Wiccan Studies

Wicca Essay

The Wiccan class is one that I have truly enjoyed. While I am not a practicing Wiccan, I find that I do practice Wicca in many ways.

I have enjoyed all the classes, they were very interesting, an easy read that held my interest.

The introduction to herbs class as inspired me to learn more about herbs. I drink the herbal teas, I have rushed to the health food store to purchase herbs as a remedy for a cold, but never really gave much thought to it. I never considered the lavender plant to be an herb, it’s one of my favorite scents of aromatherapy. My rosemary bush by the front porch has taken on a new life, so to speak. I recently purchased a beautiful mortar and pestle, I am ready to take on the herbs.

I enjoyed the classes on alters and have added additional alters around my home.

Rituals, spells, the basics are here. My rituals are limited to moon ceremonies, perhaps someday I will expand, it’s nice to have all the basics here at hand.

Since starting this course, I have added some new books to my library, spells and herbs, dousing, rituals and ceremonies.

Wicca, a religion or a way of everyday life…I believe we are all wiccans at heart, this class helps you realize that.

Thank you Amy and Lord Starwalker. I have enjoyed the journey.

Nancy L. Kuhn

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Happiness is when what you think,

what you say,

and what you do are in harmony.

~Mahatma Gandhi

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Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving,

the most beautiful of the arts,

because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life;

it is life itself.

~ Havelock Ellis

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Wiccan Studies

"Wiccan – No Broom or Pointing Hat Needed!"

A Final Essay for the Master of Wiccan Studies Course

By Daniel L. Moore

            This completes my personal journey in exploring the "earth religions" (Druidism, Shamanism, Paganism were the others).  My goal was simply to understand and get through the popular notions to what is really practiced.  Flying on brooms sticks, bubbling cauldrons, and pointing hats may be entertaining through the lens of Hollywood.  The truth is that modern Wiccan is form of an ancient religion. 

            I liked the approach of this instruction.  The lesson on consequences was important.  Responsibility plays a big part in the practices of the followers of Wiccan.  The spiritual forces are powerful.  As a pilot of a jet fighter must be responsible in control of the jet and its systems, so to must the Wiccan be in all he or she does.

            The tools and symbolism lessons were valuable to me.  it is I who would give meaning to the tool.  Again, I see a lot of sense in this approach.  The stone, the salt, the fire, the wand…will have representation of what I see to use it for.  They are tools to be used to help me concentrate, focus, divine energy.  It is like a four foot stick I find in the woods.  I can clean it up and use it as a cane or walking staff.  The stick by itself has no power.  I bring my imagination to it and then … the possibilities are many.

            Over and over again, the instruction teaches that behind the altar, tools, and rituals it the "personal touch."  This is something we all do to a degree.  I buy a truck but I will "personalize it" by putting in a new pickup bed lining, a tool box, and custom tires. 

            I also note that use of the objects help in another way…it is one of familiarity.  There is power in this.  I can relate.  I go fishing and though I have several rods and reels…I have my high confidence ones.  They are the ones I reach for first.  In my tackle box I have lures that also are tried and proven.  I can't explain it, but there is energy in those I have high confidence in and it would be the same in the objects used in the rituals, ceremonies, and spells.

            Another strong point of this course for me was the interaction – homework – in some assignments.  I had to define the names of the holidays, I would write a ceremony, I was encouraged to practice a couple of rituals.  This is plus.  It is one thing to read about a subject but it is another to be actively involved.  I can read about preaching a sermon but it is quite another to do all that is involved from research, writing, practice, and finally delivering the sermon.  It stretches one!

            I was really challenged with the exercise of lessons 14 and 15 dealing with mythology.  At first I was stumped to find a "modern myth" but remembered some of my favorite characters as a child – Tarzan!  As I look back on that lesson, one can also find modern myths in the stories of various movies and television shows today.

            Finally, I liked the instructor's ability to question.  In lesson 17, he asks concerning Catholic rituals, "Where do they get all their rituals?"  When we accept blindly without asking a ritual or tradition, that action fails.  Why?  I believe that in the beginning a ritual or traditional practice was designed to be a teachable moment.  What has happened is that the story or event behind the ritual is forgotten. 

            For any student seeking to understand the early religions in a modern context, this is a good one.  It also helps to round out the courses on Druidism, Paganism, and Shamanism in a complementary way.  Well done! 

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Wiccan Studies

Wiccan Studies Essay
I have to say I was a bit hesitant to sign up for this course, but something told me to do so because of the hesitancy and fear of the unknown with in the public for this religion. My mother is third generation to the states from Ireland, where as she and her mother before her and before her were practitioners of the old ways. I can remember going to my great grandmothers kitchen and not understanding why the herbs were hanging or the table in the corner was set a certain way with "pretties" on it and i was not allowed to touch. i remember one time that we went there the "old women" were chanting around that table, and when I wondered in they accepted me in the circle with open arms, i remember my grandmother saying "she's ready, she's curious" and that my friend was the beginning of trying to teach others that being a witch was not taboo.....anyway this course, even though I am a practitioner of the old ways, has rekindled some thing that I have forgot in general, I will take these things and use them in my practice of teaching to where i hope that others can become more comfortable with us that do not necessarily believe in what they believe in.

