Grey School of Wizardry

Before the school opened, the Grey Council was established in 2002 by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart as an advisory group to determine the curriculum.[1] The Grey Council was composed of some two dozen authors, mystics, magicians and leaders of neopagan communities around the world, including Raymond Buckland, Raven Grimassi, Patricia Telesco, Frederic Lamond, Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, Donald Michael Kraig, Katlyn Breene, Robert Lee "Skip" Ellison, Jesse Wolf Hardin, Nicki Scully, Sam Webster, Trina Robbins, Ronald Hutton, Amber K, Ellen Evert Hopman, Luc Sala and Jeff McBride.[2][3] The Grey Council worked through 2003 to produce a textbook—a grimoire—for the school, the Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard (2004). This was followed by the Companion for the Apprentice Wizard in 2006.[4]

The Grey School of Wizardry first opened on August 1, 2004. The school's motto is: Omnia vivunt, omnia inter se conexa (“Everything is alive; everything is interconnected” — Cicero). It is a nonprofit educational institute for children 11–17 years of age, and adults of any age.[5] The name of the school may derive from the colors associated with the wizards in the J. R. R. Tolkien classic The Lord of the Rings and, in particular, with the appendix to the name of the protagonist Gandalf (the Grey).[6] It was incorporated as a non-profit educational institution in California on March 14, 2004,[7] and received a 501(c)(3) tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Service on September 27, 2007.[8]

The school provides a seven-year apprenticeship curriculum in wizardry. Faculty and students represent a wide variety of faiths, including Pagan, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim.[4]

More than 500 classes are offered in 16 color-coded departments. These are: Wizardry (indigo), Nature Studies (silver), Magickal Practice (gold), Psychic Arts (aqua), Healing (blue), Wortcunning/Herbalism (green), Divination (yellow), Performance Magics (orange), Alchemy & Magickal Sciences (red), Lifeways (pink), Beast Mastery (brown), Cosmology (violet), Mathemagicks (clear), Ceremonial Magic (white), Lore (grey), and Dark Arts (black). Although some classes address mythology and comparative religion, the school's grimoire (textbook of magic), Companion for the Apprentice Wizard, and the school's philosophy focus on secular exploration of the esoteric rather than spirituality.[4]

The program was partially inspired by the fictitious "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" from the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling.[9] the Grey School hosts four lodges for adults: Flames, Waters, Winds, and Stones, that are associated with the classical elements Fire, Water, Air, and Earth; the school also has one youth lodge, Psyche, which is associated with the fifth element. The Grey School also sponsors clubs, merits, challenges, awards, a monthly school magazine (“Grey Matters”), summer conclaves at the school's physical campus, and a virtual school on "Second Life" with student-run moots and weekly meetups.

The school offers a full apprenticeship program where upon completion apprentices receive a certificate of journeymanship in their chosen major. Course materials and exercises are provided by qualified faculty and guest lecturers. The Grey School's Magister Program removes the structure and level restrictions of the Apprenticeship program, allowing the student to choose nearly any class from any level of study in the school's course catalogue.

In October of 2019, the Grey School acquired a physical campus in Whitehall, New York. The "Nine Acre Woods" Conclave Grounds and the "Highspire" Manor building are open to Apprentices and Magisters for physical classes and during the school's yearly conclaves. Special access by appointment can be given by the provost.

According to neopagan author Isaac Bonewits,[10] "The Grimoire collects in one book a library of wisdom about ceremonial native and Earth-centered magic, Paleo- and Neopagan religions, the obligations of the wise to protect the defenseless, great wizards and witches of the past and present, and more."[9] Bonewits also asserts that the school presents an opportunity for males who are unsatisfied by the teachings of the modern Wicca movement.[9]

• Grey School of Wizardry Official Website