Question for the Wiccans?

Question

I am really interested in becoming wicca
I was wondering if anyone could give me so information on it.

Answer 1

Wicca is not a religion of finding fault--even in yourself. I have a Pagan Files list that I use to send out E-text files such as Wicca 101. I also answer questions from those on the list and sometimes others.

Terry
Librarian and Elder of the Lore.

Answer 2

I cannot believe the answers given by the Christians on this question.

How small of a god must their god be to have such followers. If these followers are the fruits of this god, then we know him indeed!

Let me say, as a Biblically literate Wiccan, that these alleged Christians are about as far from the Bible as one can get....
PLEASE do not hold the Bible or real Christians at fault for these obnoxious thugs. The last thing we Wiccans need is another burned out nasty.

That being said....

I strongly suggest finding a tradition, at http://www.witchvox.com/xtrads.html

To help you navigate those listings, as a Wiccan of over 20 years, I strongly suggest reading every single page at http://wicca.timerift.net after reading that site, you should have enough information to pick a good tradition.

Answer 3

You've received some really good advice from the Wiccans, so I won't add to that, but allow me to express my support for your interest.

Even if you decide it isn't the path for you--and I've seen many whose roads lead them elsewhere after investigating our faith--no knowledge is ever wasted, and what you learn will enrich your life no matter who you eventually choose to call on.

I will say be careful who you choose as a teacher--there ARE unscrupulous people, not true Wiccans at all, who might attempt to take advantage of someone with an open heart. Be open, but be cautious as well.

Lady walk with you on your journey. Blessed be.

Answer 4

Scott Cunningham is just about the best beginning author you can find. Stay away from $ilver Ravenwolf! Terry is a great person to have in your contact list. The information he can send you is really good. Good luck on your path.
)o( Blessed Be!

Answer 5

I agree witchvox is a good site. I also really recommend "Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham, as a really nice and easy to follow first book. I can't imagine how being a witch would open demonic doors, as we don't believe in a devil at all. Anyone who tries to scare a person away from exploring a new religion is ignorant and selfish.

Answer 6

Oh dear, it seems you haven't had a lot of support for your interest in Wicca. One VERY important point that I must raise, that you may know already is that Wicca is a PAGAN religion. In case you (or the other hysterical christians) don't know why that is significant it is because Pagan religions are attempting to rediscover the Ancient European belief systems that came BEFORE Chrsitianity. So therefore Paganism CANNOT be associated with Satan or any of the demonic characters from the christian religion because Pagan religions PRE DATED notions of satan. Wicca is a wonderful way to seek spirituality but be prepared for many reactions like the ones you have recieved from these lot. Essentially it is a nature based religion. In contrast to having faith in the existence of invisible gods that are somehow "superior" to us and "above" us, Modern paganism seeks to encourage the seeker to see the sacred and the divine in what is already DOWN HERE, what you can see and appreciate in this lifetime. Ancient Europeans (The Celts in paticular) saw holyness in nature, in their own bodies and minds and believed they were, in a sense, "Gods/Godesses" themselves. What we mean by this is that pagans/wiccans often look inwards to themselves to find what is sacred and divine. Yes they do perform ritulas of magick, but these do not involve sacrificing goats and slitting pigeon's necks, they are attempts to revive the crafts of the local ordinary people esp the wisewomen of the villages who discovered medicine and healing before the guys took over. The magick is to improve onself, rid themselves of bad habits, heal people/themselves and to achieve the higher state of consciousness needed to affect the physical world with their will i.e improving their life, helping those close to them who are in trouble. It is a romantic religion too. You are never expected to believe LITERALLY in the existence of a whole pantheon of different gods but to understand the ENERGIES and QUALTIES they represent, and be able to harness the power and use this for your will ( wiccan rede; harm none and do what thou wilt) Although many Wiccans and pagans will tell you that they are carrying on a tradition that has survived the middle ages and the early modern period it is not true. Wicca and modern paganism as we know it was REVIVED by the romantics of the 18th/19th C as a bunch of philosophers/poets/artists began to loath and resent the industrial reveloution and the arrogance of science over nature. They strived to glorify the divinty and beauty of our planet. This was later devloped into a belief system by such visionaries as alex sanders, gerald gardner, and dorien valiente (read up) in the early 20th C. Blessed be and good luck

Answer 7

There are some great books out there that will help you on your path to the Craft. It sounds awfully silly, but "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft" is very well-written and worth the money for beginners. Witchvox.com is also a very good site.

From experience as a solitary Eclectic Wiccan, Wicca does NOT lead to Satan and darkness, as some Christians might tell you. Wicca is a religion that bases itself on the creed, "Harm none, and do as thou wilt". We Wiccans also abide by the Threefold Rule - whatever you do comes back to you threefold - that is similar to karma. We believe that we pay for our deeds in this life rather than some silly afterlife determined by a semi-benevolent deity. We love nature and revel in its beauty and power. We do not believe in a devil or Satan character, rather, as I said, we pay for our deeds in this life and go to the Summerland after to reflect and contemplate before we are reincarnated if we so choose to be.

When you do ritual, you may work with any deity, power, scent, incense, image, etc., etc. you like. The possibilities are endless. The book I recommended will go into more detail and explains it better than I can. Actually doing ritual is hard to explain - the feeling is one of a kind.

Do not get into Wicca as a trend or something to make your image "dark". It is not something to be advertised. Just as it is obnoxious when Christians shove their religion in your face, so we Wiccans do not evangelize. Do not shove your religion in an unwilling person's face. If they don't want to be Wiccan, great for them. Wearing a small religious symbol is acceptable, but just as wearing a gaudy crucifix is annoying, so is wearing a huge pentacle for the world to see.

