Wiccan Studies

 Wiccan

Final Essay

Mary McGar

This course was very interesting to me and helped me tremendously in my new volunteer position of co-moderator of a Unitarian Universalist Pagan group.  Without this course I would have been unable to assume this position.  When I started this course, while I was not new to Pagan philosophy, I was new to Pagan thealogy, mythology and practice.  I did not know anything about ritual tools, altar set up, Elementals, rituals, etc.  All of these topics were broken down and thoroughly explained so this course has served as a guiding light for me.  I liked the suggestion to look around at what you have that can be used as a ritual tool before running out and buying some.  I, also, liked the suggestion to look for tools in estate sales and garage sales.  I would have never thought to look in those places.

Learning some mythology was necessary to me at that point and I think the course covered the topic well.  Not only is the mythology important it is crucial in the preparation of a ritual.  I appreciated the information regarding consecrating the ritual tools because I had not learned that yet in my group.

The most fun lesson, to me, was the dousing lesson.  I did go out and buy a pendulum and have had lots of fun with it.  I was able to get the pendulum to work for me and give me answers that later proved accurate. 

Diving the holidays into two lessons was beneficial as there was far too much information in each lesson to absorb in one.  I found it helpful to learn about each ritual in brief and then being provided with a search engine, Northern Lights, for more detailed information was thee easiest way to grasp the big picture of the Wheel of the Year. 

The lesson that covered some of the attributes of the Deities in Celtic mythology was a great starting place for trying to learn a few of the many Deities involved in Pagan celebrations.

I recently prepared and led an Imbolc ritual for my group and, today, gave a talk in church regarding how the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans fits well into UU's perspective, Paganism in general, ritual tools, altar setup, Elementals, Deities, different paths and beliefs of Paganism, the mythology of Imbolc and a brief description of the ritual itself.  This course served as a basic guide for me in the preparation of both the ritual and the talk, so naturally, I feel I gained much from this course and enjoyed it.  The course stimulated me to learn more about each topic covered in the lessons.

I knew very little about the use of herbs and learned much from this section.  I purchased some eye bright and intend to use it as a healing spell on myself soon.  Of course, the lessons covering spells were fascinating but also very useful due to the detailed explanation of the instructions.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Irish sayings contained in many of the lessons.  The only suggestion I would offer is that it would have been nice, since this will serve as a main reference for me, to have an Index of the Lessons so I could more quickly find the topic I need.  Thank you for writing and presenting the course. 

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