How Did You First Learn?

[eaglewolf]

How did you first learn about the Path you are on now? Please post here if there are specifics you would like to share... or you answered other :D.

[eaglewolf]

Who voted 'other' and didn't offer an explanation :mad:?

~ew

[Mairwen]

The Gwyddon Tradition is the first Path that ever "spoke" to me, and it did so through a very small, to the point blurb in the Circle Guide to Pagan Groups. I was lucky enough to find a Gwyddon teacher 1/2 an hour from me. I learned face-to-face for several years. Then, I learned long-distance from a group in Northern California for a number of years, as well. There's very little Gwyddon information to be had, anywhere, period, so it's something you have to learn one-on-one.

There are three books containing Gwyddon information on the market, and they're well-done. However, to get to the core/gyst of the Tradition, to truly understand it, you do have to learn from somebody.

[Mairwen]

Originally posted by eaglewolf
Who voted 'other' and didn't offer an explanation :mad:? ~ew

:D That was me. Your post came through while I was writing mine, oh Site God WannaBe! LOL! ;)

[eaglewolf]

I am trying to fill the Site God's shoes... I ask myslef : WWSGD ;).

~ew

[Amethyst Rose]

I really didn't know whether to pick "other" or "internet". You see, when I was 16 I knew I wanted to be a witch, but I didn't think they existed. When I was 18 I watched the movie "the Craft" which prompted me to do some research on the interenet.
So, while I knew *something* existed after watching the movie, I learned something of what it was from the internet.
So, if you're talking about how I learned my path existed, then I would have picked other. But if you're talking about how I learned the ins and outs of my path, then I'd pick "internet and book".

[Mairwen]

Originally posted by eaglewolf
I am trying to fill the Site God's shoes... I ask myslef : WWSGD ;). ~ew

ROTFLMAO!

[Twig]

Weeell,this may seem strange but, I'm a strange guy so it fits. :) I had a book of Druidry fall off a PACKED bookshelf and when I picked it up was thrown into a vision where I met my spirit guide and my path ahead was crystal clear. I was told "You are prepared. It is TIME." And,I KNEW.

So,my path started with a book as the catalist but a vision as the fire.

Before that,I had no idea what path lay before me.
Peace,
Twig

[Mairwen]

:D Well, I could have chosen "friend", as well. What helped me to actually look into studying Paganism as a viable religion was my best friend finding a copy of "The Spiral Dance" in the stacks of our college library. I didn't read the book until a couple of years ago; however, she discussed it with me as she was reading it ~ so I felt like I'd read it. ;) At this point in time, I was still going to church, but was treading the waters, so to speak, of my own indiviuality ~ trying to find where I fit in best. My friend helped me to see that the church wasn't the only place I had to go. LOL :O)

[Yvonne Belisle]

Is a natural witch really an other? I am not taught I just know what has always felt right to me I've only been reading books for about a year. I haven't found many that describe what it is that I do so I guess I'm just a generic pagan because I am not really a witch per say either if that makes any sense. Shoulders shrugging in confusion. I have yet to see a path in books or through a teacher that fits what I am. Oh well I go on as I always have I feel the answers.

[eaglewolf]

Originally posted by Yvonne Thomas
Is a natural witch really an other

Yes, that would be an 'other' but how did you first gain knowledge about Paganism, what gave it a name...

Many are born "Pagan" but they do not really know what to classify it until they read a book, see a movie, hear it from friends etc. That is more what I am asking :D.

~ew

[BlackDragon]

I voted 'other' so here is my explination.
I was introduced by a friend, who wasn't taking the religion seriously. She wanted to use it for her own personal gain, for 'evil' I suppose. I read a few books on Faery Wicca, and here I am today!!

[Kaylara]

I am a natural witch. I found out that there was a religion that encompased my views from friends, and books. But to this day, I use more of my natural abilities than anything I read in books. I kinda have a sixth sense when it comes to what I need to do to do things.

