Grey School Conclave BY: MOONWRITER
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Whispering Grey Matters Spring 2006 rey School O F W I Z A R D R Y “A MAGICKAL WHISPER SPOKEN IN EVERY WORD.” G 02 GREY SCHOOL OF WIZARDRY 07 NEWS 17 OPINION 18 INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 2 ! VOLUME 2 ! SPRING 2006 18 ARTS & CULTURE MaW h its p etr ien g Grr e ys A COOPERATIVE EFFORT OF TEACHERS, STUDENTS, AND WIZARDS DEVELOPING A SOUND FOUNDATION OF WIZARDRY FOR ALL G R E Y S C H O O L O F W I Z AR D R Y FIRST EVER: Grey School Conclave BY: MOONWRITER What has 120 legs, NEW CLASSES, MAJORS, & Faculty participants include Crow Dragontree, Morgan Felidae, MINORS! 60 wands, and a Rainmaker, WillowRune, and Moonwriter. Aaran and Kalla, the current Lodge Captain and Vice Lodge Captain, will also attend. really big bubble The Grey School curriculum con- tinues to expand. In the past several shield? This is a camping experi months, dozens of new classes have The participants at the First ence—everyone will be been added. One Major—the Major Grey School Conclave! tenting under the stars in Lore—is fully developed and and cooking their own ready to be earned, with a Major in On July 20-23, 2006, sixty meals, and everyone will Wortcunning in progress. In addi- Grey School students, faculty, supply their own gear, tion, several Minors—Lore, Nature friends, and family will meet at food, etc. Cost is esti Studies, Beast Mastery, and Wort- Silver Falls State Park mated at $25/person. cunning—are available now to (Oregon) for the Oregon Con- clave. A few spots are still avail students. able. If you’re interested The event begins on Thursday in joining the group, email Each Grey School student chooses afternoon and runs through Moonwriter at Moon a Major and Minor after reaching Sunday. A long list of activities Second Year and before passing on is planned, including hikes, to Third Year. The Major defines nature study, star study, rune- Check your email the student’s “specialty” during the making, wand-crafting, outdoor Grey School experience, while the cooking classes, ritual, and a for updates about Minor covers an area of secondary Bardic circle. Houses and the first ever interest. Lodges will have time to spend together. We’ll have use of a Grey School The requirements for Majors and Day Lodge and will have a Minors can be found on the Depart- magickal library on-site as well Conclave! ment pages. Go to the student log- as a magick market of wares in page, but before logging in, click and goodies. the “Departments” link in the left- side menus. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Whispering Grey Matters Spring 2006 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 GSW Awards: NEW CLASSES... Silver Wheel, Grand Society of Astronomy By Moonwriter For more information on Majors and Minors, contact the Dean of the appro- priate Department. The name of the Dean is available on the Department Kalla, a Fifth Year mem- House, earned the first- Details about the awards page. ber of the Stones Lodge, ever spot in the Grey and the requirements for has earned the “Silver Also, if you’re a First Year and have School’s “Grand Society each are listed in the ap- already decided on a Major and Mi- Wheel” award for excel- of Cosmology.” To do pendices of the Grey nor, Prof. Barrette asks that you let the lence in studying the Sea- this, he finished classes School Student Hand- Department Dean know—this infor- sonal Traditions of the in the Cosmology depart- book, downloadable from mation will help the faculty with plan- Wheel of the Year. Kalla ning and developing new Majors and ment and then undertook http:// Minors. completed all four Wheel a special Star Quest, as- www.dragontreemagick.c classes, wrote a reflective signed by the Dean of om/ essay, and contributed Cosmology and Meta- GSWHandbookSTU- materials to be added to physics. DENT.pdf. the four classes. G R E Y S C H O O L O F W I Z A R D R Y WHISPERING Dark Eagle, a Third Year The Grey School cur- GREY MATTERS member of the Undines rently offers six special NEWSLETTER departmental awards. STAFF: News Editor: Jymi X/0 News Writers: Lilyth, Katalan, New versions of Grey School Handbook available! Padraigin, Majashia Opinion Editor: Deianaera Opinion Writers: Artwizard, We regularly update the Grey School Handbooks—one version for students and another Loneci, Essel Del for faculty. Currently, we plan to publish updated versions four times each year, on the International Editor: Helega Aus- equinoxes and solstices. trinorum Africae International Writers: Aguila, Gaia Arts & Culture Editor: Skye The latest version has been reorganized and includes a wealth of information to help you Arts & Culture Writers: Majashia, find your way around the school. In addition, a group of appendices has been added to Luna, Lord Akisho, Hikari the Black, summarize useful