Crossroads University

Denise Alvarado was born and raised in the unique culture of New Orleans, Louisiana and has studied indigenous healing traditions from a personal and academic perspective for over four decades. Denise is a member of the American Anthropological Association, the Association of Indigenous Anthropologists, and the Association of Latina/o & Latinx Anthropologists. She is the author of Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits and Hoodoo Saints, The Magic of Marie Laveau, The Conjurer's Guide to St. Expedite, Editor in Chief of Hoodoo & Conjure magazine, Journal of American Rootwork and Gumbo Ya Ya, and over twenty books that focus on folk magic traditions of the American South. Her provocative artwork has been featured on several television shows including National Geographic's Taboo, The Originals, and Blue Bloods. Denise is a rootworker and tradition-keeper, a spiritual artist, and a teacher of Southern indigenous folkways.

Baba Eli Norris (Awotunde Ayodele Ifalere) was born and raised in Northwestern Pennsylvania where he sent most of his early life (A handful of years living in Ohio being the exception). He has been in Southeastern Louisiana since 2007, where he earns a living as a nurse. Eli discovered Ifa and ATRs in general in the late 90s and though reliable information proved sparse for many years, he absorbed what information he could. In 2002, as a practicing Wiccan, Baba Eli was at a pagan festival when he met a practitioner of New Orleans Voodoo. She reintroduced him to the Orisha and through her he began a journey that led eventually to being initiated as a Babalawo in 2012. Coming full circle, he met Mama D that same year and enrolled in her New Orleans Voodoo course. He now practices Ifa and New Orleans Voodoo side by side, while still maintaining many of his Wiccan practices. Baba Eli is a practitioner of New Orleans Voodoo, Hoodoo, Ifa, and has recently begun to incorporate cardology into his spiritual retinue. He can be reached at [email protected]. Ayodele