Which Requirements Do I Have To Meet In Order To Start A Distance Course?

You must be at least 21 years old. Accordingly, we ask you to send us a photocopy of your identity card or driver’s license.

We recommend that you have a remote, personal and non-binding get to know call with your future course mentor before starting your distance learning course with the trial semester. You can then decide whether you are happy with our training concept. Such a personal introduction costs a flat fee of $10 and is limited to 30 minutes.

Furthermore, the most essential prerequisite to succeed in our course is your Faustian will to achieve the goal you have set yourself. This, in turn, only works with a good amount of discipline, strong intrinsic motivation and sharp ethics.

How Much Does IMBOLC’s Distance Learning Cost?

This depends on the selected service package.

IMBOLC differentiates between four Modules, and several options for tuition. You can find all details on our page on Course Prices here.

What Does IMBOLC’s Study Curriculum Consist Of?

We provide an introduction on what to expect in our distance learning Study Course in our section on ‘How This Works’.

Further specific questions on this topic can be clarified during the get to know chat with your future course mentor.

How Long Does The Entire Distance Learning Course Last?

Since you determine the pace of your progress, this is entirely up to you. Obviously, it also depends on how many semesters or modules you aspire to complete.

Some students might complete all modules in as little study time as as eight years, others require far more. It depends entirely on personal preferences and daily practice routines.

In distance learning, you decide for yourself how fast you want to make progress within one semester. Therefore the duration of the distance learning course depends on your suitability, your commitment, and the magical degree you would like to achieve (see point 5). There are students who achieved their aspired personal goal already after completing only the *Introductory Course*, or others who take a break of a few months after completing a particularly demanding study semester.

Ultimately, haste and stress should never be the drivers that push you forward into magic, but rather muse, will, and motivation. What matters is the self-imposed quality of work on the *rough stone*, that is, on the self.

How Is The Training Structured?

The entire Study Course system is divided into 11 modules, or one trial semester and 10 double semesters. The curriculum aligns both to the traditional degree system of the old guilds as well as to the kabbalistic Tree of Life.

How Do The Exams At IMBOLC Work?

While you can decide independently on your study pace, in order to receive the next lesson plan (which we call Teaching Letter) you have to successfully pass the previous practical and theoretical exam.

We offer detailed preparation for each exam: On the one hand through the design of the lesson plan itself, as well as through secondary literature and a multitude of control questions which you can work through at home to prepare yourself optimally. On the other hand, your course mentor will always be there for additional feedback and advise.

All exams can be taken remotely.

Can I Start My Training At Any Time?

You, can start your distance learning course on the first day of each month.

Can I Also Start With A More Advanced Module If I Am Already Well Versed In Magic?

No. You can only start our distance learning course with the very first course, called the trial semester. If, however, you have the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities, you will progress quickly in this first course.

We have taken this approach since 1992. It has served our students very well, ensuring each one of them received the same thorough foundations of theoretical and practical magical skills.

How Do I Cancel The Distance Learning Course?

You can cancel your training at IMBOLC without giving reasons by the end of each semester. This means, in six months intervals at the end of your current training semester, regardless of which course or Module you are currently enrolled in.

Just like with any other university, tuition fees already paid for the current semester are not paid back pro rata.

How Much Time per Week Should I Spend Working with the Teaching Material?

This is of course entirely your decision. From several decades of experience supporting our students we can give you only a general indication: Student satisfaction is normally the best if you can dedicate 8-10 hours per week to your Lesson Plan during the first semester, the trial semester. From there onwards, it would be ideal to invest 10-12 hours per week. Following a regular rhythm of 1-2 hours per day ensures steady progress, continued magical growth, and a strong sense of self-efficacy.

Your study rhythm will also depend on the subject matter to be taught, your aptitude as well as the accomplished level of integration into your everyday and working life.

An over investment of time in the basic course, for example, can be counterproductive. Newcomers to the fascinating and wide field of magic can easily loose themselves in the subject. Then they have inadequate foundations (e.g. integration into everyday life, the balance of ratio vs. first-hand experience) and, in the case of excessive magical activity, they can run the risk of paying too little attention to their everyday reality, and losing themselves in a magical fantasy realm.

IMBOLC strongly advises against this, and advocates for a healthy integration and mutual balance of your magical practice and study with your mundane everyday life.

What Materials Do the Lesson Plans Include?

This can vary slightly, depending on the Module you select (see Course Prices). In general we offer the following services as part of our distance learning Study Course:

a) Personal Support

Upon request, you will be assigned a personal mentor from the first day of your distance learning course, who will answer your questions by email. Some students prefer to work all by themselves, only with the written material and that is perfectly fine.

b) Training Documents

You will receive comprehensive training documents, called Teaching Letters (abbreviated as ‘TL’), which contain both theoretical knowledge lessons as well as practical exercises.

Each semester usually includes two TL’s, and each of them was designed to be accomplished within three months without time pressure. The only exception is the trial semester, which provides for only one teaching letter, which is designed to be accomplished in 6 months.

c) Specific Control Questions And Control Exercises Per Teaching Letter

As soon as you feel that you have satisfactorily completed a TL, you can work through the associated control questions and control exercises. This allows you to independently check whether the knowledge you have acquired and the related exercises are being mastered to IMBOLC’s standards.

d) One Theoretical & One Practical Examination per Teaching Letter

If you believe that you have internalized the information in a TL and that you can accomplish the practical exercises described in it, you can register for a theoretical and practical examination.

In this way, you will always be able to determine your level of knowledge and experience. The completion and passing of these two exams is the prerequisite for the receipt of the next TL in the next course.

e) Supplementary Writings & Teaching Materials

On request – and depending on the service package you select – we will send you additional writings, audio files about magic, and works in the fields of Magic, Hermetic Philosophy, and Kabbala at regular intervals.

We hold an extensive collection of more than 20,000 works and books in PDF format, many of them rare and unpublished. These writings are, of course, not relevant for examinations and should serve to expand your world views, which in turn will benefit your magical studies and the associated paradigms.

f) Remote Meetings With Other Distance Learning Students Of The Same Course…

… to swap notes on your work with the Teaching Letters, the distance learning course overall or magic in general, and sometimes also on private lives and one’s integration of magic into everyday reality. Participation is optional.

g) Weekly Calls Or Remote Meetings With Your Mentor…

… to ask questions or to clarify problems of a general or specialized nature relating to your current Teaching Letter.

How Long Do I Have To Study To Become A So-Called “Magus”?

There is no one size fits all answer to this question. As mentioned, at IMBOLC you no longer have to adapt to a specific learning pace, such as during your school or university days, which often can be too slow or too fast. You are a mature adult, and you decide how fast you want to progress in your distance learning. A rough time frame is only the recommended period of study per course module.

The duration may also depend on your suitability, your previous knowledge, and the associated skills and abilities you have already learned. The question “When do I become a magician?” is much less important than understanding “What do I learn about myself as part of my studies” and “What have I integrated into everyday practice?”

From our point of view: If you have completed our last Teaching Letter, you are considered to be a Grandmaster, an “Archmage” or “Illuminate” within the framework of the IMBOLC training system – your training will thus be deemed to be completed with us.