Beginnings and Where you are now

[TeaDidikai]

Teague the Druid

No matter how minor the distinction? Literally, regardless of it's insignificance, they can't be called Wiccan anymore? How is that not semantics?

Orthopraxy is about "Right Practice". This right practice provides a context for a person to experience Mysteries that will have personal meaning and will generate an understanding of their experiences.

It is not a function of semantics because you are talking about a theology that affirms the existence of the power of words and a spiritual connection between the people who maintain this practice properly.

As a result- if you fundamentally change the core of the practice- you aren't practicing the same thing any more.

If I am on a golf course, my tee and my caddy hands me a cricket paddle and a pink Warrior Lacrosse Ball, and I use that- I'm not playing golf anymore. This doesn't mean I'm not about to have a s**t load of fun! But it means I would be misrepresenting myself if I claimed to be playing Golf.  

[Nomad of Nowhere]

Your argument makes sense. So a lot of the people out there are what? When I was still heavily influenced by Wicca, I sort of half-seriously called myself a Wiccanized Neopagan, but I would hesitate to call any coven that. Well, to their faces. xp  

[Morgandria]

Teague the Druid

Your argument makes sense. So a lot of the people out there are what? When I was still heavily influenced by Wicca, I sort of half-seriously called myself a Wiccanized Neopagan, but I would hesitate to call any coven that. Well, to their faces. xp

I call it Neo-pagan Witchcraft, myself. Nothing wrong with that.  

[TeaDidikai]

Morgandria

Teague the Druid

Your argument makes sense. So a lot of the people out there are what? When I was still heavily influenced by Wicca, I sort of half-seriously called myself a Wiccanized Neopagan, but I would hesitate to call any coven that. Well, to their faces. xp

I call it Neo-pagan Witchcraft, myself. Nothing wrong with that.

I usually go with "Eclectic Neo-Paganism".  

[saint dreya]

PhantomPhoenix0

Teen Witch by Silver Ravenwolf *hangs head low in shame, and bangs head against desk*

same here.

best now?
anything by Peter Berresford Ellis, or the Rees's (Celtic Heritage).

for a beginner Being Pagan. really good interviews with multiple path leaders. some fluff and stuff, but it is out there and this is a good rep of it.

for my path...Ian Corrigan's stuff from his Cafepress shop, and Ceisiwr Serith (i love this man!)  

[Lotus Poem]

My childhood was very nomadic and creativity was encouraged and rewarded. My mother sought to expose my sister and I to as many cultures and spiritual paths as possible. From a very young age I remember discussing God vs gods and if unicorns were real or not. Around the age of eight I began telling people that the moon was my mother and my best friend and I would ask if we could play outside at night instead of in the daytime so we could visit her. Which our mothers allowed, except on school nights lol. When I was in fourth grade I decided I was catholic. I even told my mother that I liked the saints, the incense, the ritual of it all. Then in the fifth grade I got sick. I was a very healthy child and staying home a whole week was torture. My step-father bought me a book to help me with my boredom. I don't remember the name now but it was a short paperback novel, fiction, that was centered around Norse Mythology. I read it with a copy of Edith Hamilton next to me. I became more hooked on mythology in general and developed a deep love of shakespeare around the same time. Then in the seventh grade I found some books of my mother's that looked interesting. The first one I read was a huge hardback called Witches by Erica Jong. It wasn't the most accurate book I found out over time but it was beautiful, and interesting, and I still treasure it as my introduction. after that I read Magical Rites from the Crystal Well and Earth Magic. From that point on my mother had to endure many conferences with the school and small accidental fires in my bedroom wink . Fortunately I love to read, and I love to learn and I got every book I could get my hands on and compared the information to other books, and compared that to history books etc, etc... My senior year a friend of mine and her fiancee and another girl and myself formed a circle, not a coven, but we learned a lot from each other and I often look back on it as my honeymoon phase. I haven't spoken to one of the girls since, the other joined the military and and last I heard had converted to christianity and her fiancee (now ex-husband) is still around and still practices.

I don't know that there is ONE great beginning book. It depends so much on the person, the timing, and the availability. Amazon aside finding local resources in Oklahoma isn't easy. If you don't have the ability to order online, b/c you are a minor or have no credit/debit card, you are pretty SOL unless you really like Llewelyn or associating with morally troubled businesses. A couple years ago we did finally get a decent store just outside of town which I am so grateful for but it's selection is limited as they are small and carry much more than just books.

Sorry this was so long...I don't remember ever typing that all out before.  

[Recursive Paradox]

Morgandria

all rituals there in are different means to the same end, oneness with divinity.

Excuse me?

Not a single one of my rituals to Channel are a means to "oneness with divinity".

You assume that I wish to be a part of something as opposed to growing into a higher being on my own as my own form and out of my own power.

Every single one of my rituals and all of my Channeling are an access to power that I am unable to generate on my own yet. That power is directed by wisdom and used for growth.

As I become greater I outgrow the need to Channel Aspects and will eventually become like an Aspect myself or perhaps beyond that even.

