The Grey Matters
April 2021
Table of Contents
1.) vGSW Updates
2.) 2021 GSW Conclave Announcement
3.) GSW Ring Sale
4.) Magick Alley Savings and Updates
5.) A Friendship Meal: Some Kitchen Witchery
6.) Why Choose Wizardry?
7.) Fifth Annual Master Wizard Awards
8.) Challenge Roundup
9.) Psst . . . Have You Noticed?
10.) GSW Ritual Club
11.) In Memoriam
vGSW Updates
By Provost Nicholas Kingsley
-New Beast Mastery Classroom
-New Hobbit Hall
-The Groundskeeper Hut is now Magick Alley
-Added Interactive handbooks outside the DoS and DoC's offices
-Added a Calendar of Events to Hobbit Hall
-Added a wall and door to the Cosmology Department
-Added a hidden Theater
-Updated the Doors for all Classrooms
-Minor tweaks for performance
-Added a School Clock Face
-Added New Street Lamps
-Added Corresponding Coloured Lamps Outside Lodges
-Newly Furnished Lifeways Classroom,
-Newly furnished Psychic Arts Classroom
-Newly Furnished Alchemy Classroom
-Newly Furnished Magickal Practice Classroom
-Removed a Staircase to the Courtyard
-Minor Graphical improvements
2021 GSW Conclave Announcement
By Provost Nicholas Kingsley
It is my pleasure to offer this invitation to Attend our 2021 Summer Conclave, Located at:
123 Poultney st, Whitehall New York.
Our 2021 Conclave will begin on Friday, July 9th at 5 PM EDT and ends on Sunday, July 11 at 6 PM EDT
We are hosting GSW's Physical Conclave this summer, the first time this has taken place in years. While in the past Conclave locations have had to be rented, reserved, or otherwise found, our nine acre location in Whitehall will remain free and open to the School for many years to come!
For more exciting information, please consult the forums at https://www.greyschool.net/forum/school-announcements/2021-conclave-announcement
GSW Ring Sale
By Apprentice Arthur Kingsley, Magick Alley Manager
Hello Everyone,
The 2021 GSW Ring Sale has begun!
Flaunt your wizardly bling this spring with a GSW Ring! Featuring 2 ring styles and a selection of gemstones for each department of GSW study, each ring is made-to-order and only available for a limited time; so get yours soon! This sale ends June 1st. Note: All orders will be submitted to the manufacturer at the end of the sale. Please expect 2-3 months for delivery.
www.magickalley.com Questions?: magickalleyteam@gmail.com
Always in service, -Apprentice Arthur Kingsley, Magick Alley Manager
Magick Alley Savings and Updates
By Magick Alley Team
Ahoy, I spy savings approaching our shores!
For the next few days there will be a 10% discount coupon for Books and references available on VGSW!
The Wizard and the Witch is now available at Magick Alley - Use the coupon code hidden on the VGSW campus and get 10% off books!
Also, visit for a spell at the all-new Magick Alley on VGSW; explore the shop, and check out the most recent improvements across the campus. I am certainly enjoying them myself!
A Friendship Meal: Some Kitchen Witchery
By Apprentice Apollinaris
As we emerge from the shadow of the Covid pandemic we may at times find it awkward to connect with friends who we have had little or no personal interaction with for the past year. Some of our relationships will have been transformed to some extent by separation, and perhaps require redefinition. With a little kitchen witchery you can conjure up a meal to foster positive, friendly relationships when reconnecting with loved ones. This can be achieved with three magickal herbs: basil, marjoram and rosemary. All three of these herbs promote happiness (Dugan, p. 179) and can help ensure a pleasant experience when you first meet up with a friend who you have not seen for a while.
The foundation for this dish is chicken, chosen for the principle of social interaction (Spirit Animal Totems). Chickens are happiest when congregated together, which is exactly what you want your magical meal to foster. I like to use boneless, skinless breasts, but any part of the chicken will serve equally well. In addition to the chicken you will need dried basil, dried marjoram, fresh sprigs of rosemary and half a stick of butter.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is heating, lay the pieces of chicken on a baking rack and brush them lightly with butter. This is not a time to substitute margarine. Butter is ruled by the Moon and has the power to soothe relationships, especially if there have been any changes in those relationships (Moon).
Season the chicken with a pinch of the dried basil, saying, "That peace may flow." Basil has the power to soothe any tempers that might flare (Witchwood). Now season the chicken with a pinch of dried marjoram as you say, "That joy may show." Marjoram promotes enduring relationships (Dugan, p. 51). Take one sprig of rosemary and touch it to each piece of chicken while you say, "Friendship we shall ever know." Rosemary fortifies the memory (Beyerl, pp. 244-245) and is used in this spell to strengthen the bond between you and your friends. You will be adding rosemary to the dish, but at this point simply touch the chicken pieces with the herb.
