This Year's Committee (2008-09)

Sally Byrne, CUPS President 08/09

Sally Byrne

President

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Sally has been Pagan for about 5 years and first came to Paganism through Wicca. Since then she has branched out into a more eclectic style of Paganism. She joined the society in 2007, on the first year of a Chemistry degree and has since changed degree scheme to Earth Science and is having to repeat her first year - so she's technically a "fresher"!

Connie Pretty

Secretary

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Connie joined the Pagan Society in September 2006. She has been Wiccan for four or five years, and has been studying Tarot for longer. She works with a range of deities but particularly Celtic and Greek deities. Connie is in her third year at Cardiff University, studying Ancient History.

Andy Holland, CUPS Treasurer 08/09

Andy Holland

Treasurer

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Andy joined CUPS at the Societies Fayre shortly after arriving at Cardiff University, and found himself getting more involved throughout his first year. His direct involvement began with the inaugural issue of CUPS Magazine in December 2003, which led to the creation of cardiffpagan.co.uk in April 2004. He was also President of CUPS in the year 2005-06, and still takes care of the Society's website (for his sins, which he suspects were probably numerous and many).

Andy was introduced to Yoga, mantra and spirituality by his parents, and through the society he has developed and pursued interests in subjects such as Hermetic magic and Tarot.  If there were more hours in the day, not only would he rule the world but also learn Sanskrit.  In his private time Andy enjoys trying to avoid being sectioned under the mental health act, reading about developments in science and technology, indulging in sci-fi, roleplaying and other such geekery, and discovering new and exciting ways to be late for important things. He graduated with BSc (Hons) in Computer Science in 2006 and completed his MSc Data and Information Fusion with distinction in September 2007.  He is currently a PhD student within the School of Engineering, researching multi-camera systems for urban landscape mapping.

Kim Huggens, Offerings Magazine Editor 08/09

Kim Huggens

Offerings Magazine Editor

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Kim Huggens is a PhD student in the Ancient History and Archaeology department of Cardiff University, where she is researching a thesis on malefic magic in the Late Antique period. She recently completed an MA in the department of Religious and Theological Studies of Cardiff University, where she wrote her dissertation on the use of voodoo dolls in ancient Greece and Rome. She graduated with a BA (Hons) Philosophy from Cardiff in 2005. Kim was President of C.U.P.S. from 2003-2005, and again from 2006-2007, and Editor of – and regular contributor to – “Offerings”, the online C.U.P.S. magazine from its first issue to the current issue. This year, she’ll be continuing the editorship, as well as helping to create the society rituals, and organize trips. She is also the tutor for the Tarot for Everybody! course which is currently running through CUPS, and the leader of the Experiencing Deity workshops.

Kim has been an avid Tarot reader since the age of 9, and she is the co-creator of “Sol Invictus: The God Tarot”, the first and (so far) only Tarot deck to explore the Divine Masculine in his many forms throughout world mythology. (www.godtarot.com ; for the publisher see www.schifferbooks.com ) She is currently working on a companion deck with the artist Nic Phillips, exploring the Divine Feminine from an academic and historically accurate perspective. She has also been given a contract by Llewellyn publishers for her Tarot Course for Everyone! manuscript, due out in Spring 2010, titled "Tarot 101: Mastering the Art of Reading the Cards". More recent work includes a paper in "Horns of Power", "Priestesses, Pythonesses and Sibyls", and "Both Sides of Heaven" edited by Sorita D'Este, and a paper in the "Mithras Reader vol. 2". Kim is currently editing an anthology on the magical and mythological symbolism of water, due out from Avalonia Books towards the end of 2009. Every now and then Kim gives talks and workshops on Tarot around the UK, and is available for private readings at wonderfully cheap student rates! She can also be hired for private Tarot tuition and is available as a speaker on a variety of Pagan, Tarot, and mythology-related subjects.

An eclectic Pagan, Kim is also a Vodou practitioner and Hounsi Lave Tet in Sosyete Gade Nou Leve. She is also a member of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). She’s a mythology freak, enjoys creating group ritual with a difference, is a rabid fan- girl of the Dorset-based Pagan folk-rock band “The Dolmen”, and a D&D player. She has far too little space for her many books, loves Glastonbury, and wishes she could read Sumerian cuneiform writing.