How to find Pagans in my area?

[wolfos3d]

How would I go about finding Pagans in my area?

[StormVixen]

is there anyone on here?

or

www.witchvox.com (www.witchvox.com)

go on here and on the side theres a bit that says australia and click on your region and look for people near you and stuff...

[wolfos3d]

I'm not sure there is any around here closer then Sydney which is about 4 hours away. If there is any close to me I would love to meet them. I am checking Witchvox now. :)
(I wasn't sure which area to put this in so sorry if it's in the wrong area)

[Crystal Craft]

You could also try Meetup.com. I found it to be informative on many levels.
Blessings
Crystal

[Lunacie]

People are leaving Meetup in droves since they started charging to join their groups. Many are moving to Yahoo groups. Maybe these sites will be helpful.

http://ozwitch.paganprojects.com/resources/elists.htm (http://ozwitch.paganprojects.com/resources/elists.htm)



http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=pagan+groups+australia&fr=FP-tab-web-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8 (http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=pagan+groups+australia&fr=FP-tab-web-t&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8)

[Rudas Starblaze]

the best way to find pagans,,,,, find a church, and start looking in the opposite direction! :rotfl:

[Childof_theMorrigan]

you could try http://www.witchvox.com (http://www.witchvox.com) they have a section dedicated to this...

also, frequent certain areas of a book store

they come to you when you are ready for them

[spirit wind]

I'm not sure there is any around here closer then Sydney which is about 4 hours away. If there is any close to me I would love to meet them. I am checking Witchvox now. :)
(I wasn't sure which area to put this in so sorry if it's in the wrong area)

Try Magick (http://www.magick.com.au)
They have heaps of members from mostly Australia but also from all over the world. I will say though, go into that forum lightly. I used to be a member but found quite a few were very narrow minded and of the thought that "my way is the right way" It may have changed though.

[Sage Rainsong]

Well you could always put out an ad in the platonic section of craigslist. Im not sure how popular in sydney it is http://sydney.craigslist.org/ (http://sydney.craigslist.org/)

[Suzette]

Witchvox is a good resource. Also check to find *our* kind of shops in your area. If you have none, then hope you have a huge bookstore chain like Barnes n Noble or something similar. Spend time in *our* section flipping through books. You never know who may join you in the aisle and you may strike a coversation...

Become an herbalogist and open a booth at your local farmer's market...

[Jenett]

Let me quote something I wrote in another thread on this topic in June:

1) Witchvox. Single best place to start in terms of efficiency/effectiveness value, and useful for several other of these further steps. (They do listings for Australia, too.)

2) Look at Witchvox not just for people, but for stores, social groups, or events near you (or at least that you might be able to get to). Groups and events are probably self-explanatory - stores are very likely to have some idea of other folks in the area, and often have a bulletin board with announcements, flyers, and other information.

3) Keep your eyes open as we move into August for announcements about Pagan Pride Day - there are an increasing number of these events around the country and outside the US and they're a good low-key way to find out who's in your general area, get to talk to people, things like that. The events are open to the general public, and usually groups or people offer some classes, group ritual, and tables with information (or some combination of those.)

It looks like the only Pagan Pride days in Australia are in Queensland - however, if you look here: http://paganpride.org/where/oceania.html (http://paganpride.org/where/oceania.html) - you can see some links. Sometimes sites like this include other networking information and resources that can be really helpful.

4) If you find groups or people mentioned who are a little too far away from you to be accessible, you've got two choices: sometimes people travel. However, you can also ask those groups if they know anyone nearer you who's doing something similar. (similar tradition, things that caught your eye in their information.)

5) Contacting groups: Be polite. Be specific if needed. Be brief. (Especially if you're asking about other groups or something that's not about a specific group) Lots of groups don't necessarily answer their email quickly (sometimes it's once a week, or longer, depending on when people get a chance, and quite possibly longer over the summer as people may be on vacation, at festivals, etc.)

I answer the email for the group I work with, and we do get a lot of very terse "Please send me information about your group" sorts of emails. I answer those politely, but the ones that say something like "Hi, found your group information [here], and was really interested by this part of your description - can you tell me a little more about your classes?" really make a good impression (and they don't take much longer to write.)

If you're asking someone to do you a favor (like referring you to other groups), that's particularly important. People are busy, so you want to keep things brief - 2-3 paragraphs is probably great to start with, but give enough information that if you have restrictions (places you can and can't get to, prefer a specific tradition or kind of group, etc.) be clear about those. However, phrasing it as "Any help you can give would be great, but I'm especially interested in groups that are X and Y" usually is a good phrasing. (It gives them information that may help them suggest something, but it makes it clear you appreciate any pointers.)

6) I've heard of a number of Pagan zines and newsletters in Australia: you might see if you can track down information on any of them, or find forums focused on Australia.

Also, look for authors who are Australian and Pagan - Ly de Angeles is the one who sprung to mind, but I know there are others. Authors who have websites often have links to other useful networking or information resources. (Check out http://www.lydeangeles.com/rellinks1.html (http://www.lydeangeles.com/rellinks1.html) for some possible resources.)

[arctic splash]

The closest pagan bookstore to my house has meetups every couple weeks for local pagans to get together. You might find something like that near you...

Also I really like tribe.net though most of the members are on the West Coast of the US...

[spirit wind]

Witchcraft magazine (http://www.witchcraftmagazine.com.au/)
Pagan Awareness network of Australia (http://www.paganawareness.net.au/)
Pagan Alliance Inc. (http://paganalliance.lasielle.net/)

These are just a few of the ones I know of other than Magick.com.au.

Hope they help :)

[Mistress_Ravenshadow]

the australian witchcraft mag has a section in it with local events and meetings it also has a pagan pen pal section you might be able to find people close to you that way..
if you go to your local metaphysical store they may have groups that meet there or know of some just be careful of meeting up with people you don't know, don't go alone and make sure its somewhere public and that others know where you will be just to be on the safe side.. Good luck..

[wolfos3d]

Thanks everyone!

[PaganChick]

My two friends are Pagan. They don't believe, or practice, but they celebrate X-mas.