None of that even resembles "oneness with divinity." so I'll kindly ask that you retract that offensive blanket statement about my and all other paths.  

[Recursive Paradox]

Now that I'm done being all angry and rawr... >.>

I started out as a semi devout Catholic child. I generally took whatever my parents and the priests said as truth and rarely read the Bible myself.

As I got a little older and exposed to different viewpoints in Middle and High School I started actually reading the Bible and soon broke away from the Catholic church. I moved towards a mildly agnostic sort of nondenominational Christianity.

After a while some of my unspoken issues with Jeshua of Nazarath and my issues with the Bible pushed me into a mildly agnostic non Abrahamic monotheism.

Not really Deism because I believed that God had sparked creation at the big bang and let it run based on automation.

But after a while something occurred to me. The only reason why I believed in God was because of the Bible. I had no other source or experiences that told me that there was an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent deity or even really deities at all, although I had some experiences that suggested that more powerful beings than me existed.

Since I had long ago deemed the Bible untrustworthy in my personal estimation I dismissed the concept of omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence and a deity of any kind. I did this on the basis that I had believed in these things under false pretenses and that I needed to basically reboot my beliefs and start over from scratch.

I had a stint of agnostic philosophical empiricism but decided that this viewpoint didn't really fit the weird experiences I had in the past.

So I started researching basic faiths for ideas that simply made sense based on what I had experienced. Buddhism, Taoism, certain Native American paths, I basically looked into anything and everything I could for ideas that would make sense.

But nothing really fit and so I just started taking tiny chunks from various things and trying to build my ideas from there. I took what I formulated each time and subjected it to the rigors of metaphysical, religious and spiritual debate, here on Gaia and in other places too.

Those debates quickly weeded out inconsistancies, outright contradictions and philosophical logic cliffs.

What I arrived at so far is Etherism, which is described in its current invocation in the pathways forum.

It's under my old banned account, so I really need to redo it under this one. Anyways I'm not done by any means so expect lots of change in this pathway as I figure out more.  

[Conan The Barbie Doll]

I could rarely afford books (they're pricey here!) but the first book I remember buying is Teen Witch. *facepalms*. I know better now. I researched on the Internet untill the next time I could afford a book, when I picked up Philosophy of Wicca ( I forget the authour), and something by Raven Grimassi (I forget what it was called). sweatdrop

They were both very good reads, though.  

[miserabelle]

(eek, can't remember the last time I posted here, hi kids) I think I was always interested in alternative religion, I'd always read mythology and was really encouraged by my mom. Welsh legends fascinated me particularly and I think when I heard about Wicca (however it was portrayed) I was really excited by it.

I got most of my more recent knowledge from reading the M&R forum which I think is good, I had a brief fluffy stage and was recommended Silver Ravenwolf by someone but... exploring Gaia and this community put me right fairly quickly.

Right now I'm... nowhere really, still drifting and have kind of neglected my spiritual self, but I really want to get back into my old pattern of researching and learning, in a hope to get to a place I'm happy with xx  

[Recursive Paradox]

TeaDidikai

If I am on a golf course, my tee and my caddy hands me a cricket paddle and a pink Warrior Lacrosse Ball, and I use that- I'm not playing golf anymore. This doesn't mean I'm not about to have a s**t load of fun! But it means I would be misrepresenting myself if I claimed to be playing Golf.

...now I want to play that game... o_o  

[Tesa Tezemeda]

My very first resource was someone who claimed to be Wiccan. What she explained of her faith didn't really seem fitting for me, since the way she told everything made it seem so... random. And, thinking it from this moment, extremely fluffy. I didn't know that word then, but now I'm fairly sure that "fluffy" is exactly the word I was looking for then.

Good thing is, I was a curious kid back then and started researching more - and not only Wicca, but paganism in general. I don't even remember what books I started with, but it seems to me I'm one of those who have been spared the horrors of SRW. I did read Cunnigham, though, as a starter, but that never intrigued me much. There was the "random" aspect again, I guess.

And now.. I don't really know what I would recommend now. People here have given out good suggestions, and perhaps I won't start adding anything. No yet, at least. If I come up with something I'll mention it.

About my current path I shall not discuss right now.  

[Deadra76]

::blush:: My first book was True Majick by Amber K. I bought it as a joke from Hot Topic and actually found it interesting.

Now...? I have no idea. It's not easy for someone who is a mix of Agnostic/Athiest/Pagan to find a book that fits. It would probably depend on the individual as to what book I would suggest.  

[maenad nuri]

Deadra76

::blush:: My first book was True Majick by Amber K. I bought it as a joke from Hot Topic and actually found it interesting.

Now...? I have no idea. It's not easy for someone who is a mix of Agnostic/Athiest/Pagan to find a book that fits. It would probably depend on the individual as to what book I would suggest.

I think I had that as one of my first books too smile  

[Recursive Paradox]

I actually read very few books regarding religion and paganism.

The most educational thing I've actually done regarding religion was taking a class on Norse religion and culture as an elective at my school.

Sort of blew everything I knew about the Norse out of the water too. >.>