School of Magick & Witchcraft
Magick and witchcraft are ancient practices that connect us with nature, create positive change, and deepen the experience of life. They are also the core of a living spiritual practice for many modern Pagans and seekers. There are as many ways to embrace magical living as there are practitioners, but all work to lead us into deeper understanding of ourselves and the world that is our home, all help us honor important passages and changes, and all affirm our role as co-creators of the cosmos.
The Ardantane School of Magick and Witchcraft supports the study and practice of magic and witchcraft through comprehensive, hands-on instruction, growing and sustaining a supportive community of learners and practitioners, and encouraging personal development, leadership, and service on all levels.
The program is organized into three broad areas: Ritual, Divination, and Magick. Although instruction is often informed by the perspectives and practices of specific magickal traditions, the emphasis is always on universal concepts and their practical application, allowing students to incorporate the content of the program into their own spiritual or religious practice, whatever that may be.
Introductory courses are offered in each area, and form the basis for further study. Advanced courses provide opportunities for greater specialization, depth, and integration. Recognizing that magick and witchcraft are arts that must be practiced to be understood and mastered, the program also offers mentoring and opportunities for ongoing learning outside the framework of class offerings.
Divination is the art of acquiring information, insight, and wisdom through intuitive, magical, or symbolic means. Program offerings cover both the use of divination tools (such as tarot and astrology), and more naturalistic methods (speaking with other beings and spirits, psychic receptivity, etc.)
Ritual refers to the use of sacred time and sacred space to honor, celebrate, and manifest change in ourselves, our communities, and our world. Instruction in this study area focuses on understanding what makes a ritual experience meaningful and effective, and developing skills in ritual design and leadership.
Magick refers to the focused use of natural energies, imagination, and symbolism, to effect positive change in oneself and one’s relationship with the world. Instruction spans the range from practical, everyday charms and spells, to spiritual workings of a more metaphysical or intangible nature. There is a strong emphasis on the ethics of magickal practice, and the role of self-knowledge and clarity of purpose in magickal work.
Students may specialize in a single area of study, or integrate work in all three areas. Participation in the offerings of other schools is encouraged, to provide a larger spiritual context for a magical practice.
Ethics (a core class taught each year by a different school at Ardantane) is required for each certificate, but need only be taken once to fulfill the requirement.
Certificate Program:
Typical classes include (these are subject to change and may not be offered every year):
Certificate Level One: Practitioner of Magick and Witchcraft
- One 100-level course from each study area (Ritual, Divination, and Magick)
- One additional weekend intensive (or two short courses) from the School of Magick and Witchcraft
- An Ethics class, from any school
Certificate Level Two: Magick and Witchcraft Specialist (Ritualist, Diviner, Magician)
Practitioner certificate, plus
- One additional 100-level intensive and one 200-level intensive, both from the same area of study
- One intensive from the School of Pagan Spirituality
- One additional weekend intensive (or two short courses) from the School of Magick and Witchcraft
- One service project. You may assist an experienced instructor with a class in the School of Magick and Witchcraft or co-lead a Sabbat ritual at Ardantane
- Acceptable skill, knowledge, spiritual balance, and integrity, demonstrated to the satisfaction of the School faculty
Certificate Level Three: Master of Magick and Witchcraft
Specialist certificate, plus
- One 200-level intensive from the School of Magick and Witchcraft
- One 300-level intensive from the School of Magick and Witchcraft
- One intensive from the School of Pagan Leadership or the School of Sacred Living
- One service project. You may act as the lead teacher of a class in the School of Magick and Witchcraft or lead a Sabbat ritual at Ardantane
- Notable contributions to Wisdom, Community, or Earth, demonstrated to the satisfaction of the School faculty
Course Descriptions
The Ways of Magick (Magick 101)
Through magic, we transform the reality we live in. Magick is found in all times and cultures, and despite differences, there are also many common patterns, concepts and practices.
This weekend workshop provides intensive hands-on instruction on the theory and practice of creating positive change by magickal means. The emphasis is on ideas and techniques that allow you to create your own spells or magickal workings, rather than relying on what others have done. Topics covered include magickal symbolism, raising and directing energy, and magic as a tool for spiritual growth. Both planning and execution of magickal work are considered in detail. The course covers astrological timing as well as the use of herbs, oils, and tools.
The Art of Divination (Divination 101)
The divinatory arts give us insight into our situations, our endeavors, and ourselves.
