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It May Not Be Hogwarts…
... but a growing number of seminaries offer real-life education to witches and other pagans.
While there's no equivalent to Harry Potter's make-believe school, seminaries offering a serious education in witchcraft and paganism are starting to crop up around the U.S. It's a small trend so far, but growing: as paganism expands, so does its need for trained religious leadership. Some seminaries offer full-time programs or even ordination, while others are much more informal. Nearly all operate completely or mostly via the internet--which many people consider magical in its own way. Our chart compares Harry's magical (and fictional) education to real-life pagan schools:
|
Harry Potter's School |
Real-Life Schools |
|
| Name(s): | Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry |
Cherry Hill Seminary Ardantane The Covenant of WISE (Wisdom, Integrity, & Spiritual Enlightenment) The College of the Sacred Mists School of Magick |
| Admissions: | In late childhood, your innate magical powers start to manifest themselves. You receive a letter on parchment via Owl Post welcoming you to the school | Fill out a form, online or on paper; submit with appropriate payment |
| Who Attends: | Children ages 10-17 | Adults. Some prefer that students have a BA degree or that they have a background in studying Wicca or other forms of paganism |
| Location: | Somewhere in the United Kingdom, on a hill by a lake inhabited by a giant squid | On the internet, mostly. Some have campuses in locales such as Jemez Springs, New Mexico (Ardantane), Bethel, Vt. (Cherry Hill Seminary), or Conyers, Ga. (Covenant of WISE) |
| Expenses & Fees: | Though tuition isn't mentioned, students must pay for robes, books, and supplies (like cauldrons) |
$25 enrollment fee; $20 monthly tuition (College of the Sacred Mists) $50/unit hour; $15 application fee ; $50 graduation fee (Cherry Hill Seminary) $18 enrollment fee; $9/month (School of Magick) |
| Sample of courses offered: | Charms, Transformation, Potions, Defense against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Divination, Arithmancy, and more | Pagan Pastoral Counseling, Cultural Appropriation (Cherry Hill Seminary); Leading the Shamanic Journey, Basic Ritualcraft (Ardantane); Discovering the Wheel, Attuning to the Wheel (Covenant of WISE) |
| Schools' Patrons: | Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and the nefarious Salazar Slytherin | Hypatia of Alexandria (Cherry Hill Seminary's guardian ancestor) |
| Exams: |
OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) NEWTs (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) |
Midterms, finals |
| Graduates' Careers or Roles: | Auror (tracker of Dark Wizards, a cross between a private detective and a psychic); Healer (magical doctor); teacher; Ministry of Magic bureaucrat; Quidditch all-star | Pagan Priest or Priestess; teacher; chaplain; pastoral counselor; lay-leader of a coven or community |
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