Syllabus and Class Schedule for 1999 Outer Grove

WTC 21-100-0, revised 1999 January 17

First Quarter

January 28th: Week Zero:: [Athena, Habondia, Aradia] Staff meeting and planning session for Year One of the Outer Grove, 7:30 PM at the customary place.
February 1st:: [Coventina] Sortilege Night, as explained in the Grove's prospectus.
February 4th: Week 1:: [Brigid] Introduction to the Outer Grove. Opening ceremonies. Preliminary principles of the Witch's Craft; the Wiccan Rede. Why do we have the Laws of the Outer Grove, and why did we ask you to copy them on Sortilege Night? What are the working tools of the Outer Grove students? Why do we pay dues, and to what purpose are they spent? (dues)
February 11th: Week 2:: [Coventina] Blessings and consecrations and the keeping of the tools. How to create a Pagan Circle for work and worship. Greek and Hebrew roots of English Paganism.
February 18th: Week 3:: [Rhiannon] Magical Power and its uses; the role of the Gods and the Archetypes. Pagan rituals for daily use. Dream meditations. `
February 25th: Week 4:: [Cerridwen] Wishes and Boons and what power grants them. Wishing opportunities and folk customs of luck. What is the Pagan Law of Three Fold Return and why does the Goddess send it? Pagan herbal folklore.
February 27th and 28th:: Snow construction weekend (not a Grove event, but Grove members are welcome to come play in the snow for a day.)
March 2nd:: Full Moon.
March 4th: Week 5:: [Coventina] Counter magic and protection. The importance of calling upon the Gods when you need Their aid. (dues)
March 5th, 6th and 7th:: Winter Mysteries (not a Grove event, but some Grove members may be going along.)
March 11th: Week 6:: [Erzulie Danto and Erzulie Freda] Why have some people been accused of using vengeful magic? Why do we not use it? Historical review, and the importance of compassion. Amulets and talismans, charms, miracles, the Blessing of Good Health and the granting of wishes, boons and petitions.
March 18th: Week 7:: [Coventina] Solitary workings and the importance of daily devotionals. Books that are useful to the solitary practitioner. Devotionals to your chosen Deity. Solitary practice before and after Initiation.
Note that Weeks 8 through 11 have been rearranged.
March 25th: Week 8:: [Cerridwen] Recognising Pagan symbols and insignia, and telling the insider from the fashionable. The Pagan name and its power to transform you. Ritual greetings and fellowship. Folklore of the May-Dances. Invoking the God or Goddess, and the impact of meeting the Gods.
March 31st:: Full Moon.
April 1st: Week 9:: [Habondia] Exam prep week! Wombat Wicca and other general foolishness. Magical alphabets, and tools both strange and wonderful. Home cooking and the importance of good food in the Circle. (dues)
April 8th: Week 10:: [Cailleach] First Quarter Review and evaluation. Bring your Book of Correspondences, Book of Rituals and your handout notebooks.
April 30th:: Full Moon.

The dates of Outer Grove's spring break have changed. It now runs from April 9th through May 5th.

Second Quarter

May 6th: Week 11:: [Coventina] Different forms of Grove and Coven structures. Working Circles, meetings, groups, and their relationship to the Coven. How and why Covens are formed. Basic degree concepts; the Goddess Coventina and Her blessings on the Covenstead. Traditions of sacred groves and other protected places.
May 13th: Week 12:: [Lady of the Lake] Putting it all together and making your magic work for you. Getting from theory into practice. The importance of being true to your own needs, and to love yourself.
May 20th: Week 13:: [Arianrhod] Everything you ever needed to know about Pagan astrology but were afraid to ask. Elemental and quarterly attributes, and the importance of birth season. Fireflies all the way up, and turtles all the way down. Why did Raven steal the moon, and what part did Coyote play? (dues)
May 27th: Week 14:: [Brittania] English folk festivals and their North American counterparts. Feasts and dances. Reckoning the seasons.
May 30th:: Full Moon.
June 3rd: Week 15:: [Athena] The Goddess and the seasons. What happens when the Goddess comes to visit? The room, the garb, Her priests and priestesses. Oracles and Sybilline books. The Moon.
June 10th: Week 16:: [Coventina] The God and the seasons. What happens when the God comes to visit. The room, the garb, His priests and priestesses. Auguries and portents. The Sun.
June 17th: Week 17:: [Blodeuwedd, Brigit, Brigantia] The Maiden, the Lady in waiting, and her work. Brigit and Her sacred fires and wells. The priestess within her precinct, apart from the world of men. Brigantia, the warrior Goddess of fearsome powers. Why the Lady's image is on coins ancient and modern. (dues)
June 24th: Week 18:: [Cerridwen] The Magister, the best man to the High Priest, and his work. The Man in Black and the messengers, both human and Divine. Perilous journeys and patron saints.
June 28th:: Full Moon.
July 1st: Week 19:: [Aradia] The Warrior and the Summoner, defenders of the Circle. Warrior Gods and Goddesses. Martial arts and the Craft of the Wise. Pyrotechnique and other things that go bump in the night.
July 8th: Week 20:: [Rhiannon] Three outer paths: the Fire-keeper, the Diviner, and the Bard and Lineage Keeper. Saunas and sweatbaths; trance and divination; recollection of the Ancient Ways and passing their knowledge on to others in song and story.
July 15th: Week 21:: [Bona Dea] Mountain retreat and garden-party weekend (snow not provided). Second Quarter Review and evaluation. (dues)
July 28th:: Full Moon.