A few words of warning: when you write your spells, be very careful how you word them, as they can easily go horribly awry. I spend at least 3 or 4 days on my spells. Also, be careful of which deity you choose to work with. Hecate and Cerridwen, for example, while powerful and synonymous with witchcraft and spellmaking, also have a rather dark element. A deity like Athene (or Minerva if you prefer to call her that) is equally powerful without the darker aspect. Also, avoid things by Silver RavenWolf. She is not someone you want to model yourself after. If you want to have a book by a more famous Wiccan, try Starhawk. She is a little on the exclusionist side, but is leaps and bounds better than RavenWolf. Did I mention that you should not read Silver RavenWolf? Ever?

Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions. :)
Blessed Be.

Answer 8

go to the library. search the internet. I suggest reading Scott Cunningham or Silver Ravenwolf. How ever, if u dont like something u read, dont believe it. Wicca has no rules and books dont always print the truth

Answer 9

Wicca is a complex and spiritual religion with Masonic, Hermetic, and classical religious roots created in the 1930's by a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner, combining various ancient concepts and a syncretic view of the divine that is quite different than really any religion before or after it.

http://www.geraldgardner.com/essays.php

Though Wicca is a newer religion, only about 70 years old, it is not less real and no less spiritual than any other religion. This partly comes from the Wiccan view of the divine.
Wiccans revere the immanent in nature symbolized in the form of a Goddess and a God who are seen as equal to each other. The view is syncretic, Wiccans see all goddesses as aspects of the "Goddess" and all gods as aspects of the "God."

The God and Goddess are seen as manifestations of divine energy that symbolize the cycles of nature, life and death, and rebirth. Wiccans do not see the God and Goddess as being separate from them or the rest of the world; therefore they have no need for a concept of salvation, since God and Goddess are at all times within and present to everyone. It is this openness and personal connection to the divine that has brought many people to embrace the Wiccan religion, which has continued to grow in followers in the United States, England, and many other countries.

Wiccans celebrate the cycles of nature and the seasons of the year in eight solar festivals which are commonly referred to as sabbats. Four of these festivals fall on the solstices and equinoxes; the other four fall approximately midway between the solstices and equinoxes, commonly known as the cross-quarter days. Wiccans also often revere the lunar cycles in ritual occasions often referred to as esbats, which are held at the full moon and/or the new moon.

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

Within the Wiccan religion, each person is responsible for their spirituality and developing a personal relationship with God and Goddess. Some Wiccans practice in groups called covens, which are initiatory groups that requires a period of study before entering and are usually run by a form of Wiccan Clergy; while others choose solitary practice or in small non-traditional, loosely affiliated groups. Wiccan clergy are people who help other Wiccans along this path and are not a mediator between them and the divine.

Though this is not always the case, Wiccans do not usually have churches. They create sacred space in the form of a circle or sphere when needed, which functions as a temple for ritual practices. There are several permanent temples in the United States and England, but it is not a requirement for Wiccan practice to attend such a temple.

Wiccan and witchcraft are at times confused, or seen as being synonymous. Though the two terms may have connections between them, they are two different things. Wicca is a religion. Magick is a concept involving the use of personal energy and focused intent. Witchcraft is a practice in the use of magick that can be used by someone of any religion or someone with no religion at all. Though many Wiccans also practice witchcraft, which they see as working with divine energy to accomplish a goal or bring about change, not all witches are Wiccan and not all Wiccans practice witchcraft. The majority of Wiccans will not use witchcraft to curse or bring harm upon anyone else.

As a start, you may want to check out the books “Exploring Wicca” by Lady Sabrina and “Triumph of the Moon” by Ronald Hutton. Both are very informative books with basic information about Wicca. Some other authors to check out would be Scott Cunningham, Doreen Valiente, Gerald Gardner, Patricia Crowther, Janet and Stuart Farrar, and Dianne Sylvan. Here are also a few good websites with some additional information:
http://en.wikipedia.com/wiki/wicca
http://wicca.timerift.net/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm
http://www.religionfacts.com/neopaganism/paths/wicca.htm

There is a lot of information out there in books and on websites for you to check out, but read them with a little discretion, as the author or the creator of the site gives their own interpretation of Wicca, and some of them have really little understanding of the religion itself. I suggest avoiding New Age authors who seem hokey or books that seem like they have little focus on spirituality. Take notes, and compare what you have read with the information here and from other websites. I also suggest avoiding books written by Silver Ravenwolf, her material has very little spiritual or historical value. She has repeated lied to her readers, much of her material was made as she wrote it, and she publishes books simply to take money from misguided teens who think she is a decent author. You can find some additional information about her on this website:

http://wicca.timerift.net/ravenwolf.shtml

Also, if you are looking around for Wiccan teachers or groups, you can find information about them in your area on this website:

http://www.witchvox.com/xwotw.html

If you do decide to find a coven, group, or teacher, always meet with people you do not know in a public place first and ask lots of questions. If something seems off to you something probably is. Like in any large community of people, there are at times bad ones, people who are lying or even just people who have read 2 books, have been practicing less than a year, and think they are a High Priest of Priestess. I HIGHLY suggest reading this document and using it to evaluate any group, coven, or teacher before joining.

http://www.theequinox.org/groupteacherevaluation.pdf

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask on this forum to email me personally through my profile, I am always happy to help.
Blessed Be,
Lord AmonRaHa

Answer 10

http://www.witchvox.com

it's a site full of adventure, magick, and information pertaining to wicca.

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

might help too.

EDIT: don't listen to these people. wicca is not evil in any way, shape, or form. wiccans worship the earth, not satan. for that matter, they don't believe in satan.

Satan worship =/ Wicca