I thank you for the opportunity to take this class...the teacher was awesome and very knowledgeable.

thanks

Rene

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wiccan Studies

[http://www.ulcseminary.org/wicca.php] Greetings,   Lord Starwalker/Robert OCallahan has requested a 500 word letter on what I thought about the Master of Wiccan Studies course. The course was ok. Since I have been a wiccan for 20 yrs and have trained people in the craft myself and have held the position of high priestess I enjoy getting other peoples ideas and view points concerning the craft. I do believe he could have done the order of the lessons a little differently. I would have started out with the following: 1. what wicca is and what it is not. 2. some history as to how wicca came about 3. picking a craft name 4. the altar tools 5. who the different GODS and GODDESSES are   a) the different traditions of Wicca 6. how to cast a circle 7. the holidays-major/minor 8. self dedication ritual   I would have saved the good stuff like dowsing, pendulum use, herbology and magik to be taught more towards the end of the course. A person can only teach what they know and believe. I think that the subjects he chose to teach were fine and very basic as the course states. I do believe he could have gotten a little more in depth with some of the subjects especially the good stuff. Since I have not taken the Paganism course, it may be that Robert does get more in depth with various subjects. After all, wicca is only one small part of Paganism as a whole.       Asking me to write a wiccaning ritual was very interesting. I don't know if everyone was suppose to do that or just me. The Banishing ritual is used by some of the covens who do rituals at the pagan/wiccan church I am a member of in St.Petersburg, FL. We have over 300 members and have a different coven  perform the sabbat rituals according to which ones they are. We have a very diverse group of people. We even have druids do rituals on occasion. It's really great!    Other than possibly changing the order of the subjects, I think that Robert should continue to teach his course as he is. He has obviously been a member of the craft for sometime as well as a coven member. I thank him for taking time out of his personal life to dedicate his belief in the God and Goddess to others out there in the seminary who are interested in learning what wicca is. Keep up the good work and may the Lord and Lady bless you always.                                              Rev. Beverly L Racey                                            (aka- Kybelegreywolf)

Wiccan Course

Mystical, Magikal Wicca

Rev. Lucinda Parker

This is by far the most difficult class I have taken at the seminary. Lord Starwalker presents an incredible amount of information about Wicca. I admit I didn't know much going in, but I know a whole lot coming out!!!

An overpowering and insurmountable block for me in this class is that Lord Starwalker passed on right after I started this class. I knew that. I knew that the class would be presented exactly as he wrote it. Unfortunately, every time there was a link to his website or forum groups which are now down, I lost my ability to concentrate on his words and lessons. There were times I really would have liked to email him or participate in a forum.

His writing and teaching style are extremely personable. You really want to talk to the man. It is my shortcoming in that I could not get past this. I did learn a lot about Wicca though. I didn't know enough to fill a thimble, and now I'm ready to try his banishing ritual from the last lesson!

He presents different practices of Wicca, which I found quite interesting. I have read some of Isaac Bonewits works and Scott Cunningham, so taking these lessons were excellent as they provided yet another view of present day Wicca practices.

Perhaps for many, knowing that Lord Starwalker has passed on and the web links and forums are gone won't be a stumbling block. They may not have been for me if he hadn't passed the week I got my first lesson. I'm glad I took the class. I have saved every e mail and will go back through the class at a later time to reread and hopefully more fully concentrate on all the information he so gladly shared with us in this class.

Rev. Lucinda Parker

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

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Wiccan Studies

Dr. of Wiccan Studies Program

Rev. Laury Burris

 

What I learned:

First let me thank the ULC for offering this class to further my education. I thank you for all the work you do. Next let me thank Lord Starwalker for putting together these lessons and presenting them to us, allowing us to grow. I thank you.

I have been writing rituals for some time now; they can be a hefty task by itself. To take into consideration what the ritual is for, what the person is requesting and all the correspondences that go into putting a ritual together. Now after finally mastering all of this along comes these lessons and a ritual for a Hand fasting or a Childs Blessing. It was not the writing of the ritual that sat me down to thinking, it was the idea of doing a Hand fasting or a child’s blessing. This was a part of my faith that I had not really thought of yet. Along with this is the idea of using the whole house or backyard as a sacred space. These two things together seemed to sit me down and wonder. First I live in a small town on the down east coast of Maine; there are not many Wiccans here, though we seem to be growing in numbers. But this was the reason I became ordained, was it not? To help the people in my community who followed the same path as I did, so why had I not thought of this before? Now don’t get me wrong it’s not the thought of doing a hand fasting or a child’s blessing, to me there would be no greater joy than to bless a new baby or join a couple together in the eyes of the Goddess. If anything the idea of this intrigued me, why? I know that if asked to do one there would be of course people attending not of the Wiccan faith; this is what made me come to a full stop. So now I wondered at myself could I undertake such a task? Could I present a Wiccan ritual to others and yet make them feel comfortable? 

