Speaker Biographies

Abstract Title: Unearthed: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of the Romano-Celtic Temple on Hayling Island

Biography:
Danielle has undertaken an undergraduate degree in Ancient Civilisations and a postgraduate degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, both from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Her research focuses on understanding the lives of prehistoric people through their engagement with their environments and how this is represented in cosmology, architecture, myths and rituals. She hopes to continue her education at PhD level, with a focus on the Anatolian and Cretan Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. She lives with her two cats in rural Somerset and is often buried under a pile of books.

Name: Laura Andrikopoulos

Abstract Title: Wordsworth's use of lunar symbolism

Biography:
Laura Andrikopoulos has a PhD in the history of astrology from the Sophia Centre, UWTSD and is the author of Jung and Twentieth Century Psychological Astrology: Perspectives on magic, psychology and culture. She is currently pursuing further studies in the history of art and literature at the University of Oxford.

Name: Sintija Barakat

Abstract Title: The Ancient Latvian Solar Calendar’s system in the contemporary world: Cultural cosmology or the lost knowledge of folklore?

Biography:
Sintija Barakat holds an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (UWTSD) and a BA (Hons) in Language Studies with English and German (The OU). In the past ten years, she has also successfully studied many different practices, such as the Hamburg School of Astrology, reiki levels I and II, various forms of meditation and sound healing. With a wide range of interests in cosmology, astrology, esoteric and holistic wellness, she returns to her Baltic roots by researching and unfolding ancient ways of living that bound people and nature in one cosmic rhythm.

Name: Dan Broadbent

Abstract Title: Beneath the Wide Wide Heaven: The Dark Green Religion of Wordsworth and Coleridge

Biography:
Dan Broadbent works as Historic Heritage Officer for the Quantock Hills National Landscape, developing community projects which investigate and celebrate the rich heritage of England’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. His work explores the borderlands of landscape archaeology, folklore and mythology, with a particular emphasis on the mental health benefits of both archaeological practice and more creative engagements with past. He holds a BSc. in Archaeology from University of Plymouth, and an M.A. in Ecology & Spirituality from the University of Wales Trinity St David. He has contributed a chapter to the volume, Scared Geography: Conversations with Landscapes published by Sophia Centre Press.

Name: Berna Lee

Abstract Title: The Living Tradition of Chinese Astrology in the Contemporary World

Biography:
Berna Lee (李映晴) is a meditation instructor and a consultant specializing in Chinese astrology and geomancy, based in Hong Kong. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of San Francisco and an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. With over a decade of experience in the Chinese arts and culture sector, Berna has worked on a diverse array of projects, including antique restoration, art and events, and geomancy, throughout Hong Kong and China.

Inspired by her family's generational practice of Chinese astrology and her multicultural background, Berna advocates for restoring Chinese cosmological understandings connected to inclusion and equity. She seeks to decolonize misconceptions about Chinese astrology, rediscovering its relevance to the contemporary Chinese way of life and challenging its view as mere superstition. Berna's work bridges cultures, engaging with her community to explore, restore, and co-create knowledge as both a researcher and practitioner.

Name: Alejo Lopez

Abstract Title: Exploring Gender Constructs in Astrological Practice through the Role of the Sun and Moon

Biography:
Alejo López holds a degree in performing arts and another in psychology. He is currently training as a Jungian Analyst and has recently completed the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David where his dissertation won the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology Dissertation Prize. Alejo has studied mythology, shamanism and Kabbalah, and is particularly interested in seeing how the current practice of astrology reflects social ideas and assumptions.

Name: Maria Margarida Manarte

Abstract Title: An investigation into the astrological symbols present in two decorative paintings of José de Almada Negreiros (1893 – 1970)

Biography:
Margarida Toscano Manarte, from Portugal, holds a MA in art conservation (2014) and an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (2023). The interest in art and astrology lead to the research about the astrological symbols present in Portuguese artworks from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Name: Izabela Podlaska-Konkel

Abstract Title: Astrology of dream divination spells in the Greek Magical Papyri

Biography:
Izabela Podlaska-Konkel holds an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (2023), an MA in Polish Studies from the University of Warsaw (1998), and a BA in Classics from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw (2024). She has recently published a paper on medical astrology in Marsilio Ficino's De vita libri tres in the monograph Latin in Medicine. New Perspectives (UKSW 2024). Her main interest is the intersection of astrology and culture in ancient and pre-modern times.