Magickal Learning at the Magical Circle School

I decided to let you in on what seems to be a bit of a secret in the pagan community. I've happened upon forum after forum of people discussing online schools of magick. They're usually talking about the College of the Sacred Mists or Witch School. There's also Oberon Zell's Grey School of Wizardry. But there seems to be a silence, and so I'm guessing a lack of knowledge, of the 100% free Magical Circle School. It's a school that focuses on magickal learning within the Wiccan tradition. While some classes do require books or materials, there is no cost to enroll in the school, which offers a vast array of classes on many magickal(and mundane) topics. If you find a class with seemingly expensive items on the Items Needed list(essential oils, for example), you are free to make substitutions with affordable items you have on hand and the teachers are easily accessible for advice. "Class packs" are available for purchase for some classes but are completely optional. Colleen Criswell, who runs the school and heads up the staff, has office hours from 10-2 EST every weekday, making communication easy and fast. The personal feedback from teachers, along with the great diversity of classes, are my favorite things about this school. I enrolled in the program for a short time once before and have recently re-enrolled. Once enrolled, you are free to choose the classes that most interest you, or take part in the Degree program, which consists of three degree levels. So if you've been thinking about checking into online schools, you might want to check it out here!

Announcing My Pagan Pages Ezine Column :-)

  What do you get when you decide to organize your city's local March Against Monsanto while going to college, all right in the midst of flying to Denver to present research at a microbiology conference? One crazy-ass month, and the reason you haven't heard from me for a while. But it's summer, and I'm rested and recuperated and back in action. Since this is a time of calm for me, I have a lot of time to think about my path and study. Which means lots of thoughts (and my Book of Shadows project) to share with you!

   In the midst of my crazy last couple of months, I was so excited to be approached through my blog about writing a regular column for Pagan Pages Ezine, which has published monthly issues since 2006. My column is called Bare Feet on an Earth Path and you can find a new issue of the magazine the 1st of every month. But, I've gotta come clean with y'all or you're gonna be confused. My name is not, in fact, Marienne. Though Marienne is the  name I've been using on here, I decided to go with my real name for the ezine, so you'll see Kalina as the author of my column. There you have it. I guess this witchy wannabe is out of the real world and the virtual broom closet now. So far I've had two articles published...

My initial, untitled post about how I meandered into the world of paganism

and

When Dreams Grow Old

*Enjoy, and I hope you're having a magical summer!*