how did you get started?

[richardcranium]

I just wanted to start this thread to learn how well I am progressing compared to others.

[mol]

What do you mean...exactly?

[richardcranium]

I was wondering how others got started down their paths? How did they find out about it?

[mol]

Well, i dont really know. I knew, spiritually that I was not whole. i started searching. I found this Path, or rather, it found me by study. I remember stumbling through the web about four or five years ago and finally saying...hey...thats me. Thats how I feel. And, eventually I became Eclectic, borrowing from this Path and that to add to my own Personal Path.

Thats the story. Not glamorous. But thats it.

[richardcranium]

when I was a kid I wanted so bad to be able to cast spells like on videogames (lightening bolts, fire balls, stuff like that). I searched and searched. As I grew up I abandoned this quest. Then for some odd reason after high school I went on a childhood flashback. I went to the library and searched for "magic". It gave a book on witchcraft and almost four years later I am still reading everybook I can get my hands on

[mol]

The Everquest of Knowledge..

[richardcranium]

What is that?

[mol]

Originally posted by richardcranium
What is that?

Well, the endless search that most Pagans seem to have for knowledge...

We all have that it seems...

[Witchbourne]

It just comed to me one day....and i'll gues i started to accept it about 6 or 8 years ago and i did not find my harmony in the balance untill about 3 or 4 years ago...

Blessed be*

[Rosabelle]

i had heard about wicca from my sister and TV, and i have to admit, i did get interested in wicca after watching buffy the vampire slayer :( (i know i'm shameful) but then i looked at websites and found out about the real thing.
i then went to my local library with my best friend Polaris and we got some books and read them. that gave us even more information.
i have decided now that i don't want to be wiccan or a witch (it just doesnt suit me) but i'm at the moment researching about druidry. i don't want to be wiccan, just pagan.
:)
Rosabelle

[Shatav]

I was raised in a fairly liberal Quaker background, and I was always talking and yacking religion and spirituality with my friends. One day the local HP heard me and asked if I wanted to join her coven and learn about Wicca. The rest is history.

[mol]

Originally posted by Shatav
I was raised in a fairly liberal Quaker background, and I was always talking and yacking religion and spirituality with my friends. One day the local HP heard me and asked if I wanted to join her coven and learn about Wicca. The rest is history.

Now that must have truly been an experience.

[samoanshark]

I have always felt I had something special... a gift...
when I was little my family lived in Los Angeles (my parents were entertainers)... they divorced when I was 6 and brothers and sisters moved to Pacoima, Ca. with my Dad's sister.... I have always been one to remember my dreams... they were always so real. I remember one night there was a big storm in our part of the west coast. It was ruining many houses (back in the 60's) and as a little girl I was very scared. I remember going in front of our sliding glass door, looking out at the storm and praying that it would not hit our city. I don't remember exactly what I said, but in the morning the storm was gone. As a little girl I felt that that prayer had something to do with the storm going away. So I felt special. But it wasn't till I came to Samoa with my family that I knew there was something a little different about me. We live on a beach and I remember many times hearing people call my name on the beach, but no one was there. I remember hearing orchestra's and classical music, when noone else would hear it.
I was visited once by my dead grandfather, according to my mom, that was the spirit that came to my bed one night and tucked me in because it was chilly. For some reason, I never opened my eyes that night, though I was awake, I just could tell that a shadow came in front of me and tucked my blanket in up to my neck. I mentioned it to my mom the next morning and she nonchalantly said that it was probably the spirit of my grandfather, as I was his favorite!
I dream about flying alot. I have dreamt about helping people and flying them from one place to another. When I wake up in the mornings sometimes my thighs are sore from lift off (does that make sense?).
When I did those ESP cards (25) you know, the wavy lines, circle, square, etc... I got 14 out of 25, and that was thinking about the card that was not drawn yet.
With animals, I remember canoeing in Malibu when I was 18 and this kid was fishing off the beach. He hooked a baby shark and was too afraid to unhook it. I remember wading out to where the boy was fishing ... it was shallow.. then I just reached down and put my hand on the shark and it stopped thrashing! The boy couldn't believe it, neither could I! Then I unhooked the hook which was stuck to its dorsal fin and I guided the baby shark to the open water and it just swam away.
I remember snorkeling when I was about 26 in Samoa and over the reef I ended up about 10 feet above three 5-6 ft. sand sharks... For some reason I wasn't afraid and they never bothered me.
I remember being at a small zoo in Iowa (I went to Coe College in Cedar Rapids) and there was this lion there. He was beautiful. I was about 21 and I went up to his cage and he started roaring, very loudly, it was weird. I started to talk to him softly, telling him it was o.k.. then he just stopped and appreared to by purring. I felt so good.
My family business is stevedoring and unloading fish from fishing vessels. I remember one vessel had 2 huge german shepherds and one was named Thunder. She was very mean and nobody would go near her except the owner. I was pregnant at the time (about 6 months) and it had been a long day. I was mad at one of my workers for some reason. I walked into the hall of the vessel and sat down on the floor because I was so upset and tired and hurt. All of a sudden Thunder comes trotting into the hall way and I froze on the floor. Somehow, though, I didn't feel as afraid as I probably should have. I was upset and perhaps Thunder felt it. She just walked up to me, laid down next to me and put her head on my knee (I was sitting crossed legged on the floor). She was just looking at me. I put my hand on her head and pet her. I didn't think about how mean she was anymore and I ended sharing a piece of gum that I had in my pocket with her. Ha!
Sometimes I feel like a can talk to animals.
Anyway, my mom says that I should never go to a seance, or have my palm read. She said that I am very suceptable to
spiritual happenings and I might not know how to handle it.
Therefore, after many years of wanting to know and understand it..... here I am..... willing to learn and put whatever gifts I have to good use.
I hope my story wasn't toooooooo long.
Blessed be! samoanshark