BB,
Kaylara

[Yvonne Belisle]

Kaylara you have no idea how happy I am to see that I'm not alone here. Everyone for the most part has been very nice but, I haven't been sure where I fit in. I have only begun reading books very recently in comparrison to what everyone else has said. I know that one of my friends is a Shaman and teaches through that path. When I've been around I've just known a good part of his lessons and he has even had me teach yet I have had no teacher in this lifetime. It's nice not to be alone. As to how I was able to put a name to what I am my ex claims to be a Druid but by the research I've done I doubt it. He listened to my beliefs one day and told me I was Pagan it was one of the few things he said about religion that felt right. I've since looked at books and learned that yes I am though I have not found anyone else quite like me. Judging by Kaylara's comment about following her heart I would say her path is the closest.

[Moondragon]

Modstly my introduction to magic was through my parents I guess I got lucky becasue they gave me the option to ethier embrace paganism or any other religion I felt was right for me.

[raven_wolf]

:confused:
I said that I learned from a book. It was kinda awkward trying to suss which one to put, Book or Other. It all started when I was young and we payed a visit to my cousins house in Barrow-in-furness and I went into her bedroom. I saw her alter in the corner under the window and she came in and explaned that, as she put it so politly, "I am not one of those witch burning pieces of c**p (this is to a nine year old!!!) that your nan is, I am a witch." we spoke for hours as she explaned things to me then she gave me a book. I cant remember the name or the auther but it was a very good book. And now here I am, 7 years on down the line and still going strong.

[Naillosotarrain]

I'm not really on any one specific path, but if you want to say I'm on one path then I would be on my own path.

How did I first learn?

Well, it came to me in a vision; what else can I say?

[belladonna23]

I'm not really sure what prompted me to read my first book on paganism. I'd not been interested in religion, period, for about 12 years due to a bad experience while I was a teenager. I was, however, an active environmentalist, and very interested in herbology and holistic medicine, as well as having what I would call a passing interest in astrology.
I'd been reading some great books on aromatherapy and chakra meditation that I found at my local health food store, and went back to look for more books. I found "Book of Shadows" by Phyllis Curott, and discovered that what I'd found was in fact my spiritual path. I have continued to learn and grow through online research and the support of this wonderful little family here.

[enwyn]

well, i have had an interest in this for what seems like forever now, ever since i was little i've had a fascination with magick. and i used to (and still do) talk to trees, well all plants actually, bugs, animals, birds, etc. i would pretend that i was a witch and i would create "magickal potions" out of whatever i could find, and i used to try to make deals with the weather. when we were supposed to go to the beach the next day and it would start raining; and the weather forecast called for more rain, i would make try to convince the clouds to go away for a day at least so we could go to the beach (and it usually worked!).........also i was forvever fascinated by movies about witches, wizards, dragons, spirits, and the like. so eventually i reached a point where i just decided to take this all a step further and research into wicca. and this decision came after seeing the movie The Craft. Not a good movie in the critical sense but it gave me an idea and the curiosity to look deeper. but i'm getting carried away here! so i hope that's a clear enough explanation of "other"?

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

[Armitage]

Other here...
I was always fascinated and interested when I was little...I would make soup of rainwater and flowers and weeds for the faeries in my yard, and I was always checking out books on magic and fortunetelling from both the local and school library. I was dead sure that magic was real and that those women in Salem and Europe had gotten the short end of the stick, or at least had the wrong person telling their story. This all started when I was about eight or nine.
I finally found a name for it when highschool came around and me and a few friends started reading up on it. I'm in college now...and that's about it.

[rantnraven]

Moondragon,

You are lucky in the sense that your parents gave you the option. That is the way of Paganism. I had always learned, from my spiritual Father, that the options were there and that I should try them all. I was raised a Southern Baptist but have tried many other religions - Catholic, Mormon, Bacardi, Johnny Walker (Red). Even tried The Way Ministry - what a crock THAT was.

My path had always been known to me. Even when I was seven, I knew that being a So. Baptist was not for me. But, my parents were very strict about that "if you ain't Baptist, you're wrong".

In the early 80's I was writing a story that required a "Truly" evil person so, I turned to Witchcraft to find it. I read a book called "The Truth About Witchcraft Today" and found there was NO evil there at all. That sparked the fire and I've be Pagan ever since.

I took up Shamanism initially - seemed the best way at the time but, I have become very eclectic since. My power animal, by the way, is the Humming Bird. Isn't that a hoot. Nonetheless, it is true!

