Today we’d like to introduce you to Tava Baird.
Hi Tava, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I served as a mentor in the Pagan community for decades, but my practice was very one-on-one and quiet as I worked my normal day jobs. I’ve worked in many fields: as an artist, teacher, playwright, and archaeologist. During COVID I decided to turn my attention away from writing scripts and try my hand at a novel. It combined my archaeology background (1700s), my own family history from Scotland, my artwork, and my Pagan practice. The result was the first book in the Spiral Pathways series, Wyldwood.
Since I was a self-published author, I needed to find creative ways to market my book. I started offering a variety of classes combining art with Paganism at local metaphysical stores as a way to promote my writing, which rapidly grew from one novel to seven. Soon these classes became their own branch of my business, so I started going to markets to both sell books and promote the classes. That’s when I started making prints of my Pagan-themed paintings.
Then a friend asked me to co-host a metaphysical podcast with her. Mystical Musings started pulling in listeners, and soon I was channeling live on the podcast. Now the books, podcast, classes and markets were all connected. My non-fiction metaphysical writings started to gain more traction.
Meanwhile, I retired from teaching to give my new business, Darkflower Books and Mystical Supply, my full attention. The thing that I loved most was that in creating the classes, I was able to work to create safe spaces for people to have deep spiritual conversations. And these people were from all walks of life! Seniors and students were there together. People of all backgrounds and economic status. People with stories of how traditional religion was not meeting their needs. I see science and faith as the same path, not as opposing forces, and this perspective appeals to people. Darkflower grew.
Soon I was offering hand-painted spirt communication devices and upcycled dolls to reach out and connect with the unseen. I help people to make memorial poppets to assist in remembering their loved ones. I teach a whole slate of classes around Lilith and self-empowerment for the good of all. I teach bone-casting in an effort to keep this ancient practice alive. I began working with a small publisher in Virginia, Masterful Person Publishing, on bringing my books to a wider audience.
At the same time I started an archaeology program at a haunted 1747 tavern outside of Winchester VA and began teaching classes inside the mausoleum at Green Hill Cemetery, a historic Victorian Cemetery in Martinsburg, West Virginia. I began hosting my own events to raise funds for the preservation of these historic properties. And as I met other creators, I began marshalling the following I have to bring attention to what they were doing, to form an interconnected network of alternative spiritual educators that spanned states. If you have a spiritual question and I don’t know the answer, I bet I know someone who does!
I am now speaking at conferences and retreats and doing events all over Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. My business now includes doing bone readings and providing advice for persons experiencing a haunting in their spaces. I run a wayward house for haunted dolls in my studio (there are currently about eighty of them here undergoing restoration and observation). I came out with a Lilithian Oracle Deck, The Deck of Rebellion, and am traveling all over, teaching and vending and writing and meeting people.
And as a result, historic sites are gaining attention, alternative spirituality is being made more accessible, and more talented teachers and artists from all backgrounds are moving forward into the public eye. Collaboration is the name of my game. My path may seem very strange to some, but at the heart of it is community, conversation, empathy, and a shared sense of wonder as we explore our lives here on this planet and what may come after. I am proud to work with and know people of many faiths (or no faith at all), and to honor and respect each and every individual on their own path through this life.
There are so many forces in our society telling us that we are not enough. That we’re too this or too that. That we belong in a certain box and we better stay there, OR ELSE. Too many people telling us no one wants us, or our shared experiences, or our creativity. Too few mentors. Too few people who allow you to be your own weird and wonderful self.
To that I say, “Come sit with us”. Tell us your wonderings and wanderings, your ghost stories and fears. Tell us the brilliant dream you had, and celebrate the cycles of your life with company. This world is too marvelous to wander through without asking, “What if?” I believe in science, but I also believe that when people come together and create art, there is real magick.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle, especially in today’s divided environment, is just acceptance that people are allowed to be different from what we deem “mainstream”. I’ve had my history classes protested, and been called all sorts of things. But for every person who dislikes and fears anyone different than themselves, there are so many more who want connection, who want to help, who want to be heard and held and seen. I stay focused on bringing the community together. The things I do are expanding so fast I can barely keep up, and that’s because there’s a need. People have been conditioned to think that they are not worthy of attention, of having their voice heard, of leading. I work to change that. Everyone deserves a voice. Others can decide whether or not to listen, but everyone deserves to be able to speak. Everyone.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Every single week my work is different. I spend a lot of time organizing things and communicating. I have two books in the pipeline that I am writing and final edits on another to get to a publisher. I am working on illustrating another writer’s book of poetry. I’m researching and restoring a whole room of porcelain dolls, and answering calls that always begin with someone saying, “You are going to think I am crazy, but…”
I travel to markets, retreats, and classes, and am always packing or unpacking for those. I’m currently designing an event centered around spring and Hades and Persephone. I’m halfway through collaborating on an Underworld-themed card game. And there’s multiple poppets out on my work table, waiting to be assembled according to my magickal practice.
Each day is different. Each day is divine. And in many spaces I find that my art and writing and the things I make with my hands lead people to me who are tired of feeling alone. Feeling rejected and abandoned spiritually. Invite them to a gathering and tell them to bring soup or cookies and hug them and tell them they are not by themselves. That they have power. That they can change things for the better in our world.
And in a very short time later, I see them pass that message on.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Here’s the thing: our communities are tired. Tired of not having enough resources, enough opportunity, enough safe spaces to gather. We’re tired of building online communities only to have then flooded with ads and spyware. They want the same thing they have always wanted: real Human connection. To move forward on their unique path. To be able to celebrate and mourn together in safety. A sense of self-worth beyond our income level.
If the people in power be won’t give us these things, we’ll create them ourselves. Work outside the system, the way we’ve always done. And there is TALENT out here on the fringes. Loads of it. I’m not sure exactly what you would call my industry. Spiritual Community Building? In our current environment, its growth is like a runaway train. There’s space for everyone here, as long as you have empathy for others and don’t just strive to make it all about yourself.
My goal: we all rise together in empathy and balance. If you strive to welcome and support others, I invite you to the table.
And usually you receive much more than you give.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tavabaird.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tavabaird/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tava.baird.2025
- Other: https://darkflowerbooks.etsy.com and https://mysticalmusings.buzzsprout.com (podcast)
