If i wanted to start wicca, how would i start?

Answer 1

Well, a Google or Yahoo! search as someone suggested, however you will find most of the site you come across are actually very unreliable so it is far better if you try a more specific search for 'BTW Wicca' or specific Wiccan traditions such as Gardnerian.

I also like Wikipedia, its main article on Wicca is riddled with inaccuracies, but as with internet searches try looking for things such as specific traditions – the thing I like with Wikipedia is that they have lots of sub-links to explain different terms used and links to resources outside of Wikipedia at the bottom of their articles that can be a very useful start.

Once you find a good Wiccan site you can navigate through their links to find more reliable information, here are a few of the better web sites to get you started;

http://www.wargoddess.net/index.php - Enyo`s Workshop
http://wicca.timerift.net/ - Wicca: For the Rest of Us
http://www.homecircle.info - Homecircle
http://www.starkindler.org/ - StarFire Rising
http://www.asiya.org/ - Asiya`s Shadows
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

I'd recommend getting as many books as you can, local library is a good place as even if they do not have books specifically on Wicca you will find books on Paganism and other topics that you'd need to study to start-off with such as history and Thelemic information. Some web sites or local moots (Pagan get-togethers) will have book exchanges too that can be a useful way of sharing information and cutting down the cost to you. There are quite a few places online that will offer free e-books, which are of course helpful if you are short on cash, one of the better known is Sacred-Texts - http://www.sacred-texts.com

Some books I'd recommend that are specifically Wiccan:
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

All books you read will of course be outer-court reference information, however they do specifically address Wicca, there are many books about Neo-wicca that will also be very useful such as work by Cunningham, however remember although they say 'Wicca' what they actually mean is 'Neo-wicca' – often authors use Wicca rather than Neo-wicca to attract more people to buy their books.

Reading is first priority, but a very useful tool is the internet, not so much for resources as there is much misinformation and ignorance surrounding Wicca that gets spewed across the web – but what is useful is you have a great way of communicating with others. Find yourself a good Wiccan or Pagan forum to visit so that you can ask questions if you get confused or so you have people to correct you and guide you in the right direction. I'd personally highly recommend you join Amber & Jet as they are specifically Wiccan so reliable, I would say however best to just watch and learn until you have a good understanding of Wicca and how this particular group works - http://amberandjet.spiralpaths.org

After all of that you should know where to go from there to find a coven in order to become Wicca, or find local groups to teach you further before deciding if Wicca is the best path for you.

Any specific questions or you need any more help feel free to e-mail me from the link on my profile and I'll try my best to help you, good luck :o)

Answer 2

http://www.mdpagans.com/wiccaisnot.html

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usfl&c=white&id=1938

www.sacredtexts.org

Avoid Silver RavenWolf, and the Idiot's Guide to Wicca.

Wicca: A guide for the Solitary Pracitioner.
Pagans and the Law by Dana Eilers

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

Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic - by Phyllis W. Curott

Positive Magic - Marion Weinstein

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

Answer 3

Research... never dedicate yourself to something you dont understand.
First is to know its History, so find a reliable source... if it says "New Age" its most likely the fantasy version.
www.maidenmoon.com has a PDF file that has a great "The History of Wicca" section.
I advise reading Gardners books since he created Wicca.
Then search for the works of scholars, university professors and historians.
If Wicca then still suits you, I suggest researching various traditions, and out of boredom read the works of New Age authors such as Scott Cunningham.

Answer 4

OK, first, read about the lives of famous occultists:

http://usminc.org/famous.html

Then decide if it's worth persuing. If you want to wind up broke and forgotten, go for it!

If there is any truth to the old saying "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.", that truth is found in the occult, and Wicca in particular. Silver Ravenwolf has written close to a dozen books on the subject of "The Craft", and claims she has been studying it since about 1969, which is almost as long as I’ve been alive. She has written a book on how to cast money spells, and includes a chapter on how to do so in her Teen Witch book. But the thing is, she doesn't particularly sound all that prosperous herself. Ravenwolf writes,

" For years I couldn't afford to go to a hair stylist (still can't, it's shop and chop for me). I got pretty good at stying my own hair from looking at magazine pictures" [SOURCE: Teen Witch, Llewellyn Publications, 2003 edition, page 145]

OK, she so rich she can't go to the hairdresser. Hey, get me a copy of that Prosperity Spell book!

