Why Not WitchSchool? Part 3
Why Not WitchSchool? A Student's Perspective
Part 3

The Public Face

When I was doing my research for this article, one name seemed to come up over and over again: Ed Hubbard. Given that Hubbard has been a major impetus behind the creation of WitchSchool and now acts as its CEO, it is not surprising that his name is out in the forefront. Given that he is by far the most public face of WitchSchool, I was troubled by many of the comments that he has made in the past and present, both for their implications for the world in general and for paganism in specific. (42)

An Apocalyptic Viewpoint

Scare tactics have often been used by many religions throughout world history as a way to convince members of everything from safety in numbers to engaging in "first strike" warfare (the idea of get them before they get us). Probably the most troubling information that I found when reading the statements was an emphasis on the upcoming destruction of all things Pagan at the hands of zealot evangelical Christians. The CEO of WitchSchool suggests that if people do not fall in line with his prophecy, eventually they will be put to death by society.

"At phase 3 it will be to thoroughly challenge Wicca and Paganism. It is at this phase I believe we are currently in. . . Phase 4 is the real pisser. They will find a way to make a Wiccan, a Pagan, a Witch a criminal class. Not unlike the Hippies of the 60's, The Blacks of the 70's and continues, Gays in the 80's and so forth. . . . But Wiccans will be a special case, it won't be enough to marginalize them and create ghettos for them. The authorities with the urging a growing evangelical movement and media war progress, they will seek the high ground. Wiccans will become traitors, treason, terrorists, and worse. All of these will be executable offenses and long term imprisonment. After all, The evangelicals don't want us to survive, and we are the object lesson that they need renewed. Be a Witch and you will die."(43)

This form of extreme-sounding rhetoric is the same type of material that comes from the "radical Right" that Hubbard opposes. If we do not take the Pat Robertsons or Jerry Falwells of Christianity seriously for the radical speech they produce, can we take the Ed Hubbards of Correllianism seriously with comments such as this?

Correllian Spies in Your Midst?

According to the Witch Wars Defense Manual, the CEO of WitchSchool actively encourages and trains people to spy on other individuals and groups. (For what purpose, the book was not entirely clear.) According to Hubbard,

"Make your spying so natural that no one ever questions your behavior. . . .At this point, I am way to [sic] public to act as a spy, and people are always careful around me. So I must depend on others to do my spying for me. If I have trained them well, you may never know." (44)

In my opinion, this negates the idea of Perfect Trust, which may explain this interesting statement that might not be a typographical error. "No matter what battles I face, what wars I will fight in, and the face the testing of truth, I will work to preserve the knowledge we gained in pursuit of the ideal 'In Perfect Love and Perfect Truth.' That's the war I have fought for nearly two decades." (45)

Creating Paganland?

With the purchase of an old warehouse in the small town of Hoopeston, IL, the Correllians have set up a storefront to go along with their online school. When they first made an attempt to buy property for this purchase, many of the townspeople reacted strongly in opposition to the proposed sale. In the end, the town was receptive to the opening of a bookstore and, later, the main WitchSchool facility. How are the Correllians becoming good neighbors? "Ed Hubbard, CEO and director for the Witch School, hopes the business will serve as a tourist attraction as well as a place to educate those interested in Wiccan, Pagan and magical thought."(46) In addition, Hubbard has expressed plans to purchase another building in town, and set up apartments for more Pagans to move to Hoopeston.(47)

Hubbard's long-term vision of where he wants paganism to go should send chills through the people of small-town Hoopeston. In a general essay expressing his dream of the future for paganism, Hubbard writes, "In time we will move onto subjects including business development, governmental interaction, community development, urban planning, and even how to build whole economies for ourselves."(48) This does not sound like a way of coexisting with those different from ourselves, but rather a way to exercise power over others (or push them out of the way for a "Pagan future"). Do the people of Hoopeston really want economic revival at the cost of their ability to live comfortably in their own town?

