Well, I've always had fantasies that certain committed students would take what they learned from class and start their own group, but it hasn't happened as far as I know (their being freshmen may have something to do with it). Some students have kept in contact with me afterwards and one even asked my advice on paranormal matters, so I suppose if I wanted to, I could contact them and start a 'study group.' In fact, after my diss is done, I was thinking of starting a salon-type study group for hermetic topics in Chicago to continue the work of a now-defunct group there, and I was probably going to contact a few former students (this is college-age, mind you) to see if they're interested. But I certainly wouldn't start anything affiliated with the university - I have no idea about the politics of such a thing. My current adjunct status may be either a hindrance (no job security) or a help (under the radar) to such a thing. But things may change if (when) I get the tenure-track position I'm applying for. But in the class itself, I never trumpet my initiatory experience. If I reveal anything at all, it's that I do 'research' into these groups. The smart and engaged ones figure it out and they may ask me outside of class and I don't lie - but because my own experience is so eclectic and I don't affiliate specifically with any one group, I can still represent myself as objective and unbiased. JLW --- kaligrafr <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Aloha, > > >On 11/7/2007 at 3:29 PM jason winslade wrote: > > >In my first class, I bring students in through an > >'initiation ceremony' where they get a first-hand > experience of how power > >and mystery work, as well as in/out group politics. > I also have them > >memorize an 'oath' which is actually a reverse > acronym for one of the > >course goals - and see if any of them can solve it > by the end of the term. > >Many of them do because they've learned how to > think, read and act like an > >occultist. > > I think that, overall, this approach probably does > give students a sense or > > what occult ritual is, how it works, and how > occultists look at the world. > > One of the by now well-established and > widely-practiced traditions of > American > Neo-Pagan Craft--New Reformed Orthodox Order of the > Golden Dawn--began > as a class-related project undertaken by a group of > San Francisco State > College > students in 1967. They put together a ritual focused > on re-creating a > witches' > sabbat. They based the ritual on generally available > published > sources--historical, > critical. speculative, and literary--and on their > own sensibilities. > > So far as I know, even though the original project > was, by and large, arty > and > playful in character, the ritual quickly assumed a > deeper occulture > implication > and powerful magical efficacy. The movement and > material they had created > grew and prospered. > > More intriguingly, the NROOGD movement quickly > gained legitimacy and > authority within the greater Neo-Pagan movement in > the U.S. While there > may have been some disputes early on, there was in > fairly short order no > telling doubts that groups of like-minded > practitioners could bootstrap a > *real* > Neo-Pagan Craft tradition--like NROOGD--into being. > > NROOGD provided an important example and model for > the development of > Neo-Pagan Craft. Lots and lots of little offshoots > have followed a similar > path of creative adaptation of sources and > bootstrapping it into the > magical > realm. > > Do you suppose that your teaching ritual and all > might give rise to an > actual magical movement or tradition? > > [This sort of turns around the initial question of > this thread--teaching > doable esotericism in schools. Because here's an > example of teaching > about esotericism in school--with no intent for it > to be doable--turning > into a vigorous current of occulture.] > > Musing Occulture & Its Adaptations! Rose, > > Pitch > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com