Why Schola?
“The term schola, which once referred to the imperial guard, came to be applied in turn to a train of warrior-servants who waited on the king, to the group of clergymen who waited on the bishop, to the monks of a monastery, and ultimately to a choral society; it did not mean ‘school’ before the ninth century.” — Michel Rouche
So why would we choose this term to describe a school of Hermeticism? While we use the Latin spelling, we’re actually reaching back to Ancient Greek σχολή (scholi) originally “spare time, leisure”, but later used to include “conversations and the knowledge gained through them during free time” and “the places where these conversations took place.” Since OPS is continuing education done during one’s leisure time, we felt that the older thoroughly pagan term was more appropriate.