The Creative Occult:
Spirit Drawing & the Underworld
A mythopoetic and intuitive art workshop hosted by Pointy Hat Press beneath the full Harvest Moon
The mysteries of the Underworld sprout arms and legs beneath the full Harvest Moon. The restless dead regain their voices, while the rooted ones grow crowns of orange and crimson. The shadows of past selves descend on our dreamscapes and yearnings, haunting the wilds of our creative work.
Old stories illustrate the Underworld as a labyrinth or crossroads, while others suggest a dance floor unrestricted by time and space. Some people describe a library with sentient books or a strange garden on the verge of harvest, brimming with seeds. Modern mystics suggest that the changing landscape of the mythical Underworld mirrors a human’s inner sanctum: the shifting realm of imagination, creativity, and unconscious material.
The goddess Persephone makes her home in the Underworld of Greco-Roman mythology. As Queen of the Below, Persephone guides lost souls and initiates people into the mysteries of the moon and the reaping season. She cares for the dead, the soon-to-be-born, and spirits known as daimons, all of whom are sacred travelers and messengers.
The mystical psychologist and writer James Hillman believed every human was assigned a daimon before taking their first breath. He described daimons as “soul companions,” spiritual forces that, when listened to, remind us who we truly are. Because this spirit shapes our innate gifts, patterns, and life experiences, Hillman called the daimon the messenger of destiny.
The Creative Occult returns on September 25th! Join Kristin Lisenby and Caitlyn Holowaty-Barone for Spirit Drawing & the Underworld – a one-day mythopoetic and intuitive art experiment hosted by Pointy Hat Press. Together, participants will gather beneath the full Harvest Moon to practice spirit drawing using art as a doorway into the creative unconscious.
The Creative Occult:
Spirit Drawing & the Underworld
INSTRUCTORS
Kristin Lisenby is a storyteller based in the Azores Islands. She is the author of Little Witch Books and co-founder of Pointy Hat Press, an online community exploring mediumship and mysticism through a modern lens. Kristin teaches a monthly creative writing program called the Crossroads, and co-hosts Magick & Alchemy (now in its sixth season!), a Tamed Wild podcast about mythology and witchcraft.
Caitlyn Holowaty-Barone is a New York-based educator, mother, and Art Witch. A lover of flowers and folklore since childhood, Caitlyn believes that nature and mysticism inspire creative expression in a way that feels organic, playful, and of course, a bit witchy. She is the co-creator and illustrator behind the Little Witch Series, as well as the co-founder and creative director of Pointy Hat Press, a publishing house dedicated to magickal stories and the humans who love them.
Pointy Hat Press
Kristin and Caitlyn founded Pointy Hat Press in 2021. What began as a small publishing house for reimagined fairy tales and folklore has become a community fueled by the wyrd and wondrous. Together, Kristin and Caitlyn share whimsical articles and art, and host seasonal workshops that explore nostalgia, sacred collaboration, and the creative occult.
This workshop is for you if…
You want to enchant your creative process.
You loved making art as a child but have lost touch with your inner artist.
You want to practice automatic writing, spirit drawing, and psychography.
You’re interested in exploring the relationship between art and witchcraft.
You are a devotee of Persephone, daimons, or another chthonic deity.
You create according to animist ethics and the mythical wild.
You’re ready to unveil unconscious thought and symbology in your work. .
You want to make wyrd art with likeminded folks in a creative community.
What to Expect:
Friday September 25th, 6pm-7:30pm EST: The Creative Occult: Spirit Drawing & the Underworld
This workshop combines automatic drawing rituals, mythology, animistic analysis, and generative conversation and prompts to enchant your creative life. Artists of all levels are invited to divine with their unconscious material through spirit drawing, using intuitive movements to guide their pen and reveal a message from the spirit world.
Leaning on the spirit world to make art, or leaning into art to meet Spirit, is something humans have been doing for ages. Today we call it channeling, automatism, or psychography, forms of divination that include automatic writing and drawing. However, before these modern terms, people called their mystical art-making “spirit drawing,” a technique first recorded in China in the 5th century. Half a millennium later, planchette drawing was born, and people began using a heart-shaped (possibly haunted) piece of wood to record messages to and from the spirit world.
Creativity is a kind of soul-work. Through our making and shaping, our rough drafts and inspired sketches, we remember that play and intuition are keys to a mystical place--the realm of Spirit. And because self-expression is for everyone, no experience is needed to join this Harvest Moon workshop! Just bring a blank page, a curious heart, and a desire to venture beyond the physical veil.
Exchange:
A single payment of $44
The $44 workshop fee includes one 90-minute class, plus a downloadable recording if you cannot make the live gathering, and a downloadable PDF with generative prompts.
We prioritize making our offerings accessible. If you need assistance, please message us to explain your situation, and we can work together to find a solution.
FAQ:
DO I NEED TO ATTEND ALL WORKSHOPS LIVE?
No! This workshop is intended to support any schedule, and a recording will be available if you cannot make it to the live gathering.
DO I HAVE ACCESS TO ALL MATERIALS FOREVER?
Yes! The recording and PDF are yours to keep.
WHAT EXPERIENCE DO I NEED TO HAVE BEFORE JOINING?
No experience needed, just a love of art, magick, and mystery.
IS THERE A SUPPLY LIST?
Yes! Participants are encouraged to bring drawing paper, pens, pencils, tools for coloring (like markers, colored pencils, or pastels), a candle, and a quartz crystal.