ATHOL – The spring equinox occurs Thursday, March 20, but Tintagels Gate/Flowerland wants to get a jump on the season.

To that end, Owner Diane DiPietro and her husband Pat are offering a course called Magic 101, which will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. each Wednesday from March 12 to April 30 at Tintagels Gate/Flowerland, 501 Main St., Athol.

“It is time to shake off the sluggish winter energy, regroup, gather and learn,” Diane DiPietro said.

Diane DiPietro has been teaching the class for 30 years, adding that it’s not the kind of magic most people think of when they hear the word.

“It’s a seven-week class,” she said. “It teaches people the basics of magic and witchcraft in general. It teaches people how to find their internal strength, their internal power and how to start utilizing it.

“It’s about self-discovery for the most part. We teach people how to do meditations on being able to control your brain, being able to control your thoughts, being able to use your thoughts to manifest better things for your life. We teach you how to heal other people and heal yourself using meditation; how to use the magic of candles and color and stone. Basically, how to harness the energy of the things that are around us to improve your lift and improve the lives of others.”

Asked if some people are taken aback when the word “witchcraft” is mentioned, Diane DiPietro responded with a chuckle, “Not the people who sign up for the class, no….This is not ‘pull a rabbit out of my hat.’ This is the Magic of Witchcraft 101, the very beginning, basically.”

And what was it that drew her to witchcraft?

“I was in my late 20s and I was looking for a real spiritual path and I was not finding it at any of the churches that I went to,” she said. “Then I met someone who was talking about paganism and magic and I thought, ‘That completely appeals to me.’ So, I took a class and here we are.”

On Sunday, April 13, Tintagels Gate/Flowerland will feature the program “Walking With Angels with Genevieve.”

“Genevieve is a psychic medium/reiki master,” Diane DiPietro explained. “It’s about guidance from angels and how to receive that guidance from angels. We’re not talking cherubs and that sort of thing, we’re talking about the archetypal beings – the Gabriels, the Michaels – that actual type of being.

Other programs coming up over the spring and summer include Beginning Tarot, Empowered Life Workshop, Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Level 1, Seance, Palmisty, Psychic Criminology, and Manifesting. For information call 978-830-4611 or 978-249-3057, or check Tintagels Gate on Facebook.