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So you want to be Wiccan...
First of all, let me explain that I can not "teach" you to be Wiccan any more than I can teach you to be a musician. I can teach you music. I can teach you notes and chords on an instrument and I can teach you to read music. What I cannot do is put your mind in the conscious space required to be a musician. Wicca is a religion and it must speak to your heart as much as your mind and while I, as well as lot of other websites, books, videos and other materials, can teach you principles and practice neither them nor I can imbue your heart with the spiritual aspects of Wicca. Finally, while, theoretically, I can teach the principles and practices of Wicca to an interested student, realistically this is not something I am willing to engage in, particularly over the Internet. The purpose of this page is not to teach but rather to ask some compelling questions and pose some provoking ideas and, perhaps, point you in some directions to learn more. Examining Your Motives Do you want to be a witch and control the physical and/or psychic world around you? Do you wish to embark on a meaningful relationship with the Divine which you have not found in other religions? Are you seeking to shock or anger your parents or friends of other faiths? If magic power is all you seek then Wicca is not for you. While it's true that some Wiccans practice magic, it is not the focus of the Wiccan religion. There are other paths of witchcraft and magic. If your intent is to "shock" or rebel against parents/friends/colleagues/etc then I would strongly suggest that Wicca is not for you either. One should never take on a faith for the purpose of shocking or rebelling against others. Religion is a personal path. Each religion has its core beliefs. If one seeks to take on some of the physical trappings of a religion without believing in the beliefs they are, at best, misguided, at worst they are hypocritical posers. Wicca is a religion and like all religions is a path to the Divine or Deity. Wicca is not the path to the Divine nor does Wicca invalidate other paths. Wicca, like other religions has fundamental beliefs, practices and ritual. (for further details please see My View of Wicca) Paths to "The Path" The number one way to "become" Wiccan is to study. Failing that I would recommend study. When that doesn't work, as a fall-back, I would suggest study. My intent behind the last paragraph was not flippancy but rather to suggest that one does not become religious by simply declaring herself to be of a particular faith. One cannot be of a faith when they do not understand the faith of which they declare themselves. Ok, so, how does become Wiccan? As stated in the last paragraph study is the best way to the Wiccan path. There is a lot of material on the Internet and a lot of books on the subject. I highly suggest "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham as a starting point. While Cunningham provides a simplistic view of Wicca it's an excellent starting point. Cunningham and others also suggest reading as much as you can on the subject, both pro and con. Take what works for you. If possible, seek out local covens. Some have public rituals and gatherings. For some, however, this is not possible. Finding a coven in my home of Seattle, WA is likely to be easier than finding a coven in, say, Sayre, OK. An excellent resource for finding local Wiccans and covens is The Witches Voice. There are lots of Wiccan and Pagan sites on the Internet which have chatrooms and message boards. MSN and Yahoo! are both places to find such communities, however, I must add the caveat that, like a lot of other online communities, there are a lot of posers, frauds, and people looking to hurt others in such communities. Still there are genuine people out there. Disclaimer: As I discuss Wicca as a religion on this site I describe the Wiccan religion with respect to my personal viewpoint, or, perhaps my "tradition". Different traditions describe things differently and those traditions may hold different concepts, beliefs and codes. |