» FAQ

Do I have to do all three - witchcraft discussion, classes and role-playing?
No. If you only wish to be active in one of the three, that's fine.

Is everything completely free of charge?
Yes. We believe everyone should have an opportunity to learn, free of charge. All we ask is that you invest a bit of time and effort when you sign up for a course, as your teachers will.

Who teaches at Ynis Vedrin?
At the moment, we have two teachers, Professor Medeia and Lord Saris ap Llewellyn. Any member willing to make the time to teach a virtual class (design classes, moderate the class forum, grade assignments and answer student questions) is encouraged to submit a class concept to Headmistress Medeia.

How many courses should I register for?
All beginning students are encouraged to register for Disciplines of Magick only in their first term. This way, you will get a good overview of what is offered at the school and what interests you. Experience has shown that due to their Muggle lives, most students cannot make the time for more than three classes per term.

What is expected in the assignments?
Assignments vary, depending on the class you are taking. You get a lesson every week (10 per term) and submit assignments, which are graded with up to 100 points. Extra credit questions will be asked as well, which are not obligatory, but can get you extra house points. If you cannot meet a deadline, please contact your teacher and ask for an extension, otherwise you'll lose points.

What is the Student of the Month?
Every month, teachers vote for one student whose work has been extraordinary that month. But you can also get an Order of Merlin by accomplishing something special for the school.

What is magick?
Difficult question. I'll give you my personal view, you don't necessarily have to agree with it. First of all, magick by itself is free of any religion or ideology. In this context, magick is to be viewed as all practices with which a person tries to shape their surroundings according to their will in a way that is considered irrational by a scientific approach. Religion and magick are theoretically two very different things which are unrelated. In practice, however, virtually all religions use magickal practices, even when they are forbidden by official religious institutions or if they are not interpreted as magick. A practitioner of magick tries to keep harmful influences at bay. He or she tries to influence life and death, health and disease, fertility and barrenness." Religions use magick, knowingly and unknowingly. The concept of miracles is close to the idea of magick.

Is magick the same as Wicca?
No. Wicca is a religion. This group comprises followers of many different paths. You don't have to be Wiccan or even believe in magick to be at Ynis Vedrin. This works because we all have a fundamental respect of each other's beliefs.

Are most of the group members Wiccans?
No. This group comprises followers of many different paths. This works because we all have a fundamental respect of each other's beliefs. You don't have to agree with everything and everyone (life would be so boring!), but please treat others' beliefs with the same respect you want to be treated with.

Does magick contradict my faith?
This is definitely an answer you have to find for yourself. You are not the first person to ask and you won't be the last one. 

When I got first interested in witchcraft, I asked the same question. Then I started reading books. A lot of books. What I found is that I have been practicing witchcraft all my life without knowing it: I had a green tree with candles on it and exchanged gifts on December 25th (Winter solstice), I sent season's greetings with reindeers on them, I paint Easter eggs (Ostara), I visited my grandparents' graves the day after Halloween (Samhaim), I wore a cross (the cross used to be a Pagan symbol, though it was equal-armed there), I lit candles for those in need. Frankincense entered the church through Pagan tradition. Exchanging rings at a wedding is Pagan. Those traditions all were taken over by Christians from Pagans.There is a lot of magic in the Christian religion as well, although it is not called "magic" but "miracle". Pagan practitioners of wicca and witchcraft believe in the Divine Mind or Spirit, which is divided into a male and female aspect. Some Christians think witches contradict Christianity because of breaking the first commandment (that there is just one god); in fact, they are overlooking the female aspect in their own faith (such as the Mother Mary and the Magdalen, or the numerous saints in Catholicism).

Spells are a form of prayer. The main difference I see between spellcraft and prayer is that you usually prepare for a spell, buy ingredients, get into a meditative state, so witches are usually more focused when they do spells than most people are when they speak their Lord's Prayer in the church on Sunday. But both address a higher power and ask the divine mind to shape reality according to their needs and hopes. If you pray, you perform spells all the time. "Magic comes from life, and especially from emotions. They're a source of the same intangible energy that everyone can feel when an autumn moon rises and fills you with a sudden sense of bone-deep excitement, or when the first warm breeze of spring rushes past your face, full of the scents of life, and drowns you in a sudden flood of unreasoning joy. The passion of mighty music that brings tears to your eyes, and the raw, bubbling, infectious laughter of small children at play, the bellowing power of a stadium full of football fans shouting 'hey!' in time to that damned song - they're all charged with magic." (Jim Butcher) As I said, this is my personal view. I don't ask you to agree with it.

I've decided not to do any real spells.
That's ok. Just take a close look at the course list before you register. Please make sure you only register for classes that have a "no" under "Spellwork". None of our professors are getting paid for what they do, and it is simply a nuisance if you have people leaving classes in the middle of term for issues they have with spellwork.

Can I be a passive attender?
Passive attendency is not normally an option because you have to submit assignments to get house points. However, the last word on this has your course convenor.

Can I do role-playing only? Yes!