Wise Ones

Benjamin Stimpson, BA, MBACP (He/They/Them) is a therapist, author, folklorist, storyteller, and spiritual practitioner. Originally hailing from the United Kingdom, they grew up in Ontario, Canada but is actively in the process of returning to the UK. Benjamin has been involved with the magical community since the early 2000s, with deeper involvement in a selection of spiritual traditions including Advaita Hinduism, Lucumí, espiritismo, Druidry, and British folk tradition.
 
Benjamin holds a Bachelors in Liberal Studies, minoring in Medieval, Classical and Religious Studies from the University of Waterloo; a postgraduate diploma in spiritual psychotherapy from Transformational Arts College, and has ambitions to pursue a Masters in Folklore Studies. His academic areas of interest involve folklore, medieval history and spirituality, ancient religions, and the modern queer experience of spirituality. His professional areas of interest are the intersection of spirituality and therapeutic work. Benjamin is particularly interested in the connections of LARP, Magic, Fandom and folklore/myth in the exploration of individual and community identity particularly in forms of ritual, narrative, and play.
 
Aside from his professional and academic work, Ben is the host of Essence Podcast; a weekly show where he interviews fellow authors and spiritual practitioners in the fields of NeoPaganism, Occultism, Traditional Witchcraft, folklore, therapy, and the queer community.  An acclaimed international presenter, Ben has spoken at the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore Festival (2023/2024); Ancestral Magic Summit (2023); the Queering Mental Health Conference (2023); and the Sisterhood of Avalon's Psycho-Spirituality Conference (2021). He has been a guest on over fifty podcasts, and been invited to speak to groups across North America and Europe. In 2023, Benjamin's debut title "Ancestral Whispers: A Guide to Developing Ancestral Veneration Practices" (Llewellyn Worldwide) released in September 2023, and he is currently working on a title for Crossed Crow Books scheduled for release in Spring 2025. To find out more and connect please visit: www.benstimpson.com.