Pagans please?

Question

what advice would you give a young person wishing to research different paths of Paganism

where would they start ?
how would they know which branch was best for them ?
any advice please ?

Answer 1

I always advise that, since "truth" in spiritual matters is subjective, the most logical place to start is with the indigenous folk traditions and beliefs of one's own ancestral bloodlines.

The stories, you see, are what WE tell . . . and the stories that arose from within one's ancestral cultures and shaped one's people are the truths most likely to resonate with one's spirit. As a Folkish heathen, I also happen to believe that those ARE one's godhs, through the blood, but that's not necessarily the important part. Realistically, it's a logical starting place and gives one's search a focus.

In addition to the stories, a seeker is well served by providing themselves with an accurate history and broader perspective---for that, I recommend the following books:

Adler's "Drawing Down the Moon."
Hutton's "Triumph of the Moon."
Ellis Davidson's "Myths & Symbols in Pagan Europe."
Herbert's "Looking for the Lost Gods of England."
Campbell's "The Power of Myth."

There's an awful lot of sheer and utter nonsense that gets published, and even followed . . . a good scholarly foundation helps weed out the fluffs, nutters, and mercenary hacks.

Community, however it's available---online or IRL---is also important. Seek out others! Be careful, but remember that, as Will Rogers once said "A lucky few can learn from books, and some from observation, but the rest of us have to pee on the electric fence for ourselves."

Study, talk, participate, and train one's mind and spirit through some sort of meditation, contemplation, or prayer. It could be as simple as a daily walk in the woods, or as involved as formal meditative techniques, guided visualisations, or the Stav that I do (runic Tai Chi, more or less).

All these things are important: one studies, to build a solid and knowledgeable foundation, discusses, to grow and learn from different perspectives and to seek guidance from elders, participates, to apply one's knowledge, assess the impact on one's Luck, and experience personal gnosis, and meditates or reflects, to integrate knowledge with the deeper levels of one's being.

Answer 2

The only way you will know which if any path is right for you is when your heart tells you it is right. No one else can tell you and you cannot make it up. There are hundreds of books out there that you can read and loads of websites but this can be confusing. My advice would be to contact the Pagan Federation, you can find them on the web. I am guessing that you are probably under 18 and the Pagan Federation have something called the Minor Arcana that is specially aimed and young people, at least they do in the UK not sure about in other countries. If I am wrong and you are over 18, then I am sure you would be welcome at your local pagan moot and you will find people there happy to help and come into contact with people on many paths. In our moot we have people who are witches, wiccans, anglo saxons, asatru, eco pagan to name but a few. Between us there are many similarities but also many differences. When you find the path you will know it is right.

Answer 3

First, advise them to not believe everything they read. There's too many unethical authors who put out misinformation. Any book that this person is going to read, head to Amazon first and go through the reviews - best *and* worst.

Second, start with some overall survey books - Adler's "Drawing Down the Moon", stuff like that. Then, go through the "traditions" page at witchvox.com - having a good understanding of some of the assorted religions can help make any future decisions.

And, finally, patience. There's a lot of poking around that someone should do, to find something that suits them - snagging the first religion that they stumble across isn't always the best choice. Spending some time as a seeker does wonders.

Answer 4

Well there is no gurantee that it would be the right path for them but I'd advise them to start by learning about the pre-Christian religion of either their own ancestors or of the indigenous people of the area they live in.

It might not be right for them but it can be the easiest to learn about and is a good starting point.They should keep an open mind though and if during research they read something about another belief system and feel drawn to that they should follow that instinct.Sometimes the Gods of a religion call to people they want that way.

Answer 5

The best place to start is with reading a few standard "must reads" such as:

The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess by Starhawk

Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help by Marion Weinstein

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

After 25 years, I have read most of what is out there (and not surprisingly, some of it is really bad/waste of money). I picked these three based on the accuracy of the information and the ease in which these books can be read.
Blessed Be.

Answer 6

different people will have different answers.