Silver Ravenwolf seems to have inadvertently discovered that Wicca makes things worse, but won't ever admit it as such.
In Teen Witch she says

"A lot of people tell me how bad their lives have gotten after casting a spell and tell me they won't do Witchcraft anymore. I tell them their lives would have been much worse for not having cast the spell".

Gee Silver, you would think a lot of people would be saying things like "Hey, Silver Ravenwolf, my life has improved tremendously with Wicca!" if Wicca is as great as they claim. Instead it makes lives much worse, and even Silver Ravenwolf admits she hears this a lot!!!

Why? Because sometimes, things are just as you think they are. Most average people will tell you the occult deals with black magic and demons, and demons are evil beings who wish us harm. This is how it is my friend. The occult is evil, and brings bad happenings into a person's life, and Wicca is an occult religion. When you stop trying to rationalize it with inaccurate data and just use common sense you will realize this. Some occultists are of above average intelligence, and I think part of the problem is they have book smarts but not common sense. There are two forces at work in this universe: the counterfeit and the genuine. Wicca’s source of power is not the genuine. There’s just simply no way Wicca (and thus the copycat Neopagan religions) can be created from the black magic writings of “The Great Beast 666", the bizarre sexual practices of Gardner, the spiritual “guidance” of the Watchers (fallen angels) and still be a source of good!

Adian Kelly wrote a book on the history of Wicca called "Crafting The Art of Magic" in the 1980's. Wiccans had a fit when it was published, and pressured Llewyllyn to take it out of print. It was supposed to be the first in a series of books. I think Adian Kelly probably summed it up best when he said this about the Gardnerian "Book of Shadows", the closest thing Wicca has to a sacred book:

" [M]any of the Book of Shadows rituals did not exist in 1954 (when Witchcraft Today was published) but instead were still being written. [T]he major sources from which the rituals had been constructed included: (a) Mather's edition of the Greater Key of Solomon; (b) Aleister Crowley's Magic in Theory and Practice; (c) Leland's Aradia (d) some Masonic rituals akin to those described by Duncan and those of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (aside from those transmitted by Crowley; and (e) Margaret Murray's The Witch Cult in Western Europe. There were also bits and pieces from other works by Leland, Jane E. Harrison, Gilbert Murray, James Frazier, and other great classicists from the 19th century. That accounted for EVERYTHING in the rituals! There was nothing left that differed in any important way from what you can find in those sources- - but that is NOT at all what Gardner had claimed!"

So there you have it.

Answer 5

Read, read, read, and read some more. Go to the library, search for info on the 'net, go the bookstores...

You need to find your own path and reading as much as you can will help. A couple of links below will get you started. (The first is the results of a search on Amazon.com; the second is Witches Voice)

Good luck, have fun & Blessed Be!

Answer 6

Learn as much as you can about it...but don't just read the lame "spell books" that won't give you insight. Unfortunately, too many people think being Wiccan will simply give you the power to cast these spells...annoying.

Answer 7

Lesse...well after "Clarisa Explains It All" got canceld on Nickelodeon, it seems I went straight into witchcraft. This enabled me to get a spread in Maxim and a role in "The Vagina Monolouges"!

My secret is my mom's a TV producer. Oh, and have a talking cat, too.

Answer 8

Get some books and start reading up on it. There should be some even at the smallest bookstores in the "New Age" section.

BB
)O(

Answer 9

Learn as much as you can and see if it feels right for you

Answer 10

What? You have a computer don't you? WWW.wicca.com, there are many links you can go to if you really want to learn. I go to gathereings in my town. You can get readings, magic crystals, and all different kinds of things that will boggle your mind.