Why have you all...

[GoddessViviane]

I have a question! (wow, i'm just full of the arn't I)

Why have you all chosen a different path? (the path of the lord and lady) *or whatever your other path may be*
There are so many of us who believe something different then the general society. I find it interesting. So? Lets hear it? What made you walk the unpaved road, or what called you?
Come on! Start posting!
~Cyneburghleah

[Amethyst Rose]

This was actually a really hard question to answer, I had to go back in my memory and try to find out what came first. At first, I thought that it was a movie, "The Craft", then I realized that no, it started sooner than that, with a book on the supernatural, touched briefly (and horribly, horribly innacurately, I might add) about witches.
On further examination, however, I realized that it started even sooner than that. I used to go for walks at night and look up at the stars and feel the earth around me, and I would talk to the stars.....
So, my answer was that something called me, but I don't know what. It just started so gradually, that I dont' really have a clue exactly when it started. :)

[GoddessViviane]

hahaha. I saw the movie "the craft" for the 2980398532045 time last night. hahaha. when you watch it...(at least for me) it makes me laugh...hahhahaha. some of the parts are really funny. "these are my gifts!!" - i dont think the gods would kill animals to give them to anyone as "gifts" ya..so...
that movie, when i 1st saw it, did really creap me out, but it still got me interested.
~Cyneburghleah :) :T

[Melysande]

It just makes more sense for me. I find it very hard to think of the Divine as just one unifaceted Being, especially one that is just male (as some religions believe it to be). I name pieces of myself in order to better classify them (but no, I don't have a multiple personality disorder), so why wouldn't I do the same as far as the Divine goes? **smiles**

Besides, when They want my attention, They use unignorable and unmistakable ways of getting it. I usually know exactly Who is saying hi, and what He or She is trying to tell me, just by the method used to communicate and the symbology involved in imparting the message.

[Faolan]

I think a better movie to watch would be Practical Magick.. just for me, seems a little more toned down then the Craft and not quite as.....freaky.

but as for me, I'm not really sure how I got into my path. I remember one day picking up a book on shamanism. But that doesn't explain how I learned about Wicca... I don't even know where I first heard the name. Maybe when I picked up Scott Cunningham's book on Earth, Air, Fire, Water. At the time I was going to a Christian counselor, and me being... naive...showed it to her. She made me throw it away >.<

[Myst]

btw there's about a dozen threads on this too, I think some in Nwe Pagans probably as well as here in JT... *shrugs*

[Azure]

Well, I blame my parents. The first thing my mother ever read to me was "Midsummer Night's Dream."

I've said this before, but we moved to Greece when I was three, back in the 70s, and I grew up running around temples and sacred sites. They just always seemed more spiritual to me than what I got watching the preacher in church services.

[Codehappy Kid]

I wasn't raised to any religion, but I always felt that there was some divine Entity. I tried the Christian Church for a few years, but that became too doctrinal and confining. I still believe there is a divine consciousness, but I don't really care about religion at all anymore, except as something to study.

[Earthcup]

Read an article, read a few more articles, decided to try it and many, many books and articles later I knew I'd found something I could believe in.

[Flaire-FireStar]

Originally posted by GoddessViviane
hahaha. I saw the movie "the craft" for the 2980398532045 time last night. hahaha. when you watch it...(at least for me) it makes me laugh...hahhahaha. some of the parts are really funny. "these are my gifts!!" - i dont think the gods would kill animals to give them to anyone as "gifts" ya..so...
that movie, when i 1st saw it, did really creap me out, but it still got me interested.
~Cyneburghleah :) :T


hehehe..You too? :D

Also, my best friend at the time was interested in the craft and picked up some books on it. :)

[Rubi Waters]

I was raised cathoic...i always knew I was different then i picked up a book and it led me down his path....

[Mythrel]

well to begin with, I was raised Luthren and it never made sense to me...I was young, 9 or 10 when I first realize hypocrisy...I couldn't stand the people who were preaching to me to do one thing and then they'd do exactly what they preached against...so I stopped going to church altogether...I've always be fascinated with Egyptian Gods/Goddess, Greek Gods/Goddess and Native American beliefs from as early as I can remember...well, I sort of floated around for a bit then I tried Methodist, Catholic and then a non-demonational church...all of which I continued to see the hypocrisy of the preachers and the flock (which I despise, be SHEEP and let me lead you to the slaughter, not for me) well anyway, I end up joining the air force. while stationed in Colorado some friends of mine invited me on a camping trip, I had no intention of going but something called me to go...so I show up a day late in the middle of the night...I sit down and my friend Will starts introducing some people to me that I didn't know and as he's going he gets to Ceci...quote "she's a real witch"...well that started the barrage of questions as we hammered her until the sun came up about everything we could think of...she was awesome, she fielded our questions and never stopped smiling...she knew something we didn't I guess...as it turned out Ceci and I became really good friends and eventually started dating...she is my love and my light, and I will never forget the day we met or what she has done for me...I love you

[Nissala]

well, there were two answers for me on the poll. One, I knoew I was different since I was little.... which I did, much to mothers dismay... I was just not sure until 30 some odd years later how different I was. Then I started watching movies like the craft and (dont laugh) buffy the vampire slayer, along with reading different books and it hit me that I have been this way all along I was just brainwashed into christianity by my mother ( who at this point I have not spoken to for various reason not including my path) when I broke her control on my is when I was able to let my free will go and *BOOM* it all came together, I read the book "Book of Shadows" by Phyllis W. Curott and it really hit home with me....been studying ever since.

