---

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 756 • Posted: Tuesday September 10, 2002  

---

Ananova, Sep. 9, 2002
http://www.ananova.com/

Europe’s first school for witches and wizards has opened in Austria.

Students can take a six-semester course, including learning to make potions and cast spells, ending in a “sorcerers’ diploma.”

The school is located in the mountains of Klagenfurt in southern Austria.

“Wizardry is very close to nature and is in no way a form of religion,” said school director Andreas Starchel, who also calls himself Dakaneth.

“The school’s aim is to pass on witches’ and wizards’ ancestral knowledge, which is gradually being forgotten,” says the school’s website.

The school caters for three classes of students. This year up to 15 sorcerers’ apprentices will be taught astrology, magic, history of magic, meditation and divination and later put their theoretical studies into practice: preparing potions, making talismans and performing rituals.

Having completed a final examination and a dissertation, the student witches and wizards receive a “veneficus certificate” to mark their qualification.

A spokesman added: “In the past, witches and wizards were people recognised by society, who used their divining powers and learning to mediate between the visible and invisible worlds.

“Etymologically, ‘witch’ means someone who is on the border between our world and the beyond,” he added, saying the aim of the courses was “to restore contact with nature, which has been lost by our society.”

That means that Celtic and druidic learning and nature studies play a large part in Starchel’s teachings. Stories of the legendary Lord Voldemort and classes in Defence Against the Dark Arts featured in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books do not.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Witchcraft Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Witchcraft Read Another Article Previous entry: Polygamist Leader Rulon T. Jeffs Dies Next entry: Pilgrims queue to see Perth’s weeping Virgin Mary RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Witchcraft Most Popular Today I know the dark side of Scientology…I almost lost my friend when she became obsessed with it Church of Scientology told to drop Churchill images

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.