Rising from the flames

[~*Firebird*~]

I'd like to, first of all, say my very first hello to all the members of the mistickwicks community! This is my first post and, I imagine, a step forward for me as well. I hope that I will benefit from you all and find some of the answers I am looking for.

To be distinct about my stance on following a pagan path is a very difficult thing to do, so I feel that posting in this section was perhaps the best place to start. I am, shall we say, a very confused young woman. I've spent a vast majority of my life as one with a book full of questions and a page full of answers. I've had some very dark moments because of this. I have a few certainties though, and one is that, without a calling or a belief, we will simply wither away. But something in my heart has told me that there is a magick in my life that I need to discover, so this is what has brought me to this stage: learning and discovering for myself.

Could anyone reading this please tell me how they found their beliefs and why? I'd be really interested to hear the accounts of others, I'm sure they would be lovely stories.

[stormyray]

First let me say.... Welcome :D glad to have you here. I guess my belife came from asking and searching. For so long I asked question to the "Christian churches" and kept getting the same answer..... Stop questioning and just belive..... well for me that wasnt a choice then I met someone who showed me a path that it was ok to question. and now I am here and question all the time I may not get all the answers I want but I get the answers I truly need.

[Chibi-Fallon]

Church borded me half to death, I went to one (really really ghetto) church that I liked mainly for the people and the laid backness. I never really believe in all that stuff just had friends there. Then the people who took us (me and my brother) to church switched churches because they thought that one "wasn't safe". :rolleyes: The new church was really boring I mean one of those "no talking, no fun, only pray, that is how you rejoice in the Lord damnit!" places. So I left because at that point I had already found Paganism through a friend and that just seemed to fit me much better then Christianity. I had always believed in a Goddess no matter what they told me anyway. And if nothing else at least no one could tell me my music was Satanic. Someone told me that The Offspring (I was listening to their CD at the time) were Satanic. Yes, a nice Christian boy got his ass kicked that day. :bigredgri

[Sequoia]

hi there, welcome!!

I know. . . things can be really difficult. I've always had questions, but nobody seemed to be able to answer them. . . so I've always looked, myself. Paganism just is kind of what I've always been (except for this weird oober-christian phase i went through when I was about 9 or 10) . . . and I'v ealways had such "odd", open beliefs that I never quite fit anywhere.. . so I'm just myself! hehe

Best of wishes to you!

~Puma

[bansidhe]

:wave: cead maile failte firebird!!! :wave:

omg puma, i went thru that phase too, about the same age, maybes a little younger! im using my upbringing as an excuse for that tho! ;)

firebird, i guess i juss started looking around, i was really over xtianity and felt too confined. then i found druidry, and it sorta clicked! cant explain it any other way really! so now, im juss devouring everyhing i can about it! :)

[Radocs]

Welcome to Mysticwicks. ^_^ :wave:

I was raised Catholic, even went to a Catholic school till 5th grade. As I got older I started asking questions that they had no real answers for. Eventually some of them got openly hostile toward me, presumably because I was managing to think for myself, and I decided that I would no longer be a member of the church.

My girlfriend actually got me interested in Paganism and after looking into it for a while by reading through some of her books and doing a lot of hunting on the internet I decded it's what I like. :)

[MammaStar]

Well, I was raised catholic too. Though I didn't attend Catholic school, I did have to go to CCD classes until I was 14. The older I got the more frustrated, bored & even angry I became. As I got older I could not stand being told I was second to a male. That I was bad, what I thought and felt was "bad". Catholic guilt is a powerful thing. Being from an Irish & Italian backgrond, even worse!

A friend of mine is part of the Rainbows. I learned a little, started researching some of the Native American history & ideas. But while doing that, it may sound silly, I didn't feel right, following the Native American path, as I am as white as you can get. (there is a "rumor" in my family that we are a smidgen Lakota Sioux, but until I find the evidence, i'm not buying it). I liked the ideas of being related to all. Being one with nature. I've always felt at home outdoors & definitely prefer "rural" living than city life.

Now, here's where everyone collectively groans. Ready. Since I was raised catholic, I still didn't have a true grasp on witchcraft & pagans. I still had the prejudice of "satan" & the devil and all that nonsense. I met a woman when I was working as a deli clerk who was wiccan. I didn't do much, except acknowledge it and went on my merry way. But then I noticed that I would pick up books in the store about Witchcraft, etc. What really kicked me in the butt & got me to study hard was, Okay groan now, the movie Practical Magic. Yep, I KNOW!!!! Hollywood. I'm sorry!!!! The next day, I went to the local Barnes & Noble, picked up Buckland's Big Blue book (*shiver* did NOT like it) and Cunningham's Solitary Guide. Well, when i read SC's book, I felt as I had come home. The world made sense. I sought out the woman I met 2 years prior at her shop and talked with her a bit. She invited me to her circle and that, my friends, was that. I've been proud to say that I've been a Witch for 3 years now.

[Sequoia]

oooooh yes I can understand that.

I think how I got sort of "brought into" the world of Paganism. . . I've always been interested in it but I never really thought anyone WAS Pagan ^^;

The first time I really experienced "magic" or energy of other things. . . at least, in a way that really hit me and made me realize that the world was alive. . . I was at my boyfriend's house, and I was holding his sword. I accidentally touched the blade. Now, i didn't cut myself, but I had this weird stingie feeling in my finger that just WOULDN'T go away. And after a while I told my BF about it. . . he had me come back in and apologize to her (the blade) for touching her by accident, and to touch her again. I did so. . . .and the pain went away. I had the sincere feeling that she hadn't meant to sting me, that it was instictive. And he told me that she had a sort of energy bite as well as just being a sharp blade. It really surprised me, but the experience as a whole convinced me, and got me to realize that the world I had always thought I imagined was actually real. It was a wonderful discovery. ^_^ took a while to get used to, but now I'm a bit too used to it, I think -_-; hehe

[white_draco]

I still go to a Christian Church and sometimes it's fun to go there and sometimes it's not...but sometimes It's very hypocritical and contradicting. Even though I have questions about Christianity, I pretty much know that the pastor can't answer then questions without referring to the Bible saids so which I find pretty much pathetic. From there I went to search my options because I knew that all religions couldn't be bad, but my mom said the Bible saids so...so when I turned 14 I searched on the web for some material on different religions and Paganism really caught my eye especially Wicca. I immediently decided Wicca was for me....Over a year later I am a Wiccan and happy because I am.