[Flar's Freyja]

Wow ~ I answered 'I knew I was different' and look at the percentage.....that statement usually brings lots of giggles at a gathering of pagans, so I'm not really surprised.

In addition, I've done lots of searching, spiritually, and most of it was in church. I've been everything from Catholic to Pentecostal to Jewish. I recently told one of my sons that most of the pagans I know are more Christian than most Christians I know...

What attracted me most was seeing that pagans seem to walk the talk more than anyone else.

Ahh, Book of Shadows by Phyllis Curott.....the first book I read on Wicca was To Ride a Silver Broomstick, but Phyllis' is by far my favorite. And the one that actually led me to this path was "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise L. Hay....Louise just doesn't know she's really a Pagan......

[StarryDancer]

Wow! I'm not really sure what called me. I've always been into the mystical traditions, and believed in things that most people give up around age 6 -- fairies and elves and ghosts and sprites and nymphs. Heck, I argued with my mother at age 10 when she told me there was no Santa Claus!

And being raised Catholic, I just felt that something wasn't quite right there. Oh, I could easily follow along with the words and example of Christ, but I didn't see any of that in the church!! Then I did my own study of comparative mythologies, and learned that these "unique mysteries" were by no means unique, but in fact hailed from much, much older traditions. So I started to explore them, and have found my truths among them.

And the journey continues...

[Fire_Crotch132074]

I have allways been different than all my friends, but I first started looking at Pagan/Wiccan information when my friend told me he was Wiccan, and he told me to look at it and see if it anwsered questions that nothing else anwsered for me (I was an Atheist for a long time, stoped believing in God and Satan when I was 8 y.o.) At first look I thought it was just about elves and things floating around in the clouds (bad website) but later some of my friends were discussing their beliefs of Wicca/Pagan things and I was so intrested I went on a computer at school and did nothing but research it for hours at a time, until I got introuble for skipping 3 classes :( but ever since then I have been with my friends disscussing our different ideas and beliefs and I have never felt so...happy with my religous belief <----- best way I can describe it. Well thats pretty much it. hope it made a little sense.

[Alphyna]

Umm... I chose other b/c I felt drawn to it, as well as the mystery was enticing. I was always rebellious and thought this was very extreme, but at the same time I grew up in the country, and was always close to nature. I love mother earth, and when I found out that witchcraft, however dark it was, was also light and invitng, and was always in my heart. It is amazing to finally understand balance, and begin my path to acheiving it.
Sincerely Sarah

[Lauralu]

Actually, I found out about wicca and paganism 2 years ago when I was curious as to where Halloween came from. I was just confused as to whether it was a good holiday or a bad one, like my church said. After some keyword searches I found some wiccan websites and then I couldn't stop learning. :)

[silverm00n]

I think it would be more accurate to say the path called me, and I responded. I was always interested in mysticism in general, not so much the darker occult type stuff, just to say I've always been a spiritual person and this path really allowed me to explore that in a very positive way. I didn't feel trapped and I think that's really allowed me to grow

[TheTempestuous1]

Well let's see here....Even at age 4, I loved nature.. (I had a yearly thing of just before autumn, going out and picking some of the leaves from the tree on the side of our house and saving them for spring.. :)) I just liked being outside and around trees and things.. Then I've always been into all the mythological creatures and the greek myths. When I was little David the Gnome and My little Ponys were my favorite shows, and even though I don't actually believe in those creatures now (or then) I always just thought how cool that would be if it were real. Then around 5th grade I think, we started greek mythology, which I loved. Also being catholic gave me an interest in spirituality. I was always very proud of it, and enjoyed being an alter server which I was for about 7 years because it gave me a direct hand in my religion. And I think it was a fine religion for the kid in me, but as I got older (around 12 or 13?) and studied the church's views on things and learned more about science I gradually grew to disbelieve some things. Then it got to the point where I couldn't really say I was catholic anymore. I also had gotten more interested in astrology and was curious about 'spells' and ended up watching Charmed which led me to research what Wicca actually was (as obviously it wasn't quite accurate in the show ;)). I first bought teen witch, and did a lot of research on the net. Then a bit later Wicca for the solitary practitioner. I've since decided wicca is a bit too stuctured for me, and I couldn't really say I was one, so I know just consider myself to be a plain ole' pagan :cool: So basically the pagan/wiccan thing has been going on for about 3 or 4 years now (I'm 17). And there you have it!