This weekend intensive offers a broad survey of divinatory tools and practices. Learn to use oracles such as tarot, runes, and I Ching; work with scrying methods such as crystal gazing; and develop your intuitive capacity and learn to receive wisdom from animals, plants, and places. Students who have their own favorite divination tool or method are encouraged to bring it with them and share with the class.
Beyond the “how to” aspects, the class will also touch on divination ethics, how to maintain a strong divination practice over time, and the different challenges presented by reading for oneself and for others.
Rites of Change: Making Ritual (Ritual 101)
This course provides a comprehensive groundwork in the ways, whys, and wherefores of pagan ritual. We explore the many different types of ritual: solitary personal rituals, group magical working, seasonal celebrations, and rites of passage. Specific topics include the preparation of altars and the use of symbolism, rituals for people of mixed religious orientation, the astrological timing of ritual, effective invocation of deity, how to engage the ritual participants in the process, and as well as the basics of creating sacred space and focusing energy. Participants will keep a journal throughout the weekend and design and perform their own ritual using ideas drawn from the workshop.
Basic Tarot (Divination 102)
Description coming soon.
Ritual for Solitaries (Ritual 102)
Ritual is as important for solitary practitioners as it is for those who work in groups. We use ritual to create and mark change, whether within ourselves or in our outer lives. This weekend workshop gives hands-on practice for creating private rituals for all occasions, such as dedication to a spiritual path or deity, purification and cleansing, releasing, changing home or career, or passage into elderhood. Unlike some books and websites that provide collections of recycled ritual scripts, this class provides you with the tools you need to create rituals from your own heart to serve your own purposes. The class does not presume any particular tradition of spiritual practice, emphasizing general concepts that can be adapted for use in a wide range of contexts.
Astrology for Pagans (Divination 110)
If you’re intrigued by astrology, but find the terminology and complications daunting, this class is for you. We will explore astrological concepts in a down-to-earth Pagan way: our experience of the night sky, our relationships with the planetary deities, and our awareness of the shifting energies around us. We will look at personality evaluation using birth charts, and an astrological divination practice using transits. The relevance of astrology for pagan spiritual practice is emphasized. Includes outdoor skywatching Saturday night.
Magickal Correspondences (Magick 162)
This half-day course looks at magical correspondences and how to use them. Learn the symbolic connections between colors, elements, herbs, deities, tarot cards, runes, astrological signs, and the days of the week and seasons of the year. Includes experiential exercises and printed reference materials
Meditation for Discovery (Divination 162)
Meditation has been used for relaxation, healing, and clearing away of the ego to know one’s spiritual essence. For many Pagans, it is also a tool for receiving images, messages, or insights about ourselves and our changing lives. In this half-day workshop, we will practice a range of meditation techniques, with a focus on the wisdom and understanding that meditation can bring into our awareness.
House Blessings (Ritual 162)
A home is an anchor point in life, and establishing a new home involves more than writing a check and hiring a moving van. This half-day workshop teaches you how to consecrate a new living space, for yourself or for a friend or family member. Topics covered include cleansing of negative energies, creating boundaries for safety, and welcoming new energies to fill the space and set the tone for your time in your new space, be it months or years.
The Magick of Gems and Stones (Magick 163)
Come learn about amethyst and carnelian, tiger iron, fire agate, obsidian, moonstone, dreikanter, tektites, boji stones and more. Stones, gems and crystals have been used magickally for thousands of years as talismans, amulets, protective wards, sacred jewelry, tools for divination and healing, and meditation objects. We will learn their many uses in a hands-on workshop, and participants will make and keep their own divination sets of semiprecious gemstones. Lots of handouts and experimentation.
Magick of Symbols and Sigils (Magick 164) – Online
Ever since the first paint was applied to a Paleolithic cavern wall, and the first petroglyph was scratched onto an ancient boulder, humans have sought to harness the power of magickal symbols. This four-week online class will explore the history and modern usage of symbols, with emphasis on Western cultures, but including examples from cultures worldwide as well. Included are Elemental signs, Futhark and bindrunes, unusual astrological symbols, talismanic sigils, and much more.
Lore and Magick of Wands (Magick 165)
Magick wands are serious ritual tools that few practitioners know how to use effectively. Explore the origin, varieties, and uses of this extraordinary tool (and related tools such as the staff, scepter, and stang), and practice exercises to strengthen your skills with the wand. Bring your own wand or wands if you have them, although we will have “loaner wands” available as well. Those who would like some Ardantane wood to make your own wand may choose a piece to take home.
