Speaker Biographies

Biography:
Chelsea is a tarot reader and researcher of extraordinary experiences based in Paris, France. She holds in MA in Ecology & Spirituality from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and was the winner of the Sophia Centre Alumni Association Dissertation Prize / Dyfernir Gwobr MA Seryddiaeth ac Astroleg Ddiwylliannol for 2026. She is also the host of Under the Earth, a podcast about encounters with nature.

Name: Jake Eshelman

An Ethnographic Exploration of Sacred Apiculture in Present-day United States

Biography:
Jake Eshelman (b. 1989, USA) is an artist and researcher exploring the complex relationships between people, our environment, and everyone we share it with. Primarily working through photography, fragrance, and written word, he is especially fascinated by the ethical and spiritual significance of ecological interactions. As such, Eshelman blends his creative and academic interests to help expand our normative conception of ‘ecology’ to consider the agency, personhood, and dynamism of who we might call ‘inanimate’ or ‘super-natural’, such as nature spirits, genii loci, bodies of water, stones, or mythological creatures, to name a few. In doing so, he hopes that his works provide opportunities to collectively transcend the notion that humanity is somehow separate from—or superior to—nature.

Name: Tina Jensen Friis Auster

Prevalence of cosmologies from the Old Norse narratives in the Asetro communities in Denmark in 2025

Biography:
Tina is a scholar of Cultural Astronomy and Astrology who recently earned her Master's degree with distinction at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). Her award-shortlisted dissertation blended historical and cosmological analyses to examine how the Danish Asetro identify with the Old Norse narratives.

Tina is Danish and has lived in the UK for 15 years. In Denmark, she earned her Bachelor's in Business in 1992 and authored a 2008 book exploring human coherence. Tina brings a uniquely multidisciplinary perspective to her research. With over a decade of experience across sports therapy, teaching, policing, and wildlife park management, her work blends human and animal behaviour, anatomy/physiology, and investigative research into her studies of humanity's relationship with the wider cosmos.

UWTSD is the only university in the world to offer an accredited degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology. This interdisciplinary field allowed Tina to merge her Danish heritage with her deep interest in cosmology. She aims to expand existing research on how Northern cosmological beliefs shape communities, cultures, and their relationship with the universe.

Name: Sian Humphries

Is the Earth at the Centre? Paganism, Ritual, and the Question of Ecological Action

Biography:
Sian Humphries holds an MSc in applied Biology from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and has just graduated with distinction from the university's MA in Ecology and Spirituality. She worked for many years as a secondary school Biology teacher and Assistant Head before taking early retirement in 2024. Her research sits at the intersection of ecology, ritual, and contemporary religion, examining how spiritual traditions shape environmental attitudes and behaviour. She is the author of several books on Paganism and eco-spirituality, published by Aeon Books and Moon Books, including Black Paths and Green Cathedrals and Unveiling the Green. She practises as a classical astrologer and horary practitioner, organises conferences on occult and astrological studies, and has spent over thirty years as a practising witch and coven leader.

Name: Antje Klaehn

Was the German revival of Astrology at the Turn of the Twentieth Century based on its re-importation from England?

Biography:
Antje Klaehn has an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology from Trinity St. David, University of Wales. She has been studying astrology since 1979 and gained the Faculty of Astrological Studies' Certificate in 1992, as well as the Roy Allin Award for the best interpretation paper. She has since expanded her astrological knowledge to include Hellenistic and Medieval practises and her main interest is to bridge the gap between a supposedly 'fatalistic', event-oriented, traditional astrology and modern psychological, by applying traditional techniques in a growth-oriented, non-deterministic manner. She is currently in the process of building a professional astrological practise. She lives in Germany and in her main career, she is a business trainer, coach and consultant.

Name: Ayeshah Lalloo

An Exploration to the Cosmology of Modern Druids

Biography:
I am a recent graduate of the University of Wales Trinity St David. I have always been fascinated by ancient stone circles and sites of Neolithic importance, not only for their history but their continued importance and shifting identities as their inhabitants and visitors changes around them and shape new meanings.

This presentation will focus on my Dissertation for the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, which was shortlisted for the annual Dissertation Prize.

Name: Sandrine McLocklin

Between Life and Death: A Philosophical Analysis of Near-Death Experience Phenomenology

Biography:
Sandrine McLocklin is an independent researcher specialising in the philosophical and phenomenological implications of spiritually transforming experiences (STE). She holds a Master of Arts in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Her postgraduate thesis explored the transformative effects of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) amongst those who had experienced them (NDErs). It delved into how the significant shifts in consciousness that fundamentally change personal and spiritual paths can be interpreted from a philosophical perspective. Driven by a personal NDE-like event, her work bridges classic theoretical frameworks with lived experiences. More recently, she contributed on an academic publication examining the notion of performance and spirituality, approaching it uniquely through the lens of NDEs and philosophical frameworks.

Based in southern England, Sandrine also maintains a professional astrology practice, while remaining committed to her on-going studies.

Name: Lisa Stockley

Biography:
Lisa Stockley has a first degree in Modern Laguages along with an MA in Information Management. She has recently graduated from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David with the MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology. She won the Chrissy Philp History of Astrology prize and was shortlisted for the Sophia Centre Alumni Dissertation Prize. She is interested in the history and philosophy of astrology as well as its role in contemporary culture and the intersection of astrology and spirituality.