Spelling Lessons: Wiccan Studies Is on the Rise

[xchrom]

http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-04-04/news/spelling-lessons-wiccan-studies-is-on-the-rise/


Kiandra Venson samples her fellow Wiccan Michelle Gonzalez’s “power potion.”

Lashette Williams clutched a dagger tightly in her right hand. Her black robes swung dangerously close to the candles on the altar in front of her. With a spell book to her left and a silver chalice to her right, she thrust the weapon toward the front of the room and began to chant.

It was graduation day at the Wiccan Family Temple Academy of Pagan Studies. In an old performing-arts building on the Lower East Side, Williams was ordained as a high priestess, the most prestigious level of expertise in the Wiccan world. Although the occasion was joyous, the small number of graduates—two—was a reminder of the academy's tough financial times.

The Academy of Pagan Studies was founded in 2007 by temple elders Starr Ravenhawk and Luna Rojas to teach local children about paganism and has since grown to offer a higher-education program for adult Wiccans. However, just like more traditional institutions, the academy has been hit hard by the economy. Increased cost of materials, high rent, and competition have put the temple at risk of going out of business.

"We have a lot of people that would like to take classes, and they can't. They can't afford it," Rojas says.

[Gurgen4]

1. Bump

very interesting.

I know a few Wiccans in my immediate circle who say that it is a very empowering form of spirituality.

[Hatchling]

3. It absolutely is.

A very intense connection with the world.

[eqfan592]

6. When I started to leave christianity behind...

...I dabbled in wicca as well as some other old, nature based practices as I attempted to figure out my beliefs. I discovered that "strong connection with the world" as you described, but as time went on, I also discovered that such a feeling did not require any particular religious belief system.

I can still get that same feeling by just thinking of the fact that the materials that make up my body were formed in the heart of a start that exploded billions of years ago. Never fails to make me feel at one with the universe.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. I went down that same road.

Unfortunately, one of the things that turned me off from Christianity and the church was all the rituals. I sadly found that Wicca had just as many rituals as the Christian church, and all the other religions. I did not need nor want rituals to affirm my beliefs, although I did think that Wicca had many beliefs that were in line with my thinking.

[Marrah_G]

11. Only certain branches of Wicca and Paganism have groups and/or formal rituals.

What this group is doing, the selling of High Priestess/Priest titles is shocking and not looked upon well by most in the Wiccan world.

The only thing I paid for mine was time, effort, sweat and tears. That day my HPS become my sister, my equal, my elder, my mentor. I never paid her a dime, but instead give her a lifetime of love.

[Curmudgeoness]

12. I think "groups" are important.

It is all the rituals that give me the creeps. I think that having other people who believe the same way that you do meeting often is vital.

I have to say that I did not find other Wiccans, I learned about the practices and beliefs from a few books referred to me by an English professor I had. I remember one was Spiral Dance by Starrhawk. Maybe the rituals are not really as formal as they sounded in the books.

What I did realize was that I "worship nature", and that was the only reason I was being drawn to Wicca.

[Marrah_G]

13. One of the best ways to find people is...

Throught the UU church. They have groups called CUUPS that often have fun get togethers of like minded people. ALSO www.witchvox.com is a great way to find local groups to fit almost any style.

If you have any questions, I'm a PM away

[GliderGuider]

9. I did the same thing when I left my hard-core atheism behind

Followed the same path, discovered the same things, and ended up in the same place as you did. I guess it's not so much about where you start from, as where you want to go.

Weird, eh?

[Shadowflash]

2. Ha ha! Suckers!

P.T. Barnum was a wise man!

[mr blur]

4. "...they can't. They can't afford it".

Give money! Who says Wicca isn' t a "proper" religion?

[cbayer]

5. My daughter spent some time with wiccans and did a really interesting photojournalism piece

on them. I really didn't know much about them until she did that.

They were nothing like I had presumed.

[GliderGuider]

8. I was handfasted in a Wiccan ceremony a few years ago.

Unfortunately, the silver box containing locks of our hair that we had blessed by the priestess and buried under a tree (during the full moon of course) to ensure the permanence of our relationship was summarily rejected by the earth during the next rain a day later...

The relationship lasted much less than the "year less a day" the handfasting was supposed to cover.

So, we jumped backwards over the broom and went our separate ways....

[Marrah_G]

10. I have issues with any High Priestess who who sells her religion

If fact I would openly scorn and mock her. That is not how things are meant to be done.