The Arts of Alchemy Workshop (Magick 166)
The ancient art and science of alchemy is more than the precursor to modern chemistry: it is a technology of the sacred and a path to inner transformation, as practiced by wise ones, adepts, and magi. We will explore the fascinating history of this art, discover the mysterious symbols in which key precepts are encrypted, and practice exercises designed to bring us closer to the hieros gamos and the Philosopher’s Stone. Yes, we will be transmuting lead into gold: the lead of our mundane and spiritless existences can pass through the fires of the athanor and become the gold of enlightenment, the embrace of the divine within
Introduction to Qabalah (Magick 171)
The qabalah is a Jewish mystical tradition that has become central to European magical and occult practice and has influenced modern Paganism as well. This one-day workshop focuses on the Tree of Life, which can be seen as a basic blueprint for reality, relating abstraction and manifestation, spirit and matter, energy and structure. The focus is on the key concepts and their practical use in Pagan spiritual practice, rather than details of terminology or theology.
Rune Wisdom (Divination 171)
The runes are a system of writing and magick that was used in ancient and medieval times throughout much of northern Europe. More recently, runes have experienced a revival as a popular method of divination. This one-day workshop covers the history of runes (with a sober look at some of the myths and controversies surrounding them), their symbolism, and their uses for both divination and active magick. Learn how to use the runes to reveal the potent energies at work in your life, and to tap into those energies to create change and growth.
Rhythms of Sun and Moon (Ritual 171)
Pagan spiritual practice is closely tied to the cycles of nature: the seasons, the passage of night and day, and the phases of the Moon. This one-day workshop explores the seasonal celebrations known as the sabbats or the Wheel of the Year, and the esbats that mark the Full Moon, Dark Moon, and sometimes other times in the lunar cycle as well. We will explore what each of these special times means to us, and ideas for creating rituals to mark these changes in the natural world.
Tarot for the Spirit (Divination 202)
This class is intended for people who are already comfortable reading tarot for themselves or others, and would like to go deeper into the symbolism of the cards.
The class explores tarot as a spiritual/psychological system, using concepts from the Renaissance, Occult, and Modern periods of tarot interpretation. The relationship of the tarot to qabalah and astrology is explored in depth. The major arcana, court cards, and number cards are each studied in detail, as subsystems of the tarot. A range of experiential exercises make connections between the symbolic content of the cards and one’s personal, intuitive responses.
Learn to tap the potential of the tarot as a multi-purpose spiritual tool, and enrich your divination practice.
When the Moon is Full (Magick 210)
The Full Moon is a time of great potency for the practice of witchcraft and other forms of Pagan magick. Intimately connected with the Goddess and her mysteries, the Moon’s energy is primary for many modern witches. This workshop provides intensive training in making use of the Full Moon’s energy in the context of magick and ritual. We will learn how the energy of the Moon shifts with the cycle of the seasons, how to perform effective Full Moon magick alone or with a group, and how the contrasting energies of Goddess and God (Moon and Sun) can lend their power to magickal work. This workshop is intended for those who have already taken up witchcraft, Wicca, or a similar Pagan magickal practice.
Sacred Ways of Change (Magick 220)
Theurgy is a magickal practice in which we work intimately with deity. This weekend intensive looks at different models of the relationship between gods and humans, and how the relationship changes as we grow in spirit.
The course covers various techniques for communing with deity: prayer, meditation, devotional works, invocation, and aspecting. We will be looking at personal growth and transformation as a kind of “hero’s journey” mediated by deity, and reflecting on the rewards and challenges of each stage in the journey. Students are encouraged to come prepared to work with a particular deity (already familiar to them) for the weekend.
Spellcrafting
For many, casting magickal spells is an essential cornerstone of pagan spiritual practice. This weekend intensive offers a survey of spellcasting in theory and practice in the Western tradition, with an emphasis of pagan magick. The course includes discussion on how and why spells works, the basic steps of preparing and executing a spell, and the use of magickal correspondences. Forms of magick covered include candle spells, herbal magick, cord magick, and spells for prosperity, health, protection, and banishing. Both the spiritual and pragmatic uses of magick spells are discussed. Other topics covered including spell writing, magickal tools, and astrological timing.
Science, Metaphysics, and Magick
See the listing in the School of Pagan Spirituality Course Descriptions.
Living as Druid
See the listing in the School of Pagan Spirituality Course Descriptions.
The Bard Within
See the listing in the School of Pagan Spirituality Course Descriptions.