[Semele]

Thank you for sharing. I find it very interesting the way you seem to be able to communicate with animlas. I really do believe some folks have this gift. I wish I had it sometimes, but then I often feel like animals are sad and I don't think I would want to feel that anymore than I do now. When you talked about your prayer on the stormy night and feeling like you had something to do with it, I know how you feel. So many times earlier in life I prayed and never really knew if it did any good, other than to make me feel like I was doing "something". The few times that what I prayed for did come into fruition was enough to make me continue praying for all things.
Semele

[Wyrdsister]

Mol, dont' tell me that there just might be another EQ player on this board? ;)

Blessed Be all!

Wyrdsister

[mol]

Originally posted by Wyrdsister
Mol, dont' tell me that there just might be another EQ player on this board? ;)

Blessed Be all!

Wyrdsister

Hmm...I surely dont want to sound like an idiot..but..what is EQ?

Is my brain fried?

[enwyn]

don't worry Rosabelle! the way i found my interest is just as bad....i hope no one judges me for this one! i finally got motivated into finding my path after seeing the movie The Craft. i had the same undefinable leanings that everyone else has spoken of: knowing that the conventional religions were not my path and so on...and i always dreamt about being able to do magick like the wizards in fairy tales, and as i got older i loved playing role playing games because of this too. but i was never certain until after seeing that movie. i researched it and fell in love! it's been all downhill (or perhaps i should say uphill!) since then. but up until last summer i was still collecting info and defining my path in wicca, and last summer was when the wolves came to me and i've been learning under them ever since.

[enwyn]

i realized i completely forgot to sign my last post...:)
oh well i guess it doesn't matter really.....

*Brightest Blessings!*
**********************
enwyn

[Jazzmine]

My story isn't very flashy either. I got a book from my dad who constantly reads. The book was called Omega and was a fiction novel by Stewart Farrar. I couldn't put it down. After I read it I went online and started looking to see if Wicca and Witches were real. Let me tell you, I Love what I've found. My life is a lot more complete now. I have been reading alot ever since. I have been at this for almost 2 years now. I can't get enough!

[Kalima]

Completely off-topic, but that reminds me of the time found a copy of L Ron Hubbard's 'Dianetics' in the scifi/fantasy section of a secondhand bookstore...


I always had an interest in folklore, and when looking up 'faeries' on the internet one night I stumbled onto a faerie wicca site. Things kind of took off from there... I didn't buy my first witchy book until eighteen months/two years later -- all of my original readings were from the Net.

[mol]

Originally posted by Kalima
Completely off-topic, but that reminds me of the time found a copy of L Ron Hubbard's 'Dianetics' in the scifi/fantasy section of a secondhand bookstore...