Now put the chicken into the oven as you say, "Into the athanor you go, that hearts may touch and affection grow."
After nine minutes remove the chicken, turn the pieces over and repeat with the butter, basil and marjoram. Then lay one sprig of rosemary across each piece of chicken as you say again, "Friendship we shall ever know." Place the chicken back into the oven, repeating the athanor chant (an athanor is the oven that alchemists used for their transformations), and let it cook for another nine minutes.
Serve with a glass of iced water and a wedge of lemon to further nurture the friendship (Cunningham, p. 136), along with a salad and/or side dish of your choice.
SOURCES
Beyerl, Paul. The Master Book of Herbalism. 1984.
Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. 1985.
Dugan, Ellen. Herb Magic for Beginners. 2006.
Moon, Aurora. "Plentiful Earth - Magickal Correspondences of Butter." https://plentifulearth.com/magickal-correspondences-butter-butter-materia-magicka/. 2017.
"Spirit Animal Totems - Chicken." https://www.spirit-animals.com/chicken-symbolism/.
Witchwood, Leandra. "Witchcraft & Pagan Lifestyle Blog, The Magick Kitchen - Magickal Aspects of Basil." https://www.themagickkitchen.com/magickal-aspects-of-basil/. 2021.
Why Choose Wizardry?
By Apprentice Avallach
I've decided to choose Indigo Magick with a hope to major in Wizardry. I do, though, also plan to major in other (if not all) areas to become a Wizard of The Greater Rainbow. For now, I'll start off with Wizardry. Choosing Wizardry as a primary focus at this beginning stage of my journey was due in part because of Provost Kingsley. The good Provost seems to be able to articulate himself well and would suit my learning style very nicely. His personality is much like mine and I believe I would learn very well as a student of his. Though this was a smaller portion of the reason I chose Wizardry, it is still very much a factor. When I began looking at The Grey School to learn some things in more detail with more structure than a self-study program, I wanted to learn... more. I wanted to be very well-rounded, well-learned, and do my very best at becoming an adept in as many facets of Magick as possible. I wanted to do this for a number of reasons.
First, my life for a greater portion of 32 years has been navigating the every day, living my life in 'reaction' to the things that were happening around me. I had no 'magick' or enchantment in my life. One day, I felt a pull. This pull was an odd sensation, as it was nothing I had ever felt before. I had a very strong (and this is the only word i can use to describe it) THIRST for magick. I knew that life was much, much deeper than the surface I was wading in and that my potential as a human and as a part of the greater picture was more than what I was operating in. So, that calling led me to the forests, where the entire world of nature was now dressed in enchantment and magick. I could feel the trees, I could actually hear the animals and the insects. To be honest, I felt like for the first time in my life, I was being held and nurtured. I haven't turned back from that, and I don't think I ever could. This calling of mine was just the very first baby step into an ocean of knowledge and wisdom.
Second, the world today needs enchantment. It needs, really, re-enchanted. Since the start of big industry, our enchantment as a collective has decreased significantly. We are looking around for meaning in our lives all the while rushing to the next appointment, playing the game of going to work for eight to ten hours a day, coming home, preparing dinner and catching up on paying bills and doing chores just to go to bed to wake up the next day to do it all over again. While I fully believe that we should be living responsibly and tending to our priorities, we truly need to slow life down a bit and prioritize things. Our spiritual life is just as important as I believe that all things are connected. An enlightened people... an ENCHANTED people, even, help to bring balance back between humanity and nature, so much so that we realize that we are both one and the same. True fulfillment should come from within ourselves, at a peaceful and centered place in our hearts where we can express ourselves as individuals in a cosmic sea of potentials. Beautiful interconnected relationships are formed and we help each other along the way. We can, through magic, quite literally alter the probabilities that exist in our lives to help us along the way. Not only that, but we will be able to notice the patterns of change and behavior in ourselves and our environment and be able to recognize these things (by being more aware of the world and our own concious efforts to improve ourselves and be at peace) to help us make better decisions that not only help us and those we hold close to us in life, but also the world at large. To me, that's the heart of a Wizard.
Thirdly, The wizardry curriculum at The Grey School looks as though it brings a lot of different departments and personalities together. As I've mentioned above in my second reason of why I'm choosing Wizardry to pursue as my primary area of focus, I believe that relationships that we form with other apprentices, our Instructors, Professors, and Deans will bring our community together as a family. I believe that this kind of environment encourages freedom of thought and freedom of questioning. If we operate in a more familial or fraternal way, we gain the benefits of comfort when it comes to truly learning with all facets of our personalities. Yes, even our emotions can play a critical role in the learning process. I don't even think that I'll only learn Wizardry on this path, but many other things that are not necessarily in the curriculum that I'll be able to carry with me through the rest of my life that I can apply to help shape a better 'me' and a better world.
