Where to begin? When I first got here, I was really leery of what I’d see. Usually, when I think of pagan schools, I think of the scam artists that offer initiation into whatever tradition for a few hundred dollars.

I was pleasantly surprised. The fees for the coursework aren’t terribly steep at all. In fact, it’s relatively reasonable, I suppose. It just comes too close to the “craft for money, not for love” thing for my taste. One thing that does concern me is that it talks of courses “required for initiation”. Initiation into what? Are those courses the only framework? Or does getting to know the student count (since it’s a face-to-face teaching program, not some mass online one)?

The site itself is designed well, and it’s highly navigable. It’s simple, it’s non-graphics intensive. Even the slowest connection should be able to surf this site without a problem.

The only reason for the medium rating is because the entire premise of the site concerns me.

Link: College of Wicca and Old Lore
Score: 5/10
Reviewed by Enyo Perseus

This site offers a “University”. I’m sorry, but the craft is not something that can be taught at an online university, and this isn’t even that. It calls itself a university while offering information that can easily be found in just about any newbie book. The brilliant author insists that Wicca is *not* a cult, even though Gerald B. Gardner, the founder of Wicca says otherwise. She then attempts to define cult with the modern definition, not the definition that has its root in “cultivate” (which is the definition that Gardner was using). In short, it’s not the most intelligent page out there. The navigation is confusing, as there are anywhere from one to three ways to get where you want to go on the same page. The scholarship is shoddy, if she wants to disagree with the friggin *founder* of Wicca. The author then goes on to talk about how the witchcraft laws were repealed in the 1950’s. Um, since this is a site on American Wiccan, I would think that she would make the effort to clarify that those repealed laws were British. In short, just another 101 page that falls very short of the mark.

Link: American Wicca
Score: 2/10
Originally posted by Enyo Perseus at Paganetwork