How do I learn more about Wicca?

Question

My buddy and I have been best buds for years and just recently he came out of the closet and told everyone he was gay. Just about everyone at church hates him now, and he told me he had been studying Wicca for quite some time now. And last night he invited me to a full moon ritual, and all I can say is WOW! It was not what I had expected. I didn't know what to expect! In one night, I felt more spiritual than I have in nineteen years of going to church. How can I learn more about Wicca? I really think I want to know more.

Answer 1

Here's a great website: http://bluemoonwicca.org/synopsis.html
On a separate note, many gay people are attracted to wicca because it is more accepting of such lifestyles, and they feel more welcome. They'd get hugs for coming out - not ostracizing.

Answer 2

I have been practicing Wicca for 20+ years. I've listed some books which will help you along in your quest for more knowledge of Wicca. You can also e-mail me by clicking on my screen name (Goblin g) to ask any questions that you may have. This is a private correspondence so no one, myself included, will see your actual e-mail address.

Wicca For Dummies (can be purchased at Borders Books)
To Ride A Silver Broomstick (can be purchased at Borders)
Wicca For Beginners (can be purchased at Borders Books)

Have a lovely rest of the day. Bright Blessings....

Answer 3

There are several good outlets to learn about Wicca. Its such an exciting journey.

First you can join a coven or study group that can help you with your studies. To find covens, study groups and social groups, here are some links.

http://www.witchvox.com/
http://www.meetup.com/
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Religion___Beliefs/Paganism
http://www.waningmoon.com/paganpersonals/

Secondly, you can get books on the subject (which I think is usually more reliable info than the web)

The Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland
True Magick by Amber K
To Ride a Silver Broomstick by Silver Ravenwolf
Making Magick by Edain McCoy
Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age by Vivienne Crowley
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practicioner by Scott Cunningham
Wicca for life: The Way of the Craft from Birth to Summerland by Raymond Buckland
Wicca for Men by AJ Drew
Elemental Magick by AJ Drew
Empowering you life With Wicca by Sirona Knight
The Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Ferrar
Earth Power by Scott Cunningham
Earth, Air, Fire, Water by Scott Cunningham
Everyday Magick by Dorothy Morrison

Thirdly, there are a few good reputable websites that can teach you more about the ways of the Craft

http://www.witchschool.com/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm
http://realmagick.com/articles/03/3.html
http://www.cog.org/

Lastly, there are some short videos I want you to see on different Wiccan/Pagan traditions and their dieities.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3494240522573978278&q=Burnt+Page
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2112695438336543016&q=Burnt+Page
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8636008658074614593&q=Burnt+Page
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5242937865873126465&q=Burnt+Page
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8908439228541178414&q=Burnt+Page
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9101767666136381149&q=Burnt+Page
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3195646180675960224&q=Wicca
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1700649324541488272&q=Wicca
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5137597989411536445&q=Paganism

I have been Wiccan for nearly 8 years. I, too, left Christianity and finally came upon my path to Wicca. I suggest you look at all the links I sent you and seriously consider joining a study group and purchase some books on the subject. In addition to the links I posted above, I will post some general research sites below.

Answer 4

Not only reading books and learning about it from webpages on the internet, but also by networking. The sites and books listed above are very wonderful (I use them myself), but you have to talk to other people of the Pagan religions to learn even more. I searched the net and found quite a few people to talk to...and they have a chat room thingy on Silver RavenWolf's website...wonderful people there to answer any questions you may have! E-mail or IM some of us, we'll help you! Or at least I will!!! :D I'm a solitary ecclectic, have been for pretty much all my life! Simply put, read books, do research, and talk to people!

Answer 5

There are many books and websites on the subject. I studied for a year before I converted. I hope you find a path that is right for you. Blessed be ( thats a Wiccan blessing).

Answer 6

Try these links:

http://witchvox.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wicca
http://witchipedia.org
http://witchschool.com

They're all helpful. Any specific questions can be asked out-right. :)

- 16 yo Pagan

Answer 7

hey!

Check out www.witchvox.com! Great site!

Email me with questions!!
<3

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

Gives some background, as well as other links and books that may be of further interest.

Answer 9

JOIN THE CHURCH OF CHEWBACCA TODAY! WE WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY MY CHILD! WAIT.... Did you say you had a gay friend? Never mind PRANK CALL> PRANK CALL!

