About LTZ
Laura Tempest Zakroff is an artist, author, performer, and Witch. She lives in Rhode Island with her partner, musician Nathaniel Johnstone – with whom they have several music projects (including The Mechanist & The Star Goddess) and other collaborative projects. They have approximately four cats.
Check out some podcast and radio interviews with Laura here!
Artist
Laura is a professionally trained visual artist and designer, receiving her BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and having trained at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia and the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts. Her artwork has received awards and honors worldwide, and has been published in numerous books and magazines. Her work embodies myth and the esoteric through her drawings and paintings, jewelry, talismans, and other designs. Coming from a long line of diverging cultures, she is most at ease in blending her skills and inspirations throughout all of her work.
To browse her work, visit the virtual portfolio.
Visit the online shop to purchase prints, cards, & more.
Author
Laura is the author of multiple best-selling books including Sigil Witchery: A Witch’s Guide to Crafting Magick Symbols (Gold COVR Award winner),Weave the Liminal: Living Modern Traditional Witchcraft (2019), Anatomy of a Witch: A Map to the Magical Body (2021), and Visual Alchemy: A Witch’s Guide to Sigils, Art & Magic (2022). She is the author of The Witch’s Cauldron and co-author (with Jason Mankey) of The Witch’s Altar – as well as co-author with Ivo Dominguez Jr for the forthcoming release Gemini Witch.
Her first oracle deck, The Liminal Spirits Oracle, was released in June 2020 from Llewellyn Worldwide and won a Silver COVR Award and the ITF CARTA Awards Best Oracle Deck of the Year. Her second oracle deck, The Anatomy of a Witch Oracle was just released in late 2022 is already receiving much acclaim.
Laura also conceived and edited the anthology The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance (2018) and The Gorgon’s Guide to Magical Resistance (2022) – both from Revelore Press.
Performer
As Tempest, she has been a major pioneer of fusion bellydance for over 20 years. Her compellingly artful performances exemplify her distinctively theatrical, unique, and expressive style that are rooted in oriental dance technique with a transcendent approach. Tempest’s fascination with sacred and ritual dance lead her to bellydance, and she strives to help others connect mind, body, and spirit through movement. To further education and foster community, she produced the Waking Persephone (2012-2016) and Tapestry Dance (2011) Festivals, as well as numerous other events throughout the years.
In 2020, she created the Witchual Workout – a ritually-inspired movement experience designed to get us all moving a bit more on a daily basis. Each one explores a different magical focus while building stamina – fascinating the mind, body, and spirit – and is free on YouTube!
Witch
A practicing Modern Traditional Witch for over 2 decades, her early days were defined by being a community leader and public spokesperson for Paganism. Laura was the Associate Editor of Crescent Magazine, A Pagan Publication of Art, Philosophy, and Belief from 1998-2004, founder of the Cauldron of Annwyn Pagan Society in New England, and the youngest attendee of the Pagan Leaders Summit in Bloomington, IN in 2001. After nearly a decade-long hiatus from being publicly active, Laura began to get involved again in 2014 – and now can be found teaching, performing, and participating at numerous events and festivals all over.
She founded the Witches’ Night Out Market – a now bi-coastal event in Seattle and New England that celebrates the arts and community while benefiting local non-profit organizations. Laura also helps facilitate social change at the grassroots level through We Are Aradia – a movement focused on magical resistance and education.
Banner photo credits: Left/Right photos by Carrie Meyer | Center photo by Kook Teflon | Art by LTZ