Learning

[RainInanna]

How, as a New Pagan, do you choose books to read, websites to visit, or people to learn from? Where do you read your favourite reviews, and who's opinions do you trust? Do you like to learn by books or by a friend teaching you?

Have you trusted a book/website/person and it bit you in the behind? In that I mean, did you find the book or website wasn't helpful, or that the person wasn't a good teacher?

Do you learn better by reading, doing, seeing someone else do? Do you learn better by intuitively doing it, or by memorizing the rules first?

Do you know what you want to learn next? What are you learning now?

[mystic_zoe]

i tend to choose my books by browsing through the mind, body and spirit section in book stores to be honest. i dont buy so many now because a lot that i find in the shops i can get access to arent what im looking for. the last book i bought was called Everything you need to know about Paganism i think...and i it (IMO) is great. the maun sections are on Asatru, Wicca, Druidry. they give holidays, beliefs. and then has little sections on Vodoun and Santeria, Shamanism, Hellenism, Kemeticism, Celtic Recon, Roman Recon, Thelma, Eclectic and Native American traditions. then talks about ethics, the role of magic and loads of other stuff (sorry for the blurb lol). It then gave me an idea of what i wanted to look at next.

i do like to learn by reading from books and websites which have been suggested on here. i tend to use the internet a lot more now than books mainly because of the money factor of buying books and also because i havent been able to find books which have interested me.

i havent yet come accros a person who hasnt been a good teacher. same for books/websites but i suppose that maybe is yet to come :P as for teachers i dont think ive really had one, but i do know someone who i can talk to when im sort of stuck in a rut and need advice in the area of Paganism and spirituality though.

i do feel i learn better by reading, and commiting information to memory rather than actually doing without and reading.

as for what im learning now..well i suppose im trying to figure out my views on the Gods/Goddesses.....and contemplating why female Gods are called Goddesses instead of just God. God isnt that masculine a term in my opinion...anyways as for whats next, i suppose trying to learn more about other belief systems within Paganism and outside it too. get more specific. i have a tendancy to scan information and then go back at a later date. i would also like learn more about folklore. & mythology of various pantheons.

wow ive rambled on :D

[Nocturna]

I choose things in sort of a hit-or-miss fashion. I come across things by browsing or searching. If I see a particular author, book or site recommended or cited repeatedly, I seek it out. I haven’t had face-to-face teaching, so I can’t really compare it to reading.

I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been “bitten.” I got a little frustrated early on because so many 101 books are superficial and seem to be written for the lowest common denominator. But I can’t say I didn’t learn from them.

I tend to learn by reading, then doing. Having a framework memorized is usually better for me than trying to go on intuition alone.

Like I said in a different thread today, there’s a lot I’m interested in learning, but right now I’m studying a lot of myth and lore.

[Sage]

How, as a New Pagan, do you choose books to read, websites to visit, or people to learn from?

My situation is a bit unique. Because of my location, the net (and my personal spiritual experience of course) is my only tool for learning. Yes, I could order from Amazon and pay expensive shipping rates but it won't be long before I head back to the US. Anyway, my main way to eliminate and seek sites, books, articles, and the like is via the fabulous search button here. I have searched so many topics on this board, and contacted so many members (BIG THANK YOU, to all who have been of assistance to me during my journey) via pm with questions. It has kept me very busy, so much in fact I have not added anything new to my educational quest thus far. I have not even touched the area of who to learn from. Um, perhaps when I return to the US.


Have you trusted a book/website/person and it bit you in the behind? In that I mean, did you find the book or website wasn't helpful, or that the person wasn't a good teacher?

So far, no. Almost everything I have come across (which I guess you can say is very limited) has been helpful to me in some area of my journey. As for teachers, the only ones I have had are 2 mentors from the Adopt-A-Newbie program here, from the Circle of Teaching, and I have a Druid mentor. All are or have been valuable assets to me.


Do you learn better by reading, doing, seeing someone else do? Do you learn better by intuitively doing it, or by memorizing the rules first?

I know this answer might not be helpful, but I acutally learn best when I use all the above. Of course, at times memorizing is better than just doing. But I don't memorizie first all the time, just like I don't do before reading all the time. Add a little of each, and that's my flava.


Do you know what you want to learn next? What are you learning now?

Nowadays, I am learning anything Irish Celtic I can get my hands on. For me that means mythology, my online Druidry course, articles, and of course searching MW. Um, I haven't really narrowed it down to what I want to learn next. But ritual is high up there. Not ceremonial ritual, but something along those lines. But may be that's not learning pre se, more of a practice I want to get into? Still thinking about this.

Sage