Answer 10

You learn more by reading, Wicca is a priesthood an oathbound as such you will only be able to learn about Wicca through outer-court teachings - unless you became Wicca yourself.

The problem is a lot of people are very ignorant about Wicca and spread that ignorance to others, they believe they are Wicca and that you can be Wicca without initiation, this is not the case - this all leads to a lot of missinformation and it can take many years of study before you can determine reliable information from nonsense.

Here are some book and web site suggestions;

BOOKS ON WICCA:

The Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook - Janet & Stewart Farrar.
The Witches' God - Janet and Stewart Farrar
The Witches' Goddess - Janet and Stewart Farrar
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft - Ronald Hutton.
Witchcraft Today - Gerald B. Gardner.
Witchdom of the True - Edred Thorsson
Wicca: the Old Religion in the New Milennium - Vivianne Crowley
Advanced Wiccan Spirituality - Kevin Saunders
The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the Wiccan Circle - Deborah Lipp
What Witches Do - Stewart Farrar


BOOKS ON NEO-WICCA:

Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic - by Phyllis W. Curott
Positive Magic - Marion Weinstein
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner - Scott Cunningham
The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition - Dianne Sylvan
Book of Shadows - Phyllis Curott
The Second Circle - Venecia Rauls
The Heart of Wicca: Wise Words from a Crone on the Path - Ellen Cannon Reed
Evolutionary Witchcraft - T. Thorn Coyle
The Wiccan Path: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner - Rae Beth
21st Century Wicca - Jennifer Hunter
Witchcraft: A Concise Guide - Isaac Bonewits
Way of Four - Deborah Lipp


WICCA WEB SITES:


http://amberandjet.spiralpaths.org/ - Amber & Jet - British traditional Wicca e-mail list.

http://www.cyprian.org/Articles/gardchron.htm - Gardnerian Chronology and Bibliography - An extensively researched timeline.

http://www.wargoddess.net/index.php - Enyo`s Workshop - Historical information on pre-Christian societies, essays on Wicca and Witchcraft, website reviews.

http://wicca.timerift.net/ - Wicca: For the Rest of Us - Seeds of a Wicca countermovement.

http://www.starkindler.org/ - StarFire Rising - Learn About Wicca and The Starkindler tradition.

http://www.asiya.org/ - Asiya`s Shadows - Wicca and magick informational resources.

http://www.whywiccanssuck.com - Why Wiccans Suck - Anti-fluffbunny rant.

http://www.newwiccanchurch.net - New Wiccan Church International - International association of various traditions of Wicca.

http://members.tripod.com/~Moonpfyr/gardnerian.html - Gardnerian Tradition - A description of the tradition.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/2416/wildrose.html - Wild Rose Outer Grove - Pagan teaching group sponsored by a Gardnerian coven.

http://members.shaw.ca/stoneandcauldron/ - Coven Of The Stone And Cauldron - Gardnerian teaching coven.

http://www.oldeenchantments.com/coven/ - The Hollywood Coven - Traditional Gardnerian coven.

http://www.geocities.com/DesertHenge - Desert Henge - A Traditional Wiccan site that focuses on Gardnerian Witchcraft.

http://www.geocities.com/firestonecoven/ - Firestone Coven - Small, dual lineage Gardnerian/Alexandrian coven.

http://draknet.com/proteus/proteus.html - Proteus Coven’s Webspace - A liberal Gardnerian site offering resources.

http://belladonna.hypermart.net/Sage-and-Sickle/index.html - Sage & Sickle Coven - Gardnerian Tradition “Outer Court” teaching coven.

http://paganwiccan.about.com/ - PaganWiccan - Pagan-Wiccan Religion

http://www.cogcoa.ab.ca/ - Covenant of Gaia - Wiccan church.

http://www.chasclifton.com/ - Chas Clifton - Chas Clifton’s Writing on Paganism, Wicca, and Nature Religion

http://www.ravenwood.com/coven.htm - Ravenwood - Gardnerian Coven, NY Line.

http://www.avalonia.co.uk - Avalonia - Information on Wicca, including Free Lessons for newbies and articles.

http://www.rosemoon.com/ - Rosemoon - Rose Moon coven home page.

http://www.geocities.com/k_garber/wicway.html - The Wiccan Way - This page contains information about Witchcraft and Wicca.