Third Quarter

August 19th: Week 22:: [Athena] Methods of divination, a survey of ancient and modern forms. What everyday people expect a Witch to know.
August 26th: Week 23:: [The Fates] Full Moon. Initiation rituals: their purpose, contents, enactments and significance. Why do this? Why not do this?
September 2nd: Week 24:: [Coventina] Working tools, 1: altar-candlesticks, athame, besom, blindfold, cup, robe, sickle, Book of Shadows, fake and genuine. Magical languages; personal almanac of your body's life cycles; advanced Laws.
September 9th: Week 25:: [Blodeuwedd] Working tools, 2: bell, censer, drum, knife of Jack, mortar and pestle, quarter-candlesticks, staff. The language of flowers and herbs; personal almanac of opposite gender's life cycles; more advanced Laws. (dues)
September 16th: Week 26:: [Jeanne d'Arc] Working tools, 3: cauldron, computer, drop-spindle, garter, head-dress of office, icons, pipe, sword. The magic of birds and animals, and the power of the Familiar. Duty of sponsorship that the Craft may survive.
September 23rd: Week 27:: [Cailleach] Magical times of great power: dusk, dawn, mid-day, midnight and the twilight hours. What are nautical and civil twilight and why do they matter? Camouflage, discretion and invisibility, both wished-for and practical.
September 25th:: Full Moon.
September 30th: Week 28:: [Coventina] Third Quarter Review and evaluation. Recommendations of autumnal festivals that you might wish to attend.
October 24th:: Full Moon.

Fourth Quarter

November 4th: Week 29:: [Brittania] Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. Other places of interest in British history and folklore. Things you can do with great big stones; Asterix the Gaul and The Big Hewer. Ghosts and hauntings; sacred wells, springs and rivers; why we paint fish by the manhole grates. (dues)
November 11th: Week 30:: [Cerridwen] Fishing, hunting and agriculture; the Solunar Tables. Garden diaries and snow-shovels. The Celtic cult of the Head, and the Horned One. Other survivals from ancient sources.
November 18th: Week 31:: [Brigit] The magic of smithcraft and jewellery; making magical tools; bracelets and necklaces. Metallurgy and magic in many cultures.
November 23rd:: Full Moon.
November 25th: Week 32:: [Aradia] Traditions which exist, or "Look what Margot's done to our group, Mom." The problems that come from growing too fast, or lifting the drawbridge too soon. Secret Squirrel and Bullwinkle the Moose.
December 2nd: Week 33:: [Bona Dea] Building your own rites. Building trust, negotiating, rewriting and rewrighting and working it all out. Writing Wild Rose's Winter Solstice Ceremony for 1999. (dues)
December 9th: Week 34:: [Aphrodite] Dhofterie and sexual symbols in Pagan ritual; the magic powers of Ye Potato, Ye Zucchini and Ye Bagel; aphrodisiacs and anaphrodisiacs. Rites in token, and the meaning of the partnership bond. Diana and Aradia, and Their rites.
December 16th: Week 35:: [Coventina] Preparation for Winter Solstice Ceremony, worship and rite.
December 21st: Tuesday Night:: Winter Solstice Ceremony.
December 22nd:: Full Moon.
December 23rd: Week 36:: [Lucina] No class tonight. Spend the evening with family and loved ones if you can. Potluck salmon banquet at the Heapstead for those who can't.
December 30th: Week 37:: [Luna, Diana, Arianrhod] The Goddess cycle. The phases of the Moon and their importance to us. Mother Moon as the Triple Goddess. Calendars and clocks, and why many Witches eschew wristwitches. (dues)
January 6th: Week 38:: [Gaia] The God cycle. The Wheel of the Year and its eight spokes. Pagan Celtic customs of the God through the year; festivals and fairs; farmer's markets as places of religious importance -- why your daily life is sacred.
January 13th: Week 39:: [Brigit] Poetry and the Art. Going under the hill and coming back transformed. Finding your own magical song. Readings shared with us by other Groves.
January 20th: Week 40:: [Coventina] Full Moon. Final evaluation and graduation. Preparation of certificates, group photographs, feasting and revelry. Reconciliation and redistribution of excess dues.
January 27th: Week Zero:: [Bona Dea] Meetings with various Coven leaders, to discuss future work and receive petitions of membership. Planning session for Year Two.

document: SYLLAB99, by Brigantia Stone, with heartfelt thanks to Leon Reed and Haragano Ogmari.
updated: 1999 January 17; HTML typos by Wobbly Raven Webworks, 1998, 1999.
GWI: WTC 21-100-0
the address of this page is: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/2416/syllab99.html

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