But my advice on it would be, to get a book or web page about paganism in general. To see what its generally about. Kinda general beliefs etc. Then learn about different paths, and go with what feels right. Or even just become eclectic, and take bits from diffferent paths. Its more about what feels right to you.

Although, it didn't start this way with me. I read something about witchcraft, and I believed I could be a witch too. I done a kinda spell using leaves and it worked. I then read something about wicca, and then it just clicked. Though in the last 6 months or so I've decided to look at other paths.

Answer 7

Pangel, that would depend on what it was that they were looking for. If they are just "looking" to see what they ALL had to offer or believed. then I'd recomend that they read Isaac Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca. It has an excellent overview of what a number of Witch traditions tend to believe in general. Keep in mind that Witches tend to not hold to common beliefs and if you had a room of 100 witches there is unlikey to be any 2 who belive the same thing or in the same way.

If you were looking to actually BECOME a Witch or Pagan, yourself. Then I'd recomend that you start off with EITHER, Raymond Buckland's "Complete Book of Witchcraft", OR Scott Cunningham's "Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner". Study those in their entirety and follow the lessons outlined. this should take you about a year to complete and at the end you will have learned enough to be what WE call a novice Witch, able to conduct your OWN rituals, spells and meditations. After that point, then I would follow the paths that you learned about and explored as many as you wish, until you find a path or tradition that speaks to your heart. THEN find as much info on THAT pathway as you can, seek a teacher in that path or a group (called a coven, by witches) to join as a Novice and follow THOSE lessons. The ONLY way to know which is BEST for you is to explore, learn and study. ONE will stand out above the others to YOU. That is USUALLY the path that you feel comfortable with and drawn to, follow that. Now the books that I mentioned tend to concentrate on Witchcraft but they DO go into a little bit about OTHER paths of Paganism as well, so, the SAME would tend to apply should you decide that Shamanism or one of the other pagan paths speak to you more than any of the Witchcraft paths. ALL the paths of Paganism tend to have tie-ins to each other which is why it is relatively easy to switch paths of Paganism smoothly without having to be "re-indoctrinated" into any ONE path. Just because you start off with Wiccan readings does NOT mean that you MUST continue on the path of Wicca at all. It simply forms a basic foundation and gives you a general view of Pagan Religions from which you CAN make a choice. The only reason that I suggest that you follow the lessons of Buckland or Cunningham is to allow yourself to actually "get your feet wet" in at least ONE form of Paganism and it does not necessarily mean that you have to continue to follow Wicca at all. You will NEED to choose the path that speaks to YOU and works for YOU and YOU only. I wish you all the best in your searches and may goddess guide you to YOUR path. If I can be of ANY help, e-mail me and leave YOUR e-mail open and I'll let you add me to your Yahoo Messenger.

Brightest Blessings,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 8

hi there,

every person has their own path and for anyone to truly say that that a certain path is for you is unfair. only you can find your own path or beliefs.
first i would sit down and consider what you believe in then start reading books, internet sites etc.
then when you have discovered what you believe to be enough then make your own mind up.
The beauty of being a pagan is, that it does not matter how or what you believe in within the pagan ways, but what matters is that as long as you believe in what you do and it is within the guidelines of goodness and not in badness, then you could be onto a winner!!
its up to you what you feel is right.

good luck in your search and blessed be, chris

Answer 9

My advice would be to read any book you could get hold of. Don't be afraid to order books at your public library, either.

Here are a few websites that can help you:

http://www.beliefnet.com
http://www.pagans.org/wicca/branches/branches.html
http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/wicca/branches.txt
http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/wiccantraditions.html
http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~elflord/pagan/

Witchvox is the most common site, but the sites I listed above have a little bit more esoteric information that might help you in your search.

http://www.witchvox.com

Answer 10

Research first, always a must and there is so much available online now. Also I would join a few pagan online groups or clubs. They are a good place to meet like minded people and there are always plenty of people to ask advidce or tips from.