I always had an interest in folklore, and when looking up 'faeries' on the internet one night I stumbled onto a faerie wicca site. Things kind of took off from there... I didn't buy my first witchy book until eighteen months/two years later -- all of my original readings were from the Net.


Ahhh. Dianetics. There is one to talk about in the book forum...

[Red Dragon]

Dragons are very old. You wouldn't believe how old! Anyhow this ol dragon has been in the biz for a very, very , long time!

[Wyrdsister]

Merry Meet all,

My search really did begin with the Net. I'd always been interested in witches, but I'd never really thought of ever meeting any or trying to be one. :)

I was looking at the website of an online aquaintance of mine, and she mentioned she was a witch. She had a few links to some sites she liked. I followed them, and the strands of the web branched out, and out, and out... I couldn't believe the information I was finding!

Then I started reading everything I could get my hands on. I'm still at this. I really cannot resist a book store, and my wallet complains loudly! ;)

I consider myself only at the very beginning of my path, wherever that may lead. For all the reading I've done I still don't practice as often as I want. You can check out the "chicken wiccan" entry in my online diary to find out why if you'd like. ;)

BB,

Wyrdsister

[samoanshark]

Originally posted by Wyrdsister
Mol, dont' tell me that there just might be another EQ player on this board? ;)

Blessed Be all!

Wyrdsister

I know I'm still new to all of the terms and such. Could you tell me what EQ means?
Blessed Be!

[Moondragon]

Well,
This is something I hear often someone asking and I believe it to be a good question because it allows someone coming to a point where sometimes the decision of which path to take gets very difficult.

Here is my story:

When I was little I was one of those hellion kids which always had some mechivious new plot to scare the other girls or torment the adults it was just to fun to resist<g> Anyway I absolutley adored magic wizards, dragons, I would imagine myself casting spells riding on the backs of dragons etc.. needless to say I was more interested in what adults said was imaginary then my school work. As I grew my interst became more compelling. My mother thank goodness feels the same way I do so I didn't have to go through that torment. she encourged me to trample down my own path of self discovery. The topic of UFOS, Ghosts etc was never uncommon my grandmother was a firm believer in UFOS BTW still is<g> we would talk about that alot and we used to hit the bookstores together. Finally one day I followed my grandma back to the new age section when I was about 8 and as and avid reader I found a good book on magic and started reading and reading and reading. Four years later I found To ride a silver broom stick by ravenwolf. she is still one of my favorite authors even though I don't follow wicca. Later I found out my fathers side is heavily into shamanism and elved into that for awhile. My mother is tried and true wicca. So I do believe my parents did very well on letting me choose my own path they always gave me the option to do what I wanted to but the never held anything back. Thats my story. Questions? Comments?

[Scarlet Swan]

Originally posted by samoanshark
I know I'm still new to all of the terms and such. Could you tell me what EQ means?
Blessed Be!

I did not know either, but I asked "cheif sits on his stubborn butt" and he said it is a computer game, as refered to in the post above (not by mol).

The game is called Ever Quest.

Mols reference to ever quest was the Pagans continuing quest for knowledge (two unrelated things).

I still don't know what it is, but that is what the hubby said. I hope it helps :)

Scarlet Swan

[Mairwen]

:D Chief Sits on His Butt! ROTFLMAO! :D I love it!!

[Scarlet Swan]

Originally posted by Mairwen
:D Chief Sits on His Butt! ROTFLMAO! :D I love it!!

I hate to keep calling him names, but he really p****s me off sometimes. He wants so much to help others, and feels so strongly about our youth, and even older Pagans (not just Wiccans by the way). There really is alot of garbage floating around in the sea we call spirituality, and he has so much to offer. HE IS JUST A PIG HEAD!!!

This is the first online forum he has EVER gotten involved with, and finally has a chance to make a "difference." What does he do? Lets some comment (or group of comments) go to his head, something I have never seen by the way, and wants to cool off. Cool off? He doesn't even look heated to me!

I have seen him stand up in front of a room full of Universalist and talk them into spiritual bliss. What ever bug is up his butt, really is a BIG one.

Heh, he's sleeping now. Maybe he'll dream about Pagan orgies or something fun like that, and it will perk him up!!

Scarlet Swan