-T

[enwyn]

My dad is an atheist and my mom is a tried and true Roman Catholic. A strange combination in any case...:) So it ended up that my mom did all the religious raising in my family. From the day I was born till I took my stand to follow my own path I was raised Roman Catholic. But, it never quite clicked for me, obviously >) Quite frankly, Catholicism scared the pants off of me!!! And when I was little my mom classified my little potions that I would make as "just playing". Which was okay because it made her feel better and kept me out of trouble. But before I write any further I just want to say that my mother isn't the catholic tyrant that she might come out sounding, it's just because I'm leaving out all the in between parts that don't have direct relevence. She let me and my sisters roam free pretty much as long as we were good kids. All the little things that we did in child hood that I can connect to my path now she just chalked it up to kids playing and vivid imaginations. Except for going to a christian based school from kindergarden to grade 2, and regular Sunday mass, she gave us free reign. Then circumstances changed and my sisters and I were placed into public school, and this was the beginning of opening up to other possibilities. I began questioning the Bible and my mom didn't like that one bit! I also began pursuing my interests in spirits, dragons, fairies, witches, etc. as fully as I could for being stuck in a little backwoods town. And she did not like that at all either! I quickly learned to keep these interests quiet and tucked out of sight from my mom. She got more accepting as time went on and as I stopped questioning my "faith" in her presence. I kept going to Sunday mass with her but I always felt un-easy and at times so un-easy to the point where I felt ill. I can't explain why, it was just wrong. Then in grade 10 I began exploring into wicca and soon found myself at home in witchcraft. And it was the biggest secret I have ever kept from my mom in my life!!! My sister also found an interest in it and then one night we had forgot to hide some of the books that we had acquired and my mom found them. Well, forgive the phrase but, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!!!!! Next thing I know I was in church and going into a private confessional in the priests office instead of the confessional booth or whatever you call it . Face to face making me feel like I was the devil himself (which by the way I don't believe in the devil or hell in case you're wondering) but I think I can understand a small fraction of the emotions that those men and women persecuted during the burning times must have felt. I was only 16 and my mom is one of my best friends, and here I am being forced to confess my sins, scared out of my mind to this priest who had no understanding or compassion, and he's preaching fire and brimstone at me. The whole time struggling to decide between my path or my family, and hating every second of it because I wanted both to be at peace with one another. Eventually I chose family over being "exiled".....that didn't last long. I began practicing in secret again and made sure never to slip up again. Then finally just last year in November, in my third month of university, I couldn't take it anymore, and I told my mom that I was following my own path. (I figured that I was a safe distance away and if she freaked I wouldn't have to face her right away *chicken!* >) But to my shock and amazement she accepted it without a fight!!!:D She told me that she was happy that I finally found where I belonged. And then when I was stuttering for words she laughed and jokingly said "I gave up on you long ago!" What she meant was that she had prayed for me to find my own path under the guidance of the Divine. (I'll use that term because it's generic enough.) and I had a long time ago. That is how she came to accept it eventually. As long as me following witchcraft was an act of the Catholic God, it's ok. And that's fine with me. If that's how she chooses to reconcile it with herself and her faith I'm happy for her. And it also reconciles us! Which is ten times better!!! And after I explained wicca to her she even admitted that she envies me.......I had no idea what to say to that. But I should quit writing because I'm already beyond getting carried away :D But thanks for "listening" anyway!!!

*Blessed Be!!!*
************
enwyn

[mol]

Well, on my search for my Path I studied many faiths and practices...never really anything about the Craft or Paganism. One night at work...surfing the web of all things...I came upon a Craft site. It sparked a feeling inside of me that only needed to be awakened...

[mol]

Originally posted by eaglewolf
I am trying to fill the Site God's shoes... I ask myslef : WWSGD ;).

~ew

:D

[Silver Venus]

Hi all,
I learnt originally from reading alot of books and a wiccan friend at college told me all about covens and rituals but he was going away to New Zealand for two years so he couldnt really properly introduce me.
Now I research the internet, books and regulary drop by my local pagan shop to goissip with Diana the owner who is a solitary Magican.

We are always learning arent we, I have learnt so much in the past week from contributing and being apart of here.
Just wanted to say thanks so much!

[Dextra]

I always knew there was something out there waiting for me to become it, so to speak. It wasn't until I met a friend that brought me to my first Samhain celebration that I understood what that "thing" was. I can't even describe what it was like, except for the feeling that felt like I was "coming home." And I've been here ever since!:D

[Litha]

i had been collecting rocks that spoke to me when I was a small child and as I grew older I would talk to the trees and moon. much later when I turned 30 I began to study astrology and tarot and found that many "witches" were interested and knowledgable in those arts. It was then that I realized that they had the same spiritual path as the one I had already been on.

I started reading everything I could get my hands on, books, 'net and reaching out into the community learning from teachers in NY, NJ and PA until I settled down in my home coven, Gardnerian with lineage

I've never been a degree snob and find that some different/ ecclectic trads want to paint me as such just because of the trad I follow.
this makes me chuckle, since it's a kind of reverse discrimination.

The 'net and proliferation of books as a joy, since searching for knowledge and others to share with can be quite the quest. It's places like this community that we need to clone!

[adrian]

Greetings All!
I have to say other. all my life i have been searching for something i could never really connect with and i new from experience that christianity wasn't for me. I tried really hard to follow that path but like Jesus i was crusified by others that said i could never be perfect, that i could never walk like him; it started a process of self defeatism within myself and it took me a long painful time to recover.
When i started looking into other paths, they all led to paganism. i started with wicca which a lot of us do but soon afterwards i felt the pull of something i wasn't paying attention to...i would walk into a store and become mesmerized by things egyptian, book, statues, posters, needless to say my home is decorated in homage to the ancient egyptians.
It's been two years now and i don't see myself stopping, i am and have embraced it fully it is a part of me and everyday i am given yet piece to the puzzle.
I have never felt so complete in my life.

auset f em xenna kekiu
"his seat is within the darkness"

Em Hotep
Adrian

[woodencat]

Originally posted by Dextra
I can't even describe what it was like, except for the feeling that felt like I was "coming home." And I've been here ever since!:D

I've enjoyed reading everyone's stories :)
I totally can relate to what you have said Dextra when you say "Coming Home" :)

I always felt something was very wrong in the mainstream religious paths when I was little - and was brought up with very contrasting views - a Celtic faery fancying mother (LOL) and a sort of Buddhist father - fortunately I was left to find my own path. I too spent my childhood devoted to the love that nature gave me - feeding faeries, making potions, and then on to solid interests in herbs, and healing and all sorts of divination.
With my great love for animal and the earth - I developed strong vegan and environmental views, and continued to feel rather lost in my views on relating to others regarding spiritual matters - I had always referred to a one GOD as the God's ever since I was little - I also used to dream about hiding in the forest and turning in to moss when outsiders would pass by..LOL..
Well, I finally decided to READ a lot more - and I discovered things I always knew but never knew others knew...It was like coming home! :)
I felt Empowered and a sense of great happiness to know I was no longer alone. I was amazed that all the tiny details of my personal beliefs and views were taken into account and embraced, and to be able to understand more about it brought a great peace to me.
Also to know that there is always more to learn, brings a feeling of great ectascy! :)
Thanks for listening :)

[Carmelo]

I voted other, even though I could have voted friend/relative. I say other because I was born into it but didn't realize it until talking one night with Dextra. I grew up a Puerto Rican Roman Catholic. My family was involved in a lot of rituals/spirituals and practiced Santeria. They also have a tendency to visit Seers for advice into the future. On occasion, my mother has done this for me, but I've always maintained that only I can direct my future.

So, that's my 'other' explanation. Born into it, lived in it, but didn't realize it until a few weeks ago.

[rantnraven]

Welcome home, brother. It's nice to have you back.

[Earth Walker]

:D My father taught me what it means to be a Pagan,
and all that it entails. :) :cool:

[adrian]

Lucky you! I wish i had that kind of up bringing but alas we were raised christians and it has never agreed with me. Live in Light!

[Scarecrow]

I learned most of everything I know from the Internet. From websites, from IRC, from ICQ, and from just talking to people in areas such as these.

[adrian]

Greetings Scarecrow!
There is a lot of info. on the internet but i found that my best source for learning were and still is books and self experience, nothing beats the satisfaction of reading and practicing what i have learned.

[rantnraven]

Books are a great tool. However, they don't dance Skyclad around a fire.

There is nothing like finding a teacher/mentor. Like a book, you can hold it. But, unlike a book, you can't just put it down and go to bed. A mentor is always there - and you love them.

Just a thought.

RnR

[rantnraven]

Originally posted by Scarecrow
I learned most of everything I know from the Internet. From websites, from IRC, from ICQ, and from just talking to people in areas such as these.

Oh-h-h-h, a "virtual" Pagan.

I have read up on that. Maybe it is time to don the Loin Cloth and dance around a fire.

Feel free. Live free. BE free.

Again, welcome aboard and dance with us.

*grinning ear-to-ear*

Blessings,
Thoma

[adrian]

you can always bring a smile to this face *grinning ear to ear* and once again you're right! there is nothing like having a mentor's first hand knowledge and experience to lean on, but i cannot always go skyclad as much as i would like to there are some who frown on the practice. I am a solitary and while doing this far from home i must also be careful not to offend others i may run into, except of course when i am behind closed doors. Thanks for the smile.

[moonmagick4]

I voted "other" only because it was a combination of things.I have always been fascinated with witchcraft,so my friend Laura and I took a bus trip to Salem,Mass. and learned all about the history of the Salem witch trials.After going to the stores filled with all the candles and wonderful smelling incense and herbs ,I went home and bought a book entitled "Natural Magick"(I can't remember the authors name off hand).It is the best book I have!!I knew this was the path I was looking for my whole life!!!
It has been 3 years and my friend and I still take our annual trip to Salem!!That is where we find the best supplies around(herbs,candles,stones,etc.)We can't wait until October to go back again!!!

[montie]

I found my path to Wicca 12 years ago. I was raised by my religous grandmother I love her to death but I knew when I was small that her religion was not for me. When I set out on my own and started communicating with my mom she introduced me to wicca and it just simply connected with me. the answers that i had when I was little got answered and the beliefs just flowed with me. I found my home so to speak!

[satika]

There has never been a time in my life when I haven't had dreams
and just a "knowing " about people.
I've always had robed figures surrounding me, some light
some dark, depending on my life circumstances. I was
taught early on not to tell people about my dreams,
the "just a feeling", or about the people in the robes that
no one else could see or hear. My mother thought I was
possesed by evil or at the very least crazy. I remember
the elders of the church coming to our house to cast out a demon.
I was present, which was unusual because children didn't participate in this activity.
I was annointed with oil, ( ok I'm grown up now and know what that means)
I was instructed to bow my head and keep my eyes closed,
this was to prevent the demon from entering
my body (Right). Everyone around me was praying
except me and I was just scared. I apparently went to
sleep, because I woke up the next morning in my bed
and didn't remember anything after the prayer.
Guess I wasn't evil after all, I still had the dreams, I still
saw and heard the people, and I still knew things about
the people I met in dream time and wake time. (sometimes hard to tell the difference)
I just knew at that moment that I had no one to discuss this with, no one to guide me.
I knew I had to hide because my gifts were seen by others as evil and a sin.
Now as an adult, I am pleased to find others like me,
I still don't have anyone to discuss things with, learn
from and obviously can't speak openly.
I've studied the books by Silver RavenWolf. I'm rather
stumped, because when I try to develop or hone my skills, they seem to elude me.
I suppose years of hiding and denying what I see and feel aren't easily erased.
I'm trying too hard, or not enough.
I'm ok with what I have, maybe that's all I really need.
Thank you for being here. Blessed Be!

[Yvonne Belisle]

It does sound like you are trying to hard. Relaxing about it won't be easy after supressing it for so long but, for me it was worth it. It sounds from your post you feel the same about that. There are some great threads on meditation here. You might want to hunt those threads down and try some of the techniques in them. Meditation is great for getting inside of yourself and talking to the parts of your mind that are afraid or unwilling to change. It's a slow road but you will get up to speed if you stay on it. Welcome home.