So I suppose I was asking myself was I ready? Me? I wondered could I? With much thought given to this I came to a cross road, was I more scared of me being ready or was I more scared of what other people would think? Well I know both in my mind and in my heart that I am ready, so it left me wondering about the other. Then I came to another conclusion. If the parents of a child or a couple who wanted to wed had enough faith in me to come to me and ask me to perform this for them, then I had enough faith in myself to present a Wiccan ritual the best I could to all who attended. This then brought me to the final conclusion that being ordained in which ever faith you believe in meant not only taking care of the everyday needs of the people of your community, but also the major events of people’s lives. We as ordained ministers are responsible for the people of our community from their beginning to the end. So now one could say that have I not only learned that writing these rituals are important, but performing them is also an important part of our community. 

Thank you for helping me to see the full encompass of my position and thank you for teaching me to have more faith in myself. I am now a stronger person for this. May I now go forth into my community with a better understanding of me and now being able to better serve the people of my community?

Gratefully,

Ms. Laury Burris

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, one on  Wicca, several on various forms of  Paganism, more than a few courses on  Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wiccan Studies

Universal Life Church Seminary

RE: Final Essay for Class Course

Wiccan Basic Training by Tracey Loper

Dearest Friends,

Thank you for offering a very informative basic Wicca training course. I learned about the many rituals of the Wicca practices such as celebratory, initiatory, meditation and spell rituals as well as the breakdown or format for performing rituals. I learned about inviting and evoking my Guardians, or Guides, and Angels, as I believe to be present in my time of meditation.

As a result, I set up my own altar for meditations based on the information given in the course. I have made many changes to my altar as my awareness and consciousness has risen. I was able to discern what each tool represented to me on my altar based on the definitions and interpretations the teacher presented.

The section of the Course on the Wiccan Goddesses and figures was fascinating and informative. The information brought me many revelations and I was able to picture many visions as I meditated on these powerful figures.

The Lessons included a discussion about the different aspects of the Wiccan practices and beliefs. Until this course, I was not aware that those who practice Wiccan beliefs and traditions celebrated certain Wiccan holidays as well as having traditions and customs associated with these.

One of my interest in mind when I signed up for this particular course was to learn more about dowsing as I really did not understand the practice, how it worked and got somewhat overwhelmed with the charts and graphs and their meanings. I learned so much about charting and graphing and this was invaluable to me. I even created a very useful chart of my own that I have used in my Spiritual practice and path.

Thank you for offering this elective course. I found it to be beautifully prepared, extremely informative. Lord Starwalker presented the information in such a way that some of the very complex teachings were presented in an easy to understand format. This is especially helpful to a novice such as me. As well, the information was inspiring and beautifully written. I sensed and felt the Divine inspiration from whence the information came as I read the materials.

I appreciate the basics that I learned, as it is helpful in dealing with the varied and diverse spiritual beliefs among my clients and friends. The understanding will help me in my service to All humanity.

Sincerely,

Rev. Tracey Loper

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, one on  Wicca, several on various forms of  Paganism, more than a few courses on  Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wiccan Studies

Master of Wiccan Studies

Universal Life Church

I would like to express my sincere thanks for our instructor and the material presented throughout the course. I found it to be a great benefit to me, not only in bringing to light the purpose and practical function of ritual, items used, the deities and workings of elementals.

I very much enjoyed the weekly challenges of stretching myself with the exercises given and finding that all helped to make sense of what I have intuitively done for most of my life.

I feel that this course helps put me in touch with deeper meanings to the "why's and wherefores" of the physical and spiritual that is all around us in our daily lives. It has helped to bring, with more confidence, my desire for a broader approach to my ministry and helps to reaffirm my trust in "flying by the seat of my pants", as it where, when called upon to perform a pastoral service, be it a wedding, or baby naming. I am more comfortable now with bringing in many elements to whatever I am called on to do. And with the knowledge imparted by the course, I have more to draw from than ever before, and with a clearer understanding of why I would feel drawn to include certain stone, herbs, etc.

My thanks again to Lord Starwalker for his wealth of knowledge and his time spent in preparing and sharing this material with us. I will refer to it often, and practice much of it daily.

Bright Blessings,

Betty Taylor

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The Universal Life Church, is free place to become ordained,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button to get started today.

The ULC Seminary was created to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. The  Universal Life Church has grown over the years and its Seminary has added the continual growth of the church.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar