Wiccan Studies

Thank you for the opportunity to take the Master of Wiccan Studies course. I thoroughly enjoyed every part of it. I am an initiated 3 degree High Priestess in the Gardnerian/Alexandrian Tradition of Wicca. I am currently a High Priestess and Elder in an eclectic coven, and have been for almost 9 years. 

Before that, I received my training in another coven which was Alexandrian. I have been fortunate enough to receive training from some very wonderful, knowledgeable witches who from the beginning led me down the right path and helped me in this long spiritual journey. It has been very fulfilling, but I know that there is always more to learn. It is a never ending journey and therefore I am always searching for new sources of information. That is why I decided to join the ULC Seminary and to take this course. I thought it would be a good chance to learn more about my religion and to learn more about other religions too. I really loved the course and Lord Starwalker. He is a very good instructor. He is very knowledgeable and gifted as a teacher and witch. I am glad I took the course because I got alot out of it. It helped me review some things from past training and to fine tune things that I hadn't thought about in a while.

Being a witch is about being in balance with nature and with the universe. We work with the cycles of nature and there we find balance. Our world is in balance when we are not fighting, controlling or manipulating the natural cycle of things. As witches, we flow with nature, not against it. This is how we live. Wicca for me is where I find happiness, love, peace and fulfillment in many areas of my life.

I am also going to recommend that the other 3 Elders in my coven also take Lord Starwalker's course. I think it is good to keep searching for knowledge and to be on your toes as an Elder in the Craft. Our coven is based here in Massachusetts and we do a lot of rituals right here in Salem, MA. As you can imagine, Wicca is very popular in this part of the country, so we get approached alot to train new witches. This is why I like to keep learning myself. I would like to sign up for another course in a couple of weeks because I enjoyed this one so much.

Thank you.

Linda Weibrecht

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

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.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wiccan Studies

Good afternoon Amy,

To conclude the Master of Wiccan studies program, Lord Starwalker has asked that I write a page or so on what I have learned during this course, how it has affected my life and then send the assignment to you. To this end, I submit the following:

This course is presented in a very logical fashion and delivered in a format that makes it very easy to follow. It is an enjoyable learning experience. By sending the course in a weekly e-mail, it reminds you that you have a lesson to review so that you don't fall behind. The lessons don't take too much time to go through so, personally, I would go through them during my lunch break. That way, I could meditate on the lessons taught during my ride home in the evening.

Wicca, as a religion, as so many have said in recent times, is very misunderstood. This is mainly due to the entertainment industry. Although it's very entertaining to watch Satan and his demons get beat-up by

Catholic Priests, Vampire Slayers, and other assorted "heroes", we should always remember that these are based on a fundamental Christian belief in the Devil and Hell and have no connection to the Wiccan religion

whatsoever.

What I enjoyed most about this course is the way Lord Starwalker writes the lessons and presents the material. He is a great educator and comes across as a very friendly individual. I can only hope that he gets involved in presenting other courses that the ULC Seminary will be offering in the future.

What this course has done for me is to make me think about things in a more spiritual way. I had been so caught-up in work that I had let my spiritual life shut down. My life had become mechanical. We must keep a place in our lives for spirituality if we are going to feel fulfilled. For me, the best part of the Wiccan religion is that you can practice it in solitary at your leisure, and still feel a real connection to the universe and all the beings who dwell in it.

I highly recommend this course to all modern Christians and people of

all religios beliefs. It's a wonderful learning experience and opens

your eyes to an other belief system. Lord Starwalker and Amy Long are two

of the nicest people to deal with.

Amy I hope the above is satisfactory. I could have elaborated more but, I'm a very private person so there are some things I feel are too personal to share on a web site at this time.

Best regards

Robert Pelot

*******************************

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 hand-fasting 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.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wiccan

Wiccan Studies

This essay will be a three part essay. The first part will be about things that I have learned from the course. The second part will be about things I already knew. The third part will be about things I had hoped to learn but didn’t.

In the very first lesson, in the history of Wicca, I learned all about the significance of planting the crops to the point that men would take small portions of their blood to put in with each seed. If that is something I already knew, it has been buried deep within the archives of my brain, but I think it was a new insight for me.

I also learned a little more about Gardnerian Wicca versus Seax Wicca; particularly that Raymond Buckland had been in Gardner’s original coven and had branched out on his own, forming the Seax Wicca Trad.

Also, after learning about some of the practices of Gardnerian Wicca, such as the secrecy, Seax Wicca suddenly started making more sense to me. I’d already known a little about other Trads; Dianic Wicca, for example. Now, the more I know, the more closely I relate to Seax Wicca, rather than any other Trad.

I also learned about dowsing. I was unable to make any distinguishable differences in the definition of dowsing versus the definition of scrying. What the course instructor referred to as dowsing, some of those methods used, I had thought were scrying. I’m still confused as to whether there is a difference, or if it is one of those things in which it depends upon where you are coming from that determines how you name it. For example, one person in one part of the country may pronounce tomato completely different than a person in another part of the country. Could, in fact, some of Lord Starwalker’s dowsing techniques also be considered scrying?

As for things I already knew, I’ve cast many circles and many spells. I’ve actually gotten quite adept at the art of spell writing. I already understood the concept of not leaving your circle until you are done, or if you have to, you must cut a doorway.

I had also already become quite familiar with how to set up an altar and how to position things the way I liked them. I had to agree to disagree with the instructor’s ideas of how an altar should be set up. I follow the very traditional set-up of East = Air, South = Fire, West = Water, and North = Earth, with Akasha, the Spirit, and fifth element, somewhere in the middle, towards the north. My circles have followed this East to South to West to North to the altar many a time. In this, I am set in my ways.

Another thing about me is that I do not use, or even own, a wand. I use my athame for all circle and spell-casting purposes. I feel more as one with steel. I know that is somewhat of a controversy amongst witches and Wiccans. Many swear by their wooden wands. But I’d like to remind that steel also comes from within the Earth too. I don’t think it’s so much the tool that you use as the intent behind the spell and the Spirit that one is in when casting the spell.

One major thing that I did not learn that I had hoped to is how to perform handfastings and Wiccanings. I was directed, by a fellow minister, to a good website containing information on handfastings. I also found several websites with suggestions on Wiccaning ceremonies.

Perhaps not having all the answers was good in this course. It made a person think; to search out one’s own answers. If I didn’t know something, because the lesson wasn’t specific enough, it would lead me to do research on my own to get the answers.

Overall, I would rate this course positively but would caution that, if you’re taking it just to learn how to perform a handfasting, you should visit www.handfasting.info. The course was very well worth it and I will miss receiving the weekly emails. It is time to choose another course and move forward.

Special thanks to all who helped me along the way.

Brightest Blessings!

Rev. Jayne Morrison

*******************************

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.

Wiccan

Having been a practicing pagan, and at one point a devout wiccan, for several years I decided to take this course for three reasons, none of which were to actually learn anything new. I took it to see what kind of courses and what quality of courses ULC Seminary offered, to reaffirm the ideals and beliefs that I had already had and ultimately as a step towards completing the ULC Seminary Program. Having taken the course I can honestly say I learned some new things that I had not originally thought I would.

After practicing for almost ten years and doing a fair amount of research on my own I thought I knew a fair amount. However, I discovered through the course that there are different ideologies within Wiccan than those that I personally was taught and followed. In fact some of those ideologies and practices are quite different from my training and practices. I attribute part of this to my specific group following a Celtic Wiccan path and part of it to the differences between Gardnerian, traditionalists and modern eclectic Wiccans see and do things. A good example of this is the different grounding rituals. This course taught a grounding and banishing ritual based on Jewish tradition and my personal grounding and banishing ritual is based on the tree of life.

The course also brought about some new thinking and contemplation on my part. Lessons 6 and 7 on Dowsing and Lessons 8, 23 and 24 on Magic, for example gave me new ideas on spell craft and implementation. Some of the things mentioned are things I already did while others were things I had never even thought off. The magic lesson covering morality was nice to read as I know a lot of my fellow pagans do not have a strong moral compass with regard to magic use and will now have guidance on proper use and disuse.

In short, while I went into this course feeling that I wouldn’t truly learn anything and that is was just a simple step on the way toward my goal; I discovered a wealth of knowledge and view points I hadn’t seen before, which caused me to open my mind a little further and refreshed my thirst for knowledge.

by Justin M. Oles

*******************************

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.

Wiccan Studies

Dear Lord Starwalker, Dear Amy,

I started the ULC Dr. of Wiccan Studies Program in the beginning of January this year and received the final lesson a few days ago. Despite a little glitch of no consequence in the e-mail system, the course was very well delivered and very enlightening.

It is clear that Lord Starwalker is well-learned on the subject of Wicca and Paganism, and he is very good at sharing this information. I appreciated his down-to-earth writing style, which could describe wide range of fairly difficult concepts in a straightforward way. He went directly to the point, making risks and potential pitfalls clear.

I liked the way the course was structured, moving from the history to the philosophy, to the mythology and theology, then to rituals only at lesson 15, and to spells only in the end. I find that a lot of books on Wicca tend to pass very quickly on the more spiritual aspects of the religion and dedicate most of their teaching to rituals. This in my opinion leads people to focus too much on the magic and not enough on spirituality, philosophy and theology. Not so in this course!

I have read quite a number of books on Wicca and Paganism, and this course was at the same time covering a number of topics I had already read on and meditated about, but it also very often put them in a new light. I liked the advices on rituals in lesson 16 and 17. You don?t read very often about them, and they are important things to think about when performing rituals. I also found lesson 21 on ethics very important.

The lesson on herbalism and herbology were interesting, but I think that I would need much more reading before I delve into more than only the most risk-free basics. Lord Starwalker did well to include a warning at the beginning of the lesson.

The lessons on the holidays and the sabbats and esbats were very good. They put them into perspective from a historical and practical point of view, and I learned quite a lot there. It is true that the content of the Wiccan holidays can and does change from tradition to tradition and that their description is often different, but I think it is important to know the origins and reasons of celebration to be able to really know what we are doing at that time.

I have not been able to practice the lessons as much as I would have liked, but I have filed them all for further reference and I am sure I will go back to them regularly.

I thank you very much for your time and efforts. Again, this was a great experience.

May the Goddess bless you and everyone at ULC.

Baudouin Heuninckx

*******************************

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 hand-fasting 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.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wiccan Studies

The Introduction to Wicca is a very interesting and well-written course. I took it because I had no prior background or knowledge in Wicca. From the very first lesson it was engaging and very thorough. It was very informative and insightful and the author used humor throughout to get his points across.

All of the tools used in Wicca were discussed in detail, the reasons why they are used, and how to set up your altar properly. Lord Starwalker gave a lot of background information which I found very helpful. It not only helped me understand the position of items on the altar, but helped me be much more creative with it because I had the sense I knew what I was doing!

Information was presented on all of the Wiccan holidays, what they are, the gods and goddesses involved, the history and symbolism, the wheel of the year, and the Sabbats and Esbats. There certainly are a lot of them to keep track of! It must be fun to have these celebrations all year long. It is interesting how many parallels there are between Wiccan and Christian holidays.

Another facet of Wicca is the use of energy. We hear so much today about energy medicine for healing. Energy is something that Wiccans have always known about and used for healing and for spells. Energy healing has been around for at least hundreds if not thousands of years.

Lord Starwalker is an excellent teacher and had a great sense of humor. I enjoyed and looked forward to each lesson. I am so glad I took this course because it gave me such a great perspective on this tradition. I wanted to know more about Wicca after taking this course and have bought a couple of interesting books to further my reading and knowledge.

Rev. Patricia Buben

*******************************

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.

Wiccan Basic Training

The Wiccan Basic Training Course did not hold my interest as much as the other courses I have taken though the ULC Seminary. I truly had misgivings when I found most of the course online at another website and for free. By time my concerns were passed onto the Seminary, Lord Skywalker had passed into the Summerland. Perhaps communication with him would have removed the barrier I had erected regarding the validity of this course.

That being said, Lord Skywalker touched on many subjects and showed the variety, scope and depth of Wicca.

This is obviously a subject which cannot be learned through reading but must be lived. The course was written from personal experience and holistic viewpoint, unlike some agenda driven books I’ve read on Wicca and practitioners encountered. Any magik works and ceremonies were pleasant, gentle and always reminding of the nature of magik and its power, his web links fun and informative.

I particularly liked the lessons on pendulum use and dowsing. These were non invasive uses of energy and fun to play with. As with all Wicca, practice, total concentration and dedication made worlds of difference in the outcome. I found the most successful attempts at these occurred when I didn’t have any stimulant in my system i.e. coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar. Windy days seemed to interfere with dowsing as I couldn’t keep a steady energy going and consecrating the dowsing tool with the element searched for seemed to make a positive difference in the outcome.

The Banishing Lesson #24, confused me, why were Wiccans using the Hebrew Kabbala and invoking the Hebrew God Yahweh and archangels Rapheal, Gabriel, Auriel and Micheal? And then end with an Irish blessing? All the components, deities and rituals are familiar to me; I’ve not encountered them in this combination. This lesson just didn’t have the feel of the other lessons, although it does demonstrate the variety and freedom Wicca allows.

I would recommend this as an introduction to Wicca; it appears some on the Forum has taken to filling some of the blanks left by Lord Starwalker’s passing, thank you.

A personal note, Wicca is an earth religion; therefore the practice of it is subject to one’s surroundings. The ceremonies, herbs, simple feasts, garments or lack of, tools etc…in my opinion, should reflect and be a part of the natural surroundings. The ethics, soul and spirit of Wicca is universal, the practice is regional.

May the Energy Which Animates Your Heart bring your Hearts desire, and the Lord and Lady bring their Blessings.

Rev. Linda Spicer

*******************************

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.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar