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) |
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Wiccan Studies
Monday, January 17, 2011
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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Wednesday, January 12, 2011
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
Friday, January 7, 2011
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
Monday, January 3, 2011
Wiccan Studies
Master of Wiccan Studies
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
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Wiccan
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Wiccan Studies
By Rev. Theresa Commean
It was with a great deal of trepidation that I entered into the studies of Wicca. I graduated from a Baptist college with a degree in Youth Pastoring and have worked in various churches for the past twenty years. When I met my husband, he was a pagan. I had quite a few pre-conceived notions about paganism and the practice of Wicca. I was taught all through my years in churches that messing around with any kind of “magic” or “divination” was an evil practice. I attended my first Florida Pagan Gathering with my Uncle who is a Guardian in the pagan group and my husband who is a lugall within the community. I truly believed that I was entering into an evil place and was scared to death. I found only accepting warm, kind and truly wonderful people. They accepted me for who I was and did not treat me with any kind of disrespect and through the years, I had always wanted to understand more and one of the lady priestesses told me about your seminary.
My greatest regret in life was two-fold. I always wanted to be ordained and could not because the Baptist church and later the Lutheran church would only “commission” and not ordain women. When I received my card from you declaring me a reverend, I cried! Secondly, I am really sorry that I did not take this course sooner!!! I learned so much about the concepts of Wicca and I now have a new found respect for the belief. I do not know if I will ever do any of the rituals I have learned personally, but the journaling exercise was a huge benefit to me. Also the concept of “Harm None” has become my new mantra. I try to think before I open my mouth to say something ugly or mean against another person, because I don’t want it visited back upon me. I always will now light a candle and not feel weird when I say my prayers. I also participate in rituals with my husband and have a true understanding of the altar, the alchemy, the tools and all the parts of the ritual including calling the quarters. All of this came through my taking this course.
Rev. Theresa
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Ordination with 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 Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.
Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar
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