Introduction and a bunch of questions

[d_vela_dum]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but not totally to (Neo)Paganism. I identify as an Eclectic Asatru and have been one for 5 years. Before now I was pretty isolated in my beliefs and didn't talk much about them in groups, mostly going to the internet and talking with a Godhi who lives in my area. Well anyway, that's my background and here's my questions:

So I've recently found a whole grip of people who are Neo-Pagans ranging from Wicca to Celtic Recon and all kinds of stuff. Anyway, there's a lot of things they are talking about that sounds... odd to me and I don't want to just google it in case I get wrong information.

Now, there's this guy who bugs the crap out of me because he goes from calling himself a Witch to a Warlock to a Hunter to a Demonologist, etc. Well, an older, "wiser" aquaintance of mine said that Hunters do exist and there were orginally called in by Wiccan/Witches(he didn't specify, just saying "the circle") circles when the Wiccans/Witches couldn't fix some kind of supernatural problem. Now I have never even heard of this and just wanted some kind of clarification.

Also, they're pretty heavy into direct magics, which I'm not so keen on. No problem with them, just not my cup of tea. My problem is I'm having a lot of time understanding what they're talking about (I've read the Library of Knowledge, but they have a different skew on things). I think they also use a lot of psychism. This sounds vague because honestly, they don't really say what they're doing; either because they don't honestly know (which is fine I guess, you do what you do) or because they haven't read anything concrete about what they're doing.

If you guys could give me any help with this it would be greatly appreciated.

[Clair de la Lune]

:welcome: I would be very interested in finding out answers to your questions as well.

I am new to the craft, so I am afraid I am not the one to help you with the answers you seek, but I do want to wish you a warm welcome.:smile:

I am sure you will find everyone here to be quite open, honest, and friendly. You just may have some people stumped for the time being.

I am confused about this one thing though:
I thought that there was no such thing as a 'warlock'. I thought even guys were 'witches' in Wicca. Am I wrong in what I heard?

[Arianne Weaver]

Although I've not done formal "Circle "work, I was initiated into Alexandrian Wicca at 2nd Degree by a 3rd Degree friend who had spent a lot of her life in Covens before moving completely into Hellenistic work.
I consider myself more Eclectic now than ever.

The point of this is that I've never heard ANYONE of my Pagan friends EVER mention "hunters" - with no formal structure, who calls them, and from where?
Maybe - and I do mean maybe - this person you know just wants to impress you with who & what he is by giving himself ever more impressive titles?
Is this a person you need to take with a pinch of salt? Apologies if I'm wide of the mark here - you know him & I don't; I'm going on my interpretation of what you said about him in a couple of lines, so I could be way off, but I do know that there are some people like this about!

In answer to Clair de la Lune - Yes, a witch is male or female BUT - in most ordinary dictionaries Warlock is given as the male form for Witch; Warlock can mean "oathbreaker" and is a form of insult BUT some groups dispute the etymology and take it to derive from "spear-user", so it becomes a very acceptable name. It all depends on where this guy is coming from. Some people also use it for a male on a dark path , or a Chaos magician - it's kind of group dependant.
I think I remember reading a thread about this recently - or maybe not!

Hope I haven't left you more confused!

[Faelon_Moon_Hawk]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but not totally to (Neo)Paganism. I identify as an Eclectic Asatru and have been one for 5 years. Before now I was pretty isolated in my beliefs and didn't talk much about them in groups, mostly going to the internet and talking with a Godhi who lives in my area. Well anyway, that's my background and here's my questions:

So I've recently found a whole grip of people who are Neo-Pagans ranging from Wicca to Celtic Recon and all kinds of stuff. Anyway, there's a lot of things they are talking about that sounds... odd to me and I don't want to just google it in case I get wrong information.

Now, there's this guy who bugs the crap out of me because he goes from calling himself a Witch to a Warlock to a Hunter to a Demonologist, etc. Well, an older, "wiser" aquaintance of mine said that Hunters do exist and there were orginally called in by Wiccan/Witches(he didn't specify, just saying "the circle") circles when the Wiccans/Witches couldn't fix some kind of supernatural problem. Now I have never even heard of this and just wanted some kind of clarification.

