Meet Vivianne Crowley, Ph.D.
I am looking forward to teaching at Cherry Hill this fall. I am the author of many books on Wicca, Paganism and spiritual psychology, the most well-known being Wicca: A Comprehensive Guide to the Old Religion in the Modern World. I am a psychologist by profession and was formerly a professor at the University of London, teaching psychology of religion at Master’s level and supervising PhD students. With my husband Chris, I teach Wicca and the Western Magickal Tradition internationally and spend much of my time supporting those running and leading covens and magickal groups. I also do interfaith work in the UK for the Pagan Federation.
My journey to Wicca, like that of many people, began in childhood. I thought from an early age that I was a witch. My mother was psychic and I found she often communicated with me through telepathy. I thought that this was normal, but I soon learned that it was something that was best not talked about. I lived in a rural area and spent long hours playing in the woods, where I learned to tune in and communicate with the trees and I started to make altars and to create simple circle ceremonies to honour the spiritual presences in nature. I was discovering for myself what I call ‘natural religion’ – the innate desire of human beings to honour the Divine that is within and beyond the physical universe that we see around us.
In my quest for the spiritual, I explored the Catholicism of my Irish family and found that the Latin rituals could create a mystical sense of oneness with the Divine that was similar to what I found in nature, but I could not accept Christian beliefs. It was only when I was initiated into Wicca in my teens and found a magickal religion that honoured Goddess as well as God that I found my spiritual home. As well as Wicca, Kabbalah and Buddhism are strong influences on my personal practice, and I could describe myself as a Pagan Neoplatonist.
I am excited about teaching for the first time Master’s level programmes with groups of Pagan students. I hope that the programmes that I teach at Cherry Hill will help students to deepen their understanding of religious practice and the dynamics that influence Pagan groups. Psychology of Religion is an important discipline for religious leaders and clergy of all faiths in understanding their own spiritual journey and that of those whom they serve, and the issues of Death and Dying are some of the most sensitive and important that we care called upon to deal with in our ministry.
I looked forward to working with you all and hopefully meeting some of you face to face in the future.
Dr. Crowley joins Cherry Hill Seminary this fall to teach P6210 Psychology of Religion in a Pagan Context and ETP500 Call of the Dark Mother with Jennifer Bennett. For more information on these and other classes, please visit our courses page.
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