backpacker and has a deep relationship with this land. His family has a long history of hiking and backpacking, including Sir Edmond Hillary, first modern man to summit Mt Everest. His father has over fifty years of experience exploring the wilds and has passed this knowledge on. Logan has taken many people on their first backpacking trip and has been leading kindred trips for several years. He loves hearing the voice of nature and is eager to share this experience with those who can be quiet enough to hear it.
"You can't Google 'where's my screwdriver?' "
Ashleigh has been working in the realm of tattooing and body modification for seven years, both participating and facilitating in ceremonial tattooing and ritualized body suspension. Hailing from the mountain peaks of northwest Montana, she’s made her home among the forest there. Weaving a deep and integral relationship with the land in which she was born.
In her time here she’s been involved in both the Garden of the Crescent Moon and the Hel’s Gate Heathen Kindred as well as creating her own space of ritual, Seid and Fire. Seid and Fire was birthed through the benevolent reverence found within our ancestral ties to old ways, an interconnection to the natural landscape, and the sanctity of death cycles and ceremony.
In more recent years, shamanic and indigenous perspective has deeply influenced her practice. Traveling abroad to work and study under wisdom keepers and well respected teachers, to revive and rebirth shamanic practices and more ancient ways of tattooing. Gracing the lands of Norway, Germany, Sweden, and Scotland.
An alchemist and weaver of ink, Ashleigh spends most of her time deeply rooted in artistry. A witness to the fluidity of emotion and the ever-changing cycles of the landscape. A vessel of movement and conduit of creation.
“The Well is within you..”
Kyra is a second generation pagan from the sandstone cliffs area of Montana. She was raised on stories of myth, magic, and D&D. Much of her youth was spent outdoors hiking, camping, gold panning, shooting off rockets, and shooting beer cans.
Kyra studied whatever religious material she could get her hands on and went with many people to their churches to experience religion from multiple perspectives. Her interest in Norse Mythology and spirituality began in earnest in the late 90’s due to her affinity for Odin, who was both obsessed with learning and prone to wandering off.
In 2015 she joined the Peace Corps and learned how deeply nourishing community can be. She reveled in the tradition of holding hands with complete strangers and talking about the weather, sharing cultural perspectives, and learning how to accept support. She shared her own yoga practice with the teachers she was working with during that time.
After her service she jumped on the opportunity to complete her 200 hour yoga teacher training in Thailand with an old friend of hers. She learned about the lore, the problems, and the differing perspectives on yoga in an American context. She taught in a few places around Missoula including running her own business until that which will not be named in 2020. She has continued her education with multiple teachers since then.
Coming back to the United States she saw the simple pleasures of a close knit community painfully lacking and knew she had to find her people. She joined the Hel’s Gate Heathen Kindred in 2019, fell in love, and in 2020 became the treasurer, a role she still holds. She also joined and volunteers for the Western Montana Returned Peace Corps group in Missoula who well know the feeling.
Now Kyra is following her passion of animism and old ways of knowing and hopes to level up. Kyra is known for gentle honesty, holding space, and a genuine curiosity of people and their experiences. You will most commonly hear her saying
“I have about a million questions”.
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