Also, they're pretty heavy into direct magics, which I'm not so keen on. No problem with them, just not my cup of tea. My problem is I'm having a lot of time understanding what they're talking about (I've read the Library of Knowledge, but they have a different skew on things). I think they also use a lot of psychism. This sounds vague because honestly, they don't really say what they're doing; either because they don't honestly know (which is fine I guess, you do what you do) or because they haven't read anything concrete about what they're doing.

If you guys could give me any help with this it would be greatly appreciated.

I've been in the pagan community for 10+ years now...and I've never heard anyone (who i'd take seriously) talk of Hunters, etc. like you mention. The only ppl i've ever come across who mention such things were like teenage fluffy bunnies who really confused paganism with roleplaying or Buffy or Charmed or something. Sounds a bit fluffy to me. Since this guy from your description seems to change his identity weekly, I'd take anything he says with a grain of salt, sounds to me like the type who doesn't actually know what they are talking about but wants everyone else to think they know.

As far as the use of the term "warlock" in the pagan community, I don't know anyone who uses it. Most take it at it's meaning of "oath breaker" and don't call themselves that. Male or female if they identify as a witch, they call themself as such.

And what do u mean by direct magicks? I'm not sure I get your meaning.

[d_vela_dum]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I don't take this guy seriously, but it confused me that my older, wiser friend would say that they exist. I mean, he's been in the Pagan community for years so I'm just more confused than ever. Perhaps Hunters are real, but they are more in reference to paranormal activity, which seems to make sense with their definition of them.

Also, direct magics (and I'm paraphrasing pretty loosely here) is where you do change like immediately instead of "putting it in the oven and letting it do it's work." Direct magics would be like telekensis, telepathy, using "white light" energy, etc.

[Seshata]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I don't take this guy seriously, but it confused me that my older, wiser friend would say that they exist. I mean, he's been in the Pagan community for years so I'm just more confused than ever. Perhaps Hunters are real, but they are more in reference to paranormal activity, which seems to make sense with their definition of them.

Also, direct magics (and I'm paraphrasing pretty loosely here) is where you do change like immediately instead of "putting it in the oven and letting it do it's work." Direct magics would be like telekensis, telepathy, using "white light" energy, etc.

Been a while since I've been on...

I've been in Craft for nearly 16 years and have never heard of these 'hunters', my other half who has now been in Craft for nearly 21 years when teaching myself and coveners has never mentioned this either, nor have any other people I know who have been involved for even longer.. I think like the others have mentioned that they are trying to impress you or believe what they say, or have been reading some really iffy books. How long do you mean by 'years' and also it does depend on the people that they involve themselves with in the Pagan Community.

I personally use energy and don't apply any 'colour' to it as such. Also re the other things.. as I said to someone who was desperately trying to light a candle using their mind.. "isn't it just simpler to pick up a lighter or light a match and use that?".. :)

Hope this helps.

BB

Seshata

[d_vela_dum]

I personally use energy and don't apply any 'colour' to it as such. Also re the other things.. as I said to someone who was desperately trying to light a candle using their mind.. "isn't it just simpler to pick up a lighter or light a match and use that?".. :)

I'm just paraphrasing from the website "Library of Knowledge" which is a pretty cool website if for no other reason than the author relates the direct usage of energy (direct magic) to science, and I'm kind of a science nerd. Like huge.

But I totally agree with the lighter sentence!

[Shaman7]

I gotta agree that "hunter" is probably one of those pop-TV terms that could loosely apply to some fluffy new age sorta thing. The first thing that came to mind was psychic vampirism. I have a friend that claims to do such things, though my opinion is quite skeptical. Not to dismiss it completely, because I'm only judging on the basis of one individual.

There are a lot of labels that are thrown around haphazardly by people who want to have some sort of spiritual title... like "shaman" :smile:. Granted, there are people who follow certain paths that lead to such titles, though someone who claims to be so many different things, like your friend, might not have a solid grasp on a single one of them. (I don't mean to be too dismissive, I'm just sayin')

"Demonologist" kinda took me by surprise, because that is something that I would attribute to many years of devoted study on the topic. Perhaps that is the case with your friend though.

Anyway, you came to a good place to learn about some of these things. I hope that you enjoy your stay here at MW! :uhhuhuh:

[*~Amora~*]

I've never heard of a 'hunter' either.