COVID-19 Update
COVID-19 Update In-person classes are suspended until next year at the earliest. Our Winter & Spring terms remain on hold until we get a green light from Ontario, Ottawa Public Health and the various sites where our classes are normally held. As long as those sites remain closed, we cannot meet in person. Meanwhile, we’re […]
2019 Fall
F aculty restored the smaller class designation over the summer, so we now have three price categories sorted by course length: 6 classes or less (i.e. a “short” course) at $25 per course (not per class), 7-9 classes (i.e. a “regular” course) at $35 per course, and 10 or more classes (a “long” course) at […]
2019 Winter
I n September Faculty updated our fee schedule, the first significant change since 2012. The new rates fall into two categories: 9 classes or less (i.e. a “short” course) will be $35 while 10 or more classes (a “long” course) will be priced at $45. To offset the sting, we now offer a flat $5 […]
2018 Summer
L ughnasadh, the “marriage of Lugh,” marks the first of three harvest festivals, the other two being Mabon and Samhain. Lugh being a god of the sun, vegetation and crafting, his marriage is a time to celebrate not just the First Fruits of the annual harvest, but crafting and crafters in general and the fruits of […]
2017 Winter
Website: We don’t have a lot happening here due to the webmaster’s protracted illness. The reorganization over on Test goes slowly but steadily, with a couple of small changes making their way over to here to Production. — Webmaster Upcoming Courses We now have two courses on offer this Winter: Introduction to Divination (OPS-105) with […]
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 […]
Why Courses Take So Long to Develop
All of Schola’s classes undergo a period of testing and updating before we release them to the public. This includes an alpha testing with one or two Schola instructors, followed by a beta testing with most or all Schola instructors. This takes time to arrange, especially scheduling the alpha and beta tests. Currently in the […]
Our Staff are Volunteers
The Ottawa Pagan Schola’s core instructor team (Faculty) consists of volunteers who donate their time to develop and teach these courses. They can rarely afford to donate materials or classroom rentals, however, and are permitted to pass those expenses along to the students.
Hermeticism
Guest editorial by GingerWitch If you are a Pagan intrigued by the ancient arts and familiar with some of the history behind them, but want to become truly enlightened, then you will find the study of Hermeticism crucial to your development. This is one of the reasons Schola is a specifically Hermetic Academy. The Importance […]
Green Man Powerpoint Slides (from KG 2010)
For those who requested them, here is the link to David’s powerpoint slides from “Who is the Green Man”, as presented at Kaledescope Gathering on Saturday at the Rookery. In modern Wicca the Green Man is often seen as an aspect of the Horned God, especially in his Celtic Cernunnos form. Yet is he really […]
Challenges For New Practitioners
Starting down any of the Pagan paths takes time, study and dedication. It helps enormously to have a faith community to compare notes with, but can also be pursued on your own. However you choose to walk your path, you will learn and grow immensely through the entire process. Every faith comes with its own […]
2016 Fall
Quick Update: Someone in the Russian Federation seems to have taken exception to our little school and keeps crashing the website. And I keep putting it back up with some new wrinkle designed to keep them out. This weekend’s wrinkle seems to be keeping them out, so I’ve put the Test version up where y’all […]
2015 Winter
This Winter sees a revamped course registration system starting with a list of every course currently on offer (front tab) plus another list of every course we have in our catalogue (back tab). This is a free piece of software with certain “eccentricities” such as being able to sort Current Courses by any of the tab […]
2015 Summer
As a few of you may have noticed, we were offline for a couple of days recently. A blogging site like this one is made up of hundreds of smaller files a dozen or so of which are critical to you being able to see anything at all when you cruise into the site. If […]
2014 Winter
The website recently upgraded from Joomla! 2.5 to 3.3, though most changes happened behind the scenes where it makes my job somewhat easier but is completely invisible to visitors. As part of an overall cleanup, I plan to add couple of overview articles to our main page with hotlinks to articles buried in the menu […]
2014 Summer
After 10 years it looks as if our OPS-100 course, as originally designed, has achieved the saturation point amongst local Pagans — well done Team! Back in 2003, Kristina’s objective was to provide some basic instruction to a few dozen people who had ready access to Pagan rituals, but not to the esoteric theory which […]
2013 Winter
Happy Yuletide, everyone! We have three courses on offer in the Winter session: Intermediate Circle (OPS-200) will be offered Thursday evenings at the Bronson Centre starting January. Since this course attracts a hefty rent, we won’t be offering it if we don’t get get enough registrations to cover our costs. If you wish to take […]
2013 Summer
Welcome to the start of a new academic year! I thought that for a new year I’d add a new look and feel to our admitedly old website style. A few features available in the spring haven’t made it into the update yet. Bear with me as I play with this in my copious spare […]
2012 Winter
To save classroom booking heartaches, Schola has already booked our space at the Bronson Centre for next fall and winter. These 22 classes will run in their now traditional Thursday evening timeslots. Our Winter session courses, however, didn’t manage to snag space at the Bronson Centre and will be held elsewhere. Contact your Instructors for […]
2012 Summer
Now that Faculty has adopted a policy regarding when certain classes are to be scheduled, ye olde webmeister finally has a bit of lead as to what’s on offer each semester. Consequently, I’m going to switch to updating in Summer and Winter more or less in time for KG and Yule, respectively. This will give […]
2011 Winter
Winter brings us Intermediate Circle (OPS-200) starting in January, with Introduction to the Elements (OPS-110) coming up in April, and Elements of Spellcasting (OPS-150) to follow in May. January’s Faculty Meeting also brought us a revised fee schedule: we now charge all students a default $25 per course of 7+ lessons, but only $15 per […]
2011 Fall
Welcome to the start of a new academic year! As always, we have a new Circle Basics (OPS-100) course coming up in September and may also offer Introduction to the Elements (OPS-110), depending on the availability of the Lead Instructor. We’ll also be doing Intermediate Circle (OPS-200) in the Winter session if enough applicants commit to […]
2017 Summer
Website: And our move from a London, UK server to one just outside of Montreal is now complete. I’m now looking at reorganising the site (over in Test — you won’t see any of that here until I think it’s ready for the general public) to add a blog and online resources section, tidy up […]
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!