information. This includes a new “Student Record Sheet,” where stu- Murddin Earthdragon dents can keep track of their progress here in the Grey School. Copy Editor: Wolf Loresight Copy Staff: Magus Publisher/Lead: Eothyll The handbook can be downloaded from http://www.dragontreemagick.com/ Acting Advisor/Quasi-Editor: GSWHandbookSTUDENT.pdf. Note that this link is preserved in the Great Hall, under Moonwriter the “Grey School Business” topic. Special thanks to Jonathan Fresmire and Eothyll for their artwork contri- butions! STONES AND UNDINES WIN THE create a gorgeous, picture-filled document summarizing their results. Not content to simply focus on bird watching, they also delved into ornithomancy CHRISTMAS AUDOBON BIRD COUNT (bird-related divination) and learned to craft dream catchers using discarded bird feathers. Along the way, they involved the rest of the Stones Lodge with CONTEST riddles, fireside tidbits, and general chatter. By Moonwriter The Audubon Christmas Bird Count is the oldest and largest citizen sci- Filling out the field was the Winds team—the Windy Blue Jays (Prefect Vi and ence event in the world, lasting from December 14 through January 5 Padraigin Anie Hermonie). The Winds overcame technical glitches and some each year. Thanks to Professor Barrette, three Grey School House and teamwork issues to make a surprisingly strong showing, and were able to Lodge teams took part in the First Annual Grey School Christmas Bird contribute their experiences and discoveries. Count Challenge. The Grey School faculty plans to organize the reports and observations from The House competition was won by the Undines team—the Daring Dol- the challenge into a class on Bird Watching (Dept. of Beast Mastery). Watch phins (Prefect Dark Eagle, ShadowDragon, and NightWeaver). The Dol- for it to appear in the Course Catalog. phins shared a wide variety of experiences and reported on a range of birds from grebes to hawks to geese to gnatcatchers. They also hung a Thanks to Prof. Dragontree, the Stone’s winning report can be downloaded bird feeder and created a team banner for their team. from http://www.dragontreemagick.com/GSW%20Bird%20Challenge%201.pdf (note: older browsers may have trouble with this; if so, email Prof. Moonwriter The Lodge competition was dominated by the Stones team—the Boda- at [email protected] for a copy). In the report you’ll read about cious Burrowing Owls—including Cashew, Xander, Prefect Kalla, and ravens, burrowing owls, great blue herons, and sharp-shinned hawks, as well Flock Leader Luna. Over the challenge period they participated in birding as discovering the details of each member’s personal birding experiences. activities and events in two countries, and used their experiences to CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 2 Whispering Grey Matters Spring 2006 The Earth Day Challenge CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 STONES AND UN- Is Coming! By: Moonwriter DINES WIN THE CHRISTMAS AU- It’s almost that time The event was won by the Stones become closer to my housemates. Lodge and Sylphs House. In truth, DOBON BIRD again…. Time for the every participant was a winner. As I know more about them, and they Second Annual Earth Cyclone member Majashia put it, know more about me. We had to COUNT CONTEST Day Challenge! “This experience has contributed to my learning at GSW. Honest, cooperate and communicate to do You’ll also read some interest- direct questions about nature and the challenge. Now I'm even more Earth Day, created as a reminder ing background on the Bird the earth were provided to us to comfortable talking in the forums. of humanity's collective responsi- help us gain an appreciation for Count, see beautiful pictures, bility to protect our planet, is gen- the processes around us that so The Earth Day Challenge was and get quick lessons in orni- erally celebrated on April 22. Last many forget and are unaware of. very fun to do…I am looking for- thomancy and making dream year, six Grey School House and This challenge was meaningful ward to it next year!” Lodge teams took part in a mega- because it went beyond the rheto- catchers. challenge that celebrated Earth ric and had us connect to other Day and lasted for the two-week points of view.” The Challenge is ramping up for a Congratulations to everyone period leading up to April 22. repeat performance again this Working Stiff Luna said, year, and Houses and Lodges who worked hard on this chal- Last year’s teams included The “Participating in the challenge was should be thinking about putting lenge—they not only sup- Firebirds (Flames Lodge: Adam, the most intense, natural high that together teams for the event. Each ported their House/Lodge Andela, Hannegal Skye, Huntress, I have experienced…Yesterday, I team must have a minimum of 3 and Whiskerwind), The Working felt sadness and loss similar House/Lodge members.