I've learned to not accept everything that that big guy in the pulpit is stomping about and everything the choir is singing about. I know what my beliefs are and nobody is going to change that...I remember a quote from a movie called " But I'm a Cheerleader " . It goes like this when this gay guy is told that he must go home because he didn't have the potential to be straight ( btw this is at a straigtening camp )....the gay guy goes "Yall know you are and you know what you want and ain't nobody changing that sheeeeeit "....This is saying you know who you are and nobody should make you change...

I hope I helped ya...



-White Draco-

[bluebear]

Greetings Firebird and merry meet. I too was raised Catholic. Catholic family, Catholic church and Catholic school. After many years I finally realized that Christianity had done little to enrich my life and I just walked away from it. I guess my instincts led me to the Pagan path and it was like coming home. This is where I belong. Welcome to Mysticwicks.
Blessings
Bluebear

[mato]

Hi, and welcome.

I have always felt and honored Goddess and God in some way all my life. I rejected the Christian faith at an early age, and was likewise rejected by it once I realized that I was gay. I had a lot of questions. I was playing online at school, and found a cool site I did alittle more research and soon started an indepth study of wicca. I found it to be a bit off to me so I looked twords my roots (mainly Native American), which blended well with what I already knew of wicca. Which is interesting because I found the wiccan lord and lady in the Aztec pantheon! Its/Their names even mean Lord and Lady (well 2 Lord and 2 Lady) and duel divinity!

[Flaire-FireStar]

:wave::wave:Welcome!:wave::wave:

Well.. I still go to my mom's church (she's a Baptist...as are most of my friends), but I first got into Wicca by watching The Craft (I know it sounds lame), but that got me into reading books and this is where I am today. :) Although hiding in a closet about this kinda stuff isn't always fun... *sigh*

[Niamh]

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts! I want to say thank you for sharing. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one on this boat, but I have plenty of friends here!

Raised Catholic by an Irish mother... went to Catholic grammar, high school and college!

By college I was non-practising, but still considered myself to be Catholic.

BY the end of college I had met many and varied people and had my eyes open as to just why I was non-practising. So I started exploring and found paganism with the help of books and the friend of a friend. And I'm quite happy with my path!

I'm now godmother to my beautiful niece. When my sister-in-law asked me she said "I know you're not a church goer, but that doesn't bother me. I'm not asking what you believe, I think you'll talk about it when you're ready. All I know is that you'll love my little girl, and I know that you, more than anyone, will respect our wishes should anything ever happen to us, and raise her in the Church."

I was very touched, and lots of tears were shed!

[Dria El]

Welcome to Mystic Wicks Firebird!

:)

[yemayasdaughter]

First let me again say :wave: WELCOME TO MYSTIC WICKS :wave:

(Sure this welcome is a bit late.. but lets call it C.W.P. time -- C.W.P. = Colored Witchy People) :p

And with that silliness... this is how I came to my path:
Though my experience is very similar to everyone else's, there is one difference, which would probably explain me finding this path. My Mom is Catholic, raised by a Christian Mom and a Jewish Dad. My Dad is an ole foot-washin' Baptist. When my older sister and I came along, we were like religious mutts! We'd go to the church and "catch the spirit" with Dad, and sit for HOURS at Mass with Mom. But I never really connected with any of the ancestral religions, though I loved reading stories about Jesus, loved the choir at Mass (Especially at Christmas) and loved hearing ancient Hebrew being read.

I have always been a "Witch at heart"... the spiritual advisor to many a friend (which would explain why no one was really surprised when I formally came out of the broom closet) But my direction fully began when I was working for this Afrocentric store... all types of Bohemians in Brooklyn would come in there. One day, this woman was commenting on the cowrie shells I had in my hair as I was helping her try on a dress she wanted to buy for a trip to Brazil. She asked me if my madrina was Yemaya. I had NO CLUE what she was talking about. She and I started talking and she basically told me that I looked like a Yoruba Priestess of Yemaya. I told her that I wasn't, and she suggested that I read Jambalaya by Luisa Tesh. Whoah that book was deep!! Yemaya embodied this women I used to dream about as a child, and as scared as I was... it felt satisfying to finally feel like something fit for me.

So I studied Yoruba, and although it was wonderful to have a name to associate with, I knew this wasnt for me either. So I went on websites and read up on the many Pagan Paths... Thought I was Wiccan, not so much. Thought I was a Santera... uh uh... So after going through a really tough period, and losing my job. I used the time off (and Unemployment checks :rotfl: ) to study, and I have been for the last year and a half now, I came to the conclusion that I am a Eclectic Witch, and I have forged my own path, carrying with me the wisdom from many others that have come before me.

And though right now my spirits are really low, due to a major depression, I can look back and see that I have truly accomplished a great deal. I am one step closer to being the woman I want to be. And I think that is the true point to life, the goal in life... to become the people we want to be.

And I hope that in some small way, we can help you achieve that goal... and we can help each other as well. :D

[mol]

*phew*

That would be a loooooong story and I am just passing through to say hello. Perhaps another day I can tell you about my Path. Until then, welcome to mw.