I have to say that when I read that Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone were opening an online Wiccan school, I was a little skeptical. I am wary of online Witch schools to begin with, but I am also still working on Jet’s course (however slowly and inconsistently), so I know that they can’t all be bad. I also know that there is a limit to how much you can teach over the internet.
I imagine that is why most places stick to the basics. No matter how good your school is, it’s going to be very hard to cultivate a true coven environment with people you’ve never met before. That said, people do connect over the internet all the time (or there would be no such thing as online dating services), so any thing is possible, really.
The pricing for the Wicca course is really rather reasonable, and I am tempted to try it out. $20/month is not a lot to find out if it is something to be recommended to folks. I do want to contact them and ask a few question before I part with roughly $265 (for a full year and a day). Mostly, I am interesting who their teachers are. Specifically, are their herbal teachers accredited and will paying an extra $250 for the herbalism course get me a certification that I can use in real life.
It would be perfect if it were a certifiable herbology course with a slant of herbal magic thrown in. I wonder because there is an herbal college not too far from where I live, and their courses are comparable in price, but at the end you are a certified herbalist, and can use your certification to get a job in that field.
I am also curious to know if the founders actually teach any of the courses, or if they just lend their name to the tradition that actually runs the show. I will probably shoot them an email this weekend with all of my questions packed in.
On the bright side, while I am not really sure about the college itself, the shop attached is just chocked full of all kinds of goodies!
I’ll keep you posted.
–Phae
