Witch School Third Degree
Lessons in the Correllian Tradition
Rev. Donald Lewis-Highcorrell
Llewellyn, PB, 316pp
Reviewed by John Canard
This book starts well, with some positive advice in chapter 1 on standards and behaviour. However I was disappointed to note subtle distinctions being made which imply Correllians are better than other Wiccans and should not be surprised by the bad behaviour of non-Correllians. This smacks a bit of cultish behaviour. Lesson 2 on appearance and presentation encourages people with advice on how to run effective workshops and ceremonies. I found the remark on not using scripts because it influenced rituals adversely fascinating, considering the number of Correllian videos I have watched on YouTube, where scripts are always heavily evident, and yes Highcorrell is right, they do adversely affect all the rituals!
The chapter on astral projection covers a reasonable amount of ground, though what is being discussed is very basic, it is not too bad. The same is true of the subsequent chapter on remote viewing, though why it needed to go off on the espionage tangent is anybody’s guess.
The chapter on the soul is thought-provoking as it raises a number of issues, such as the idea of parallel lives. Whilst I might disagree with some of the ideas, I like to read things that make me think and assess what informs my perceptions, and for that reason I enjoyed this chapter as a sounding board. I wish I could say the same for the chapter on time travel, but it came across as woooly thinking of a not at all convincing kind, citing the worst sort of examples like “sending healing back in time” which I view as being completely nonsensical and self-delusory.
The chapter on the Enneagram is interesting as it elaborates on the nine Monads which explain the Correllian creationist model. Attention is also paid to Gurdjieff’s Enneagram and how that can be tied in, returning to the eclectic nature of these practices. The next chapter is entitled Drawing Down the Moon and deals with oracular work. Again it is a basic and acceptable introduction, though the return to sniping at Wicca was a little tedious and unnecessary.
The chapter on Conscious Evolution brought a disturbing development with a discussion of humanity’s evolution into Thetans, a familiar theme for anyone who has read any L Ron Hubbard or Scientology. Why this model should have been adopted is a mystery, as I feel it is completely inappropriate to the context of the rest of the book. From here the last part of the book becomes a bit cultish and for me loses the plot, which is a shame as the earlier sections have some interesting material in.
