Grey School Apprentice

The Trials and Tribulations of an Apprentice at the Grey School of Wizardry (mods Graycloak and Soloana Blue)

[gsw-apprentice]

Both Mod-SB and Mod-PG have ended their studies with GSW. This blog will no longer be updated.

[gsw-apprentice]

I am soooooo behind on my class work 😩🥺😥

[gsw-apprentice]

Little Shop of Horrors Day

\o/ Happy Little Shop of Horrors Day!! \o/

"On the twenty-third day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence.

And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places."

[gsw-apprentice]

I am sooooo behind on my schoolwork 😩 and @solanablue and I haven’t had a study hall in forever 😪

-mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

Monthly Tuition Subscriptions are Back

According to [a post made on their official Facebook page], monthly tuition subscriptions are now BACK!  \o/

This is pretty exciting news, imo. They had monthly tuition subscriptions back when I first started; but, at some point, the decision was made to do away with the monthly option and only allow for yearly tuition payments. 

But now things are back to the old way! Huzzah!!  \o/  There’s no better time to check out what [The Grey School] has to offer :D

I’ll see you around campus ;) 

-Mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

The Wizard OZ, a 22-ish minute documentary on the life of [Oberon Zell-Ravenheart] - wizard, scholar, co-founder of the [Church of All Worlds], and founder and current headmaster of [The Grey School of Wizardry].

This was a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere selection the week of May 3, 2017, and in the accompanying [blog post about it] ([archived] version) they listed a few interesting nuggets that didn’t make it into the final cut:

Here are some other interesting tidbits around the making of “The Wizard Oz” that didn’t make it into the film, courtesy of director Danny Yourd:

* Oz and Morning Glory raised many unicorns and named them after Knights of the Round Table. * They were not allowed to discuss the unicorn deal they had with Ringling Bros. Circus, but they held the patent on the process for many years. * After the mermaid expedition (funded by the successful unicorn deal with the circus), Oberon had to sell most of this scuba gear just to get back home. * Oz has had seven possums as pets. He loves possums and believes they make great pets. * The Church of All Worlds has one rule: “Be excellent to one another.” Oz openly admits that this comes from the Bill & Ted movies and says, “When you got that down, what else do you need?”

Thanks to @grimoire-of-geekery for bringing this to my attention! I can’t believe I missed this :o 

[gsw-apprentice]

Tuition Issues

Sorry for the lack of posting ... I had some tuition issues recently. GSW uses PayPal to handle automated monthly payments via PayPal’s Subscription system. There was some kind of glitch a few months back and my subscription was canceled :\

This afternoon, I was finally able to get my tuition subscription back on track, so I can once again start with the classwork. Unfortunately, because of this break in the automatic subscription payments (regardless of the fact that it was not my fault), I am now responsible for paying the current tuition rates, as opposed to the rates I had been paying before.

That part has been something of a bitter pill for me to swallow, but after taking some time to cool off and think about things a little more objectively (or, as close to objectively as I could at the time), I came to the conclusion GSW offers such a breadth of experiences and information that it was still very much worth it for me to continue to be a part of it. 

So... that’s the long way of me saying, I’m back! :P heh Hopefully I will have more interesting schoolwork-related posts to be posting post haste.

-Mod PG

[da-at-ass]

I just thought about the whole “you always need to ground and center before any magic” axiom and why it’s never worked out for me, even though at times I’ve believed it. The truth is, a lot of my magic is just not energy-based, and grounding and centering is a technique rooted in energy work.

If I’m doing magic based on entity work, grounding and centering either makes no difference or makes it harder to connect to an entity who I need to be somewhat entwined with consciousness-wise to work with.

If I’m anchoring my magic on the principle of a logo having a lot of power behind it, I’m not directing energy work for it, I’m plugging the logo into my magical equation and just backing away.

If I’m fueling magical work with emotions, excitement-fueled magic will not be helped by grounding and centering.

If I’m doing magic by utilizing music, then the music is my world and I’m not grounded and centered on anything, I’m IN the music.

If I’m using a charm, it’s basically a push-button operation and grounding and centering is a big production I don’t even need.

If it’s art magic or sigil work, grounding and centering doesn’t factor in. Vocal-based work? Not grounding or centering.

Mind you, there might be a part where I clear my head or put myself in a magical mindset, but this doesn’t have anything to do with grounding my energy to prevent a backlash or overload, and doesn’t have to do with shifting my energy so that it’s all organized and available from my center. I don’t work with energy like that and I don’t focus on energy work to drive most of my magic. Grounding and centering as is classically described isn’t necessary for many magical operations and really applies mostly to energy work models.

[gsw-apprentice]

This is probably why I had so much trouble with the Grounding and Centering assignments I had to do for GSW a little while ago.

-Mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

Hello, I am very interested in joining the grey school of wizardry, but I have a question. Is everything done online, or is there a physical location that you have to go to?

Hiya! Everything is done online, yes. There is the traditional web interface, and there are virtual classes they hold in Second Life. Those SL classes are clearly identified in the course list so you won’t be taken by surprise, and you don’t need to take those if you don’t want to - everything they offer as a Second Life course is also offered through the traditional program.

There is a web interface you work through to read class material, submit homework, and to take tests. There is also a discussion forum, separate from the classwork interface, where you can participate in conversations with others at the school, including private areas for each house/lodge.

There is a physical location, but it’s brand new and is mostly a “campus store” at the moment. There are a few classes they hold there, but, just like with the SL virtual classes, there is never any unique classwork done there that isn’t also available through the traditional method.

Let me know if you have other questions :D

-Mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

Just submitted my Final for Core Energy Practices 101. Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

-Mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

Got a 100% :D

The best part, though, was in the comments left by the instructor in response to some comments in my essay about how I had difficulty with some of the exercises in this class:

"...there is nothing wrong with not blindly embracing every part of every assignment you encounter at the GSW. This is especially true for adults who are already established in one or more magickal and/or religious practices. The important thing is to *try* the assignments! Get what you can out of them and even suggest changes if you feel they are needed. We are training wizards, not programming robots."

-Mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

Just submitted my Final for Core Energy Practices 101. Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

-Mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

Super Productive Weekend

I managed to get three homework assignments completed over this past weekend :D  I feel very accomplished :)  Two have already been graded, too! 100% on both ,, *buff nails* .. hoping for a 100 on the third as well :P

[graycloak]

Trust me, carving out time to get this done was no small feat :X heh .. pretty sure I have flowers I need to buy on my home from work today XD hahaha

[gsw-apprentice]

Just received the grading notification for that third assignment. 100%, baby! :D I have one more assignment for Core Energy Practices 101, two more assignments for Core Energy Practices 102, and two more assignments for Intro to Alchemy.

And all three are with the same instructor, so I’m trying to make sure my work is fairly evenly distributed between them :P heh... My assignments for the Magickal Tools class, however... :\  Time to get my butt in gear on this class as well. *cracks knuckles*

[gsw-apprentice]

Super Productive Weekend

I managed to get three homework assignments completed over this past weekend :D  I feel very accomplished :)  Two have already been graded, too! 100% on both ,, *buff nails* .. hoping for a 100 on the third as well :P

[graycloak]

Birthday 2016

Another birthday comes to a close! Here are the lovely gifts my dear friend @solanablue sent me :D  Tarot Dice, the Steampunk Tarot, and a Feathered Caligraphy Set! :D

Here is a sample of some of the cards from the Steampunk Tarot - I really like the art on these cards <3

[gsw-apprentice]

yay! thank you so much @solanablue :D :D

[gsw-apprentice]

Speaking of Magickal Mysteries and Mayhem Mates...

there’s nothing quite like having a partner in (magickal and other) crime who knows you so well that he sends you a gift just because you had a bad day. thank you @graycloak! I can’t wait to get started. 

[gsw-apprentice]

Ask: What are GSW Classes Like

Hey there! :)  I’ve posted about this on my main blog before, so I invite you to read [those] two [posts]. The first one, in particular, has some detail about how the classes are structured, so that might be worth a read.

One thing to note about the Department of Alchemy is you will need to obtain some extra equipment, beyond the normal requisite text. One of the assignments in the Intro to Alchemy class will be to obtain some safety equipment: namely, goggles, smock/apron, and gloves.

In general, all classes (I’ve taken so far, at least) follow the same structure: There are a number of lessons for the class which are locked until you complete the previous lesson’s assignment and it has been graded. Once all assignments have been completed, the Final Exam for the class is unlocked. Finals can either be multiple choice (in which case, your grade will be available almost as soon as you complete it) or essay (which takes longer to get graded).

I have not experienced an instance of a Group Assignment yet.

If you like the idea of meeting in a virtual classroom, there are many classes that are also offered through the vGSW program - which involves logging into Second Life at specific times to meet for classes on the virtual GSW campus. I’ve popped in before to see the campus, but I have not taken any of the virtual classes, so I’m not able to comment on how they differ structurally from the traditional form.

I hope this gives you some insight and helps with some of the questions you had.

-Mod PG

[gsw-apprentice]

yes. we did not manage to do alchemy experiment. and yes. it was totally my fault. i didn’t get un-soaped steel wool. even after @graycloak and i had a long discussion about where to get un-soaped steel wool. we will try again tonight. same bat time, same bat channel. 

ps: @graycloak finds it hilariously ironic that my first post is to say “hi everyone, i f’d up!” but. hi everyone! i f’d up. :)

-Mod SB