do you prefer to practice alone or in a coven, and how did you get started in the first place, what drew you to Wicca.
2006-09-06 05:45:43 · 8 answers · asked by jlb 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I have been feeling very drawn to Wicca for a long time but don't know really how to get started any advice. Serious answers only please.
2006-09-06 06:14:58 · update #1
I'm not Wicca, I did however train to become Wicca and converted to Neo-wicca two weeks before my initiation because I prefered to practice alone - to repay my coven I helped them to teach new Seekers [people wishing to become Wicca - 'seeking' a coven to join] so have some experience in guiding those new to Wicca.
General tips would fall into – study study study – with a lot of misinformation about Wicca it is easy for people to fall into thinking they are Wicca when in fact they are not, I have honestly met people who have called themselves Wicca for 10 years without actually realising they are not Wicca as until that point they had been unable or unwilling to step out of their comfort zone to study further into Wicca past their bad sources they had been used to for so long. Don't fall into that trap, Wicca is a constant learning path and it is no good closing yourself off to new information that challenges your current ideas on what Wicca is – although misinformation is hardly a positive there is at least one thing to be said of misinformation about Wicca, it helps determine those serious about becoming Wicca from those unwilling.
With that said there are things to avoid – Wicca is an initiate-only oath-bound priesthood working within a pagan mystery tradition, generally if a book or web site says otherwise they are not a reliable source, there are other signs to avoid such as people who use the spelling 'magick' are often uneducated themselves, people who use mechanical magic (i.e. copying spells from books or each other) – that is not to say these sources cannot teach you something. You will find most people will pooh-pooh people such as Horne, Ravenwolf, Buckland, etc. however valid their complaints are there are often some parts of their writing that are valid, and if nothing else you can use these as a test to your own knowledge as the more you study the more you can tell the reliable information from the nonsense.
Get yourself into a good forum, you will find many forums are filled with people who look to Wicca as an escape from Christianity or as a fashionable title, however there are some groups around that do have Wicca that have a strong community that can help you study and guide you in the right direction – Amber & Jet being a prime example of this. Another idea would be to find yourself local Pagan contacts or go along to local pagan meetings to form study groups, find a coven, find a teacher, or simply have a community to support you or just chit-chat with (a note here, study should come before training, or else you won't know who is really knowledgeable on the subject and who is not when it comes to finding a teacher or coven).
With that I suppose all I can do is give you some reliable links and books to look through – with books if you cannot afford them try swapping with others online or in your area, try going to your library and remember you don't have to just stick to books on Wicca but can also get books from your library on related subjects such as paganism, herb lore, mythology, divination, etc.
If you have any specific quesitons feel free to send me a message via my profile. Good luck :o)
WICCA LINKS;
http://amberandjet.spiralpaths.org - Amber & Jet
http://www.cyprian.org/Articles/gardchron.htm - Gardnerian Chronology and Bibliography
http://www.wargoddess.net/index.php - Enyo`s Workshop
http://wicca.timerift.net/ - Wicca: For the Rest of Us
http://www.starkindler.org/ - StarFire Rising
http://www.asiya.org/ - Asiya`s Shadows
http://www.whywiccanssuck.com - Why Wiccans Suck
http://www.newwiccanchurch.net - New Wiccan Church International
http://members.tripod.com/~Moonpfyr/gardnerian.html - Gardnerian Tradition
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/2416/wildrose.html - Wild Rose Outer Grove
http://members.shaw.ca/stoneandcauldron/ - Coven Of The Stone And Cauldron
http://www.oldeenchantments.com/coven/ - The Hollywood Coven
http://www.geocities.com/DesertHenge - Desert Henge
http://www.geocities.com/firestonecoven/ - Firestone Coven
http://draknet.com/proteus/proteus.html - Proteus Coven’s Webspace
http://belladonna.hypermart.net/Sage-and-Sickle/index.html - Sage & Sickle Coven
http://paganwiccan.about.com/ - PaganWiccan
http://www.cogcoa.ab.ca/ - Covenant of Gaia
http://www.chasclifton.com/ - Chas Clifton
http://www.ravenwood.com/coven.htm - Ravenwood
http://www.avalonia.co.uk – Avalonia
http://www.rosemoon.com/ - Rosemoon
http://www.geocities.com/k_garber/wicway.html - The Wiccan Way
http://www.wildideas.net/temple/ - The Temple
http://www.candledark.net/silver/ - Pour Down Like Silver
http://www.thewellhead.org.uk/ - The Wellhead
http://dasa.on.ca/qs/ - Quicksilver Site
http://www.gis.net/~nagel/grovepage/ - Page of the Mists
http://www.geocities.com/gwydionfl/ - Pagan Place
http://www.geocities.com/reikihealer2001/ - NFTD
http://www.nectw.org/ - N.E.C.T.W.