With the opening of a bookstore, the main WitchSchool campus, a Craft botanical store, and more businesses in the works, will Hoopeston become a commercial witchcraft tourist destination--a "New Salem"?

Conclusion

Every tradition goes through growing pains from their inception through the end of their line. The severity of the growing pains is often proportional to the number of people who pass through or remain in the tradition. Ideally, a tradition will be able to develop an infrastructure capable of handling the needs of its membership before the membership grows beyond the means of the elders and their associates to care for the new members.

If their statistics can be taken at face value, the Correllians have 120,000 or active students of WitchSchool (49), although press releases indicate the number may be as high as 160,000 students(50). According to press releases, they have only 2,000 trained teachers or mentors.(51) That means they have, at best one mentor, for every 60 to 80 students, and 30 to 50 new students being added every day.(52) It is reasonable to expect that the quality of service for the individual students will be lacking due to the sheer size of the course load that every teacher would be expected to manage.

In many ways, the Correllian tradition and their WitchSchool.com site are the fast food of paganism. There is a focus on giving everyone identical product, quickly served, with emphasis on quantity over quality. Perhaps we as a society have grown to expect lower standards for aspects of our daily life. Personally, as a cooking gourmet, I would not recommend fast food chains for a quality meal. Nor, as a Craft "gourmet", would I recommend fast-food witchcraft for quality seekers. If an individual is looking for "McWicca," perhaps they can find their niche at WitchSchool. I personally cannot recommend WitchSchool.com or the Correllian tradition for serious seekers, however.

References:

42. Again, I would like to note that during my research, I was provided with anecdotal stories about Hubbard's personal life and behavior. Given that the scope of this article is on the Correllian tradition and WitchSchool only, I am not including that information in here. What a person does in his or her life is a personal concern, and what is deemed ethical or unethical behavior in one's personal life is a matter for private discussion. Should someone write up material that they wish to be included in this essay, I will gladly review the material and see if it warrants inclusion of a link.
43. Hubbard, Ed. Witch Wars Defense Manual, Hoopeston, IL: WitchSchool (2005), 59 (not available online).
44. Hubbard, Witch Wars Defense Manual, 36 (not available online).
45. Hubbard, Witch Wars Defense Manual, 61 (not available online).
46. "Witch school now open to the public," http://www.commercial-news.com/local/local_story_182084435.html (accessed July 4, 2006).
47. "A Day in the Life of Witch School, Part 2," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7CpL-v65C0 (accessed July 4, 2006).
48. Hubbard, Ed. "Pagan Juku," http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usil&c=words&id=10776 (accessed July 4, 2006).
49. "Witch School Opens Doors in Midwestern Town," http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2136578&page=1 (accessed July 4, 2006).
50. "Needed: 10,000 Wiccan Teachers by 2008," http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/06/prweb398876.htm (accessed July 4, 2006).
51. "Needed: 10,000 Wiccan Teachers by 2008," http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/06/prweb398876.htm (accessed July 4, 2006).
52. "Witch School Opens Doors in Midwestern Town," http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2136578&page=1 (accessed July 4, 2006).

Note: This is part three of a three-part essay. This essay and the other two sections are under a Creative Commons license as listed below. The essay may be reprinted without written permission from the author as long as the essay, references, and this notice are provided free of charge. All material quoted herein falls under Fair Use. Copies of the Correllian materials cited here can be purchased through the WitchSchool.com site. To maintain the integrity of the quoted material, all typographical errors in the quoted material have been faithfully reproduced. Special thanks to my anonymous source, a member of the Correllian clergy in good standing, for providing copies of the written materials cited in this document. About oaths: According to Don Lewis, Chancellor and First Priest of the Correllian Tradition, “We have always felt that spiritual information is to be shared.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5lu5bxEpM0) Thus, presentation of any of the material does not violate any oaths of secrecy, and I have never taken any oaths to the Correllian tradition at any time.


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