Although I'm sure I went into great detail about this question in my above reasons why I'm choosing Wizardry, it will always be beneficial to revisit and add to those points. I truly want to be a better person in a profound way. I have a burning passion to learn the mysteries of life and the universe so that I can be conciously aware of my place in existence. I believe we have a spirit, a mind, and a heart for a reason. So many of life's paths that humans take stifle that. These paths suppress our abilities and natural talents in a way that causes a vast number of people to scoff at the idea that there, indeed, exists a magick in the universe so powerful and so much like 'home' for us because they've been conditioned to believe that ONLY what we see can be trusted as being 'truth'. I was one of these suppressed individuals and I know all too well how suppression effects our own psyche in a way that makes it hard to leave our suppressive thoughts on the sidelines in order to journey forward. I will admit that I've always been the person to believe in more than what was right in front of my eyes. I've spent so many days of my life contemplating the more outlandish notions of life that weren't outlandish to me personally. Are there other civilizations in the universe? On different planets? Where do we go when we die? Do Sasquatches have names for their family members? Does our government really have our best interests at heart? I've always wondered the things that other people weren't wondering. Though, as I said earlier, I've never felt such a 'pull' before toward Magick as a way of life. I want to contribute to the world with the life I've been given in a way that will truly make a difference. My own life was changed in such a positive way with Magick and my own Druid 'Wood-Wizardry' as I like to call it, that I know how transformative it can be and how sure of myself I finally am. Imagine a world where everyone felt so sure of themselves and where magick manifested itself right in front of you daily, or even hourly. I want to claim my place in the cosmos, and I've chosen The Grey School to usher me further down this path. Or is it 'up' this path? "... and so we begin..." (Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon, Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard, p.XII, 2004)
Fifth Annual Master Wizard Awards
By Provost Nicholas Kingsley
The Grey School of Wizardry is proud to announce the Fifth annual Obie Awards!
As a school of Wizardry we would like to recognize public figures who have exhibited visionary wisdom in works, who exemplify and portray the ideals of Wizardry as reflected in the lives and legends of those who have been regarded as Wizards throughout myth and history. Wizards who have inspired others to pursue a path of wisdom, and who have advanced the public understanding and acceptance of Wizardry in the modern world. By the same criteria we apply to famous Wizards of the past, we wish to honor selected modern figures for their distinguished service with this ancient title of respect: “Master Wizard.” This is a lifetime achievement award, and is given only once to any individual.
This award of recognition for “Master Wizard” is named in honor of renowned Wizard Oberon Zell, Founder and Headmaster of the Grey School of Wizardry. Oberon is an esteemed Elder in the worldwide magickal community, and he has been instrumental in the coalescence of the modern Earth Religion movement since the early 1960s, founding several significant organizations, alliances and publications. Oberon is the author of Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard (2004), Companion for the Apprentice Wizard (2006), A Wizard’s Bestiary (2006), and other books of myth, magick and Mysterie! As distinguished Wizards yourselves, the Headmaster and I could think of no one better to survey for this year's nominations. Please make these suggestions and nominations with haste, as we would like to open up voting to the Wizarding world soon. (6/1/2021) will serve as the deadline for the 2021 nominations With the Winners Announced on Midsummer (6/20/2021).
Faculty may submit their nominations at https://www.greyschool.net/forum/faculty-forum/the-fifth-annual-oberon-award-for-master-wizard-the-obie.
Challenge Roundup
By Grey Matters Staff
If you're an apprentice on the hunt for merit points, don't let these slip by you!
Divination Department 3 Card Draw Challenge: https://www.greyschool.net/forum/divination-dept/3-card-draw-may-2021-divination-merit-challenge
May Captain's Challenge: https://www.greyschool.net/forum/the-lodge-forums/may-captains-challenge
Psst . . . Have You Noticed?
By Grey Matters Staff
Have you noticed a sneaky new addition to the Coterie of the Flowing Waters' crest on the forums? An astute wizard may notice it and surmise that it's there because they currently hold the Lodge Cup.
But have you tried clicking on that nifty little trophy icon? It might take you somewhere interesting . . .
GSW Ritual Club
By Dean Adservio, Club Advisor
Dear Apprentices and Magisters!
Does the idea of studying the ritual practices of many different times and cultures appeal to you? How about designing rituals for GSW events? Maybe even helping perform them, on vGSW or real life?
If so, the GSW Ritual Club is the place for you! Check us out on the forums at https://www.greyschool.net/forum/gsw-ritual-club or drop me an email at doc@greyschool.com
In Memoriam
By Grey Matters Staff
We are deeply saddened to report the passing of Apprentice Wizard Myrddin Ravenwolf. Let us take a moment to pause in silent reflection to honor the memory of this Wizard.