http://www.doreenvaliente.com - Doreen Valiente 1922-1999
http://www.boniface.us/CTW/index.html - Compact of Traditional Wicca
http://www.pagansunite.com/ - Witch/Pagan Resources
http://www.geocities.com/thespiraloak/ - The Spiral Oak
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4177/ - Manor-House For Wiccan Studies
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sjgavula/wiccahist.html - History of Wicca in England
http://geocities.com/sphinxmuse/wicca/index.html - Wiccan Religion
http://davensjournal.com/index.htm?Header.xhtml&0 - Daven`s Journal
http://www.pangaeasanctuary.org/darkwood/ - Darkwood of PanGaea
http://www.wicca.utvinternet.com/ - Wicca na hErin
http://www.tryskelion.com/ - Tryskelion
http://www.mothersmagic.net/ - Breathless Noon
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm - Wicca, the religion
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/religions/wicca/faq/ - Wicca FAQ
http://www.allonewicca.com/ - All one Wicca
http://www.cuew.org/cffn/index.html - Coven of the Far Flung Net
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/gbos/index.htm - Gardnerian Book of Shadows
http://www.paganspath.com/ - The Pagan`s Path
http://www.rantingwitches.com/ - The Ranting Witches
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca - Wicca
http://janus.spawnfar.net/ - The Janus Gate
http://www.hiddenmuse.com/ - Hidden Muse
http://www.geraldgardner.com/ - Gerald Gardner
http://beaufort.bravepages.com/index.html - Beaufort House`s TradList
http://www.tradwicca.org/beginnings.html - A Traditional Alexandrian Coven
http://www.waningmoon.com/ethics/rede.shtml - The Wiccan Rede
http://www.glasstemple.com/home/ - Glass Temple
http://www.witchipedia.org - Witchipedia
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
2006-09-06 06:50:46 · answer #1 · answered by Kasha 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am a wiccan and sometimes I practice with a coven. Then some other times I practice alone. I just felt drawn to it.
I usually practice alone because my skills are very powerful.
2006-09-06 06:23:57 · answer #2 · answered by Not Ecky Boy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have to practice alone, i would prefer to be with others, but have not found any in my area. I was drawn to the reverence for nature and life in general. I found a book on wicca in a store and bought it and it just clicked with my brain. I was raised christian, but all the hypocrisy and judgmental people and attitude of superiority pushed me away.
2006-09-06 05:59:22 · answer #3 · answered by e.l.f. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am Pagan with a Wiccan twist. I prefer to practice alone but am not opposed to joining others on occasion. I always felt drawn to it since I was a kid but wasn't really able to put a name to it until I met a girl in high school that practiced. She helped me a lot.
2006-09-06 05:54:37 · answer #4 · answered by PaganPoetess 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
im not "officially" a wiccan but my beliefs are closest to Wicca. i have alot of books and have been "studying" them for about 2 years now. i guess i became interested because i didnt know alot about it. i started reading up on it and found it was the same beliefs that i had so i stuck with it.
2006-09-06 05:53:12 · answer #5 · answered by tulips♥77 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm in a coven, and a long long time ago, I was inducted by a friend who thought I had talents.
it just happened, I rather prefer it since its a very very old religion.
2006-09-06 05:53:14 · answer #6 · answered by somber_pieces 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yeah I am,
I prefer to practise alone,
And, I don't know really, I hadn't even heard of it until I researched it. Not that that makes sense...
2006-09-06 05:53:12 · answer #7 · answered by sparkle 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no I am not
2006-09-06 23:12:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