http://www.wildideas.net/temple/ - The Temple - Part of Wild Ideas.

http://www.candledark.net/silver/ - Pour Down Like Silver - Pictish, Celtic Path, Futhark, Wiccan, Pagan site.

http://www.thewellhead.org.uk/ - The Wellhead - Alexandrian coven, provide information, essays and articles.

http://dasa.on.ca/qs/ - Quicksilver Site - Quicksilver Coven, of the Halifax Alexandrian Line.

http://www.gis.net/~nagel/grovepage/ - Page of the Mists - Grove of the Mists, Lady Morwynna’s Alexandrian Coven.

http://www.geocities.com/gwydionfl/ - Pagan Place - Website for the Traditional Witch and those interested in British Traditional Wicca

http://www.geocities.com/reikihealer2001/ - NFTD - Traditional Alexandrian coven

http://www.nectw.org/ - N.E.C.T.W. - New England Coven of Traditionalist Witches.

http://www.doreenvaliente.com - Doreen Valiente 1922-1999 - Home page of the late Doreen Valiente.

http://www.boniface.us/CTW/index.html - Compact of Traditional Wicca - Discussion on Wicca traditionalists and liberals.

http://www.pagansunite.com/ - Witch/Pagan Resources - Neopagan info, rituals, editorials.

http://www.geocities.com/thespiraloak/ - The Spiral Oak - Tons of essays, rituals, and crafts, focusing on Wicca and `Green Witchcraft`.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4177/ - Manor-House For Wiccan Studies - Wiccan basics, herbal magick, kitchen witchery, BOS.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sjgavula/wiccahist.html - History of Wicca in England - Examines Gardner`s claim of traditional initiation.

http://geocities.com/sphinxmuse/wicca/index.html - Wiccan Religion - Essays on the religious aspects of Wicca, mythology, and book reviews.

http://davensjournal.com/index.htm?Header.xhtml&0 - Daven`s Journal - Site from a former Wiccan and now-Druid, teaching classes in OOBE and high magick.

http://www.pangaeasanctuary.org/darkwood/ - Darkwood of PanGaea - Warrior/Guardian Fam-Trad.

http://www.wicca.utvinternet.com/ - Wicca na hErin - The Home Pages of Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone

http://www.tryskelion.com/ - Tryskelion - Information regarding alternative religions in general; Wicca and other forms of Paganism.

http://www.mothersmagic.net/ - Breathless Noon - Explores Wicca and Wiccan theology, and download a free Wicca book.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm - Wicca, the religion - Entry from religioustolerance.org

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/religions/wicca/faq/ - Wicca FAQ - Alt.Religion.Wicca Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

http://www.allonewicca.com/ - All one Wicca - A study in The Universal Eclectic Tradition of Wicca.

http://www.cuew.org/cffn/index.html - Coven of the Far Flung Net - CFFN was the internet`s first true online coven when it was chartered in 1997.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/gbos/index.htm - Gardnerian Book of Shadows - Supposed Gardnerian Book of Shadows.

http://www.paganspath.com/ - The Pagan`s Path - A free online spiritual education center offering studies, classes and lectures.

http://www.rantingwitches.com/ - The Ranting Witches - Witches ranting on the state of modern Wicca.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca - Wicca - Definition of Wicca from Wikipedia.

http://janus.spawnfar.net/ - The Janus Gate - Information on Wicca and Neo-wicca.

http://www.hiddenmuse.com/ - Hidden Muse - Alexandrian Wicca informaiton.

http://www.geraldgardner.com/ - Gerald Gardner - Gerald Gardner home page.

http://beaufort.bravepages.com/index.html - Beaufort House`s TradList - Genealogical 'site index' of the English Craft Traditions

http://www.tradwicca.org/beginnings.html - A Traditional Alexandrian Coven - A Traditional Alexandrian Coven

http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/rede.shtml - The Wiccan Rede - A Historical Journey.

http://www.glasstemple.com/home/ - Glass Temple - Wiccan & Pagan Beginner Information

http://www.witchipedia.org - Witchipedia - Pagan, Wiccan, Heathen and Occult information sharing resource.


You may also find my http://www.blinklist.com/Tarnished_Sprout/pagan - Pagan Links useful too, also if you look to the left there should be a load of sub-categories to look through too.