Grey goes green (for cash)


Capitalizing on fads to line pockets

I was too tired to write about this article this morning and Jason Pitzl-Waters beat me to the punch over at The Wild Hunt Blog.

Hundreds of students and teachers from the online Grey School of Wizardry will be attending the latest in their favorite series of films in full regalia. So look for those robes, cloaks, and pointy hats, and ask them: "Are you a real Witch or Wizard?" They just might be.

The fourth Harry Potter movie takes us back to J.K. Rowling's fictional "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," made famous as the setting for seven novels and four previous movies. These books and films have become the most popular literary phenomenon of all time. Millions of readers and viewers would love to board the "Hogwarts Express" and travel to a remote academy that teaches real magick, Witchcraft, and Wizardry.

Well, as so often happens, fiction has become reality. A major online school has been established to meet these needs.

The Grey School of Wizardry was inspired by Headmaster Oberon Zell-Ravenheart's Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard (New Page, 2004). Incorporated in California as a nonprofit educational institution, the Grey School offers an extensive program of studies in all areas of Wizardry and magick, at an Apprenticeship grade in seven "year-levels." Graduates are certified as "Journeyman Wizards."

I really don't understand what the point is. Is it fandom or serious study?

Why appear in ritual garb if Harry Potter has nothing to do with your faith or practices?

Isn't this just an attempt to cash in on a popular franchise?

While the Grey School may need publicity, "real" witches and wizards don't. Stunts like this do more damage than good.

Posted: Tue - July 10, 2007 at 02:51 PM
 ◊ 
 ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊ 

Random selections from NeoWayland's library


Technopagan Yearnings
© 2005 - 2010   All Rights Reserved