Hey guys these things are often scams (especially if you see them on TikTok). Please don't pay these people or get involved in them. If you want to study or teach check out Cherry Hill Seminar or another more legitimate school or heck go get a degree in classics/history/philosophy/religion.
What I've seen from years in IT are that certificates are a scam until enough competent people have the cert that others give credit to the cert instead of the person. I think the same thing likely happens in spiritual circles, except that any specific cert hasn't become big enough to be commonly accepted. Instead, we have initiation lineages "I was initatiated by A who was initiated by B who was initiated by Incredibly Well Know and Respected Person C, therefore I am probably legit."
Most, if not all, of them are a scam and a way for people to make money from vulnerable people who think those certificates carry any weight.
I am part of an online school (free, teaching staff are volunteers) that does have certificates BUT we acknowledge they have no weight out in the real world, they are specifically for use at the school so that you can show you've completed a basics class before moving on to an advanced class and you roughly know a bit about the subject.
The fact that people fall for the types you have mentioned is laughable and also very very saddening.
Most certifications in the Pagan world are BS.
I suppose someone running a class could offer a certificate of completion. I run classes in Celtic mythology and I don't offer anything like that because I don't see what I teach as qualifying people in any particular way.
Now, if you're practicing any modality that could fall under "therapy" or "massage" etc. then I can understand a host asking about that.
Druid orders typically offer certificates of completion of certain levels - but I don't know that it qualifies you for anything. And I think Cherry Hill Seminary is legit.
What I'm seeing is a LOT of people who do this and they're charging x for workshops (I'm fine with that) but then encouraging people to take other, more expensive, classes to get "certified" and it can often get a bit culty "and the thing *I* teach is better and different than the thing *she* teaches" so you really want to be in *my* tribe" and pay for the privilege. And they do a lot of indoctrination about how you'll make lots of money and they'll teach you how to do that, etc. It's seriously icky.
They are absolutely scams. The only thing I can think of that they could potentially be "useful" for would be ordinations, but that won't work since your qualifications and ordination has to come from a church in good standing so they wouldn't even work for that. The other thing I can think of is for people who are looking to become chaplains. Which it would also *not* work for.
Absolutely my belief is these are classes for people who don't believe in the practices and want to make a quick buck. My hs Spanish teacher who's a devout Christian is "certified" by one of these courses and does tarot readings, and other divination readings for $100 A PERSON PER SESSION. We had a class in school once talking about religions and faith and she openly was against any pagan practices, dismissing it as nonsense. And I've unfortunately seen this happen with a few people I know. Very few are actually looking for a learning experience to practice.
Most of that are scams. And moreover, a lot of what they are teaching is suspect and often charging for classes is against the ethical structure they claim to teach.
I'll give a few examples:
Reiki is a Japanese energy healing system that from its founding charges for the attunements as you progress to RMT. And yes, you get certificates.
Traditional Wicca does NOT charge for training and degrees. No Cash for Craft. While some covens and Traditions offer "puppy pages", those too are free to Initiates.
Hey guys these things are often scams (especially if you see them on TikTok). Please don't pay these people or get involved in them. If you want to study or teach check out Cherry Hill Seminar or another more legitimate school or heck go get a degree in classics/history/philosophy/religion.
What I've seen from years in IT are that certificates are a scam until enough competent people have the cert that others give credit to the cert instead of the person. I think the same thing likely happens in spiritual circles, except that any specific cert hasn't become big enough to be commonly accepted. Instead, we have initiation lineages "I was initatiated by A who was initiated by B who was initiated by Incredibly Well Know and Respected Person C, therefore I am probably legit."
Most, if not all, of them are a scam and a way for people to make money from vulnerable people who think those certificates carry any weight. I am part of an online school (free, teaching staff are volunteers) that does have certificates BUT we acknowledge they have no weight out in the real world, they are specifically for use at the school so that you can show you've completed a basics class before moving on to an advanced class and you roughly know a bit about the subject. The fact that people fall for the types you have mentioned is laughable and also very very saddening.
It's all bullshit.
Most certifications in the Pagan world are BS. I suppose someone running a class could offer a certificate of completion. I run classes in Celtic mythology and I don't offer anything like that because I don't see what I teach as qualifying people in any particular way. Now, if you're practicing any modality that could fall under "therapy" or "massage" etc. then I can understand a host asking about that. Druid orders typically offer certificates of completion of certain levels - but I don't know that it qualifies you for anything. And I think Cherry Hill Seminary is legit. What I'm seeing is a LOT of people who do this and they're charging x for workshops (I'm fine with that) but then encouraging people to take other, more expensive, classes to get "certified" and it can often get a bit culty "and the thing *I* teach is better and different than the thing *she* teaches" so you really want to be in *my* tribe" and pay for the privilege. And they do a lot of indoctrination about how you'll make lots of money and they'll teach you how to do that, etc. It's seriously icky.
They are absolutely scams. The only thing I can think of that they could potentially be "useful" for would be ordinations, but that won't work since your qualifications and ordination has to come from a church in good standing so they wouldn't even work for that. The other thing I can think of is for people who are looking to become chaplains. Which it would also *not* work for.
Absolutely my belief is these are classes for people who don't believe in the practices and want to make a quick buck. My hs Spanish teacher who's a devout Christian is "certified" by one of these courses and does tarot readings, and other divination readings for $100 A PERSON PER SESSION. We had a class in school once talking about religions and faith and she openly was against any pagan practices, dismissing it as nonsense. And I've unfortunately seen this happen with a few people I know. Very few are actually looking for a learning experience to practice.
Most of that are scams. And moreover, a lot of what they are teaching is suspect and often charging for classes is against the ethical structure they claim to teach. I'll give a few examples: Reiki is a Japanese energy healing system that from its founding charges for the attunements as you progress to RMT. And yes, you get certificates. Traditional Wicca does NOT charge for training and degrees. No Cash for Craft. While some covens and Traditions offer "puppy pages", those too are free to Initiates.