[freya]

when i was a little girl, my mother was very religeuos, and active as a mormon. (she was raised very strong catholic even went to mary cross) I would go with her, and i always felt uncomfortable. like i was in a box bymyself in the middle of sacrament. later, as my mother got more sick, they would come to the house and give her herlessons. i remember her hiding the coffee pot, and the diet pepsi, thinking, "that is dumb" there is nothing wrong with soda, and coffee! thru the next couple of years, the creepy feeling as i walked thru the doors, or when someone read the bible to me got more and more disturbing. i decided to try other chuches. i attended 5 other churches in our community, and inside all of which, i felt the same way.
mind you all growing up, my mother "knew" things, that i didn't understand.
when i was 4, my mother left my father (who is a wonderful man!) she "hid" me from him for many years.
throiugh the years i remember finding letters with my name on them, but my mom daid thaey weren't mine. through the yrs, my mom married, divorced, married, divorced, married again.
the last of the 5 had 4 children. his youngest daughter was told to check the mail one day. in it was an unexpected letter from my dad.
she hid the letter, and then gave it to me. unfortunatelly, my mom found it before i was able to read it.
about two weeks later i had come home from school, and was thinking where she might have hidden the letter, as she was watching opera. She dryly looked at me and said, don't worry, you will never find it!
ahhhh! how does she do that?
now i was about sixteen, unhappy nornal teen, confused, blah, blah.
5th hour, english, my freshman year. our teacher was teaching us fun little relaxation, meditation trix (semester was coming up) as i opened my eyes from the calm green pasture, and gentle stream, (one class mate was snoring, he was so relaxed !lol)
any way as i opened my eyes, the teacher had a cream white oval glowing around her w/ greentrim so to speak.
i freaked ran home in tears, telling my mom i was going blind!!!
the next day, she bought me my first tarot deck, and a little book on solitairy wicca
that is how i stumbled onto my path.

[crystal_night]

I voted book. I have always had my nose in a book every since I can remember, so it's only natural of me to run across something in my reading. Here is parts of my story:
I had always been more comfortable being at home, out in the woods, sitting in my favorite place (on a fallen tree) and just becoming one with nature by listening to the wind and the birds. I collected rocks that I would sneak into my room and arrange on my window sill-only for my older sister to find and throw out into the yard. I too concocted some 'mystical brews' out of twigs, pine cones, rain water etc.
As my family life grew..... unstable, I did like most children my age-I retreated to my room. Listening to music, lighting candles and incense, reading, meditating, all of which were good, but I had lost my sense of self. I had lost my connection with the outside world. I became depressed, angry, full of self-pity, hated myself for who I had become so I would 'punish' myself. I cut off my hair, I ate crap that made me gain weight, which made everything worse. I would do other quite distructive things to myself that I won't mention.
During this pretty bad phase I went through, I found solice in one thing. I might never have came out of my room except for to go to school, but the one thing that kept me in contact with the outer world was lying in bed each night with my blind up and staring at the moon. I would talk to the moon, absorb the rays of light that would stream through my bedroom window. I would feel confort flooding through my soul, putting my turmoil at ease until the morning. That moon became my constant. If it were the dark of the moon phase I would become an irritable bear again.
Then I met a girl from school, she became a very good friend, and remains so to this day. She introduced me to a new way of life. Taught me that you don't always have to be who people want you to be. With her by my side I created some wonderful pieces of art work, I learned how to look at myself as not something that was vile but something worth-while.
She introduced me to the Tarot and together we taught ourselves how to read the deck. Practicing on each other late at night we learned.
It was after this that I started exploring 'other options' by perusing the local library. I had always been interested in Astrology but quickly found out that it wasn't for me.
Although I had just started out looking for other ways of divination, I ran across a book of spells in a bookstore and bought it just out of curiosity. I quickly found out that magic wasn't all about spells. So I went back to the bookstore and bought a few more books, one on herbalism, one on Witchcraft and one on Wicca. I read these and something literally 'clicked' and I went back to the library and tried to find books on Wicca and Witchcraft, which I found few and far between. But I knew that this was something special, something that I had been looking for since I was a child.
That's when I started browsing the internet and found a few valuable contacts that helped me understand these religions better.
Several years later, I'm still reading, I'm still surfing the 'net, I'm still talking to people and continue to learn more and more, which is what it's all about.

[Fawn]

My family mainly my paternal grandmother trained me--as she was High Priestess at the time of my birth and training.

[SahuaDjet]

Em Hotep (in peace),
Well actually my boyfriend told me a bit about Wicca and I was thinking "i dont know"....then I was at the book store in the mall looking for reading material. I picked up a Scott Cunningham book and began looking on the net soon i was reading everything i could find! I havent stopped yet either!
Cookies and Blessings,
Sahu Djet

[sandaljunkie]

My father is a close-minded atheist - as bad as any catholic. My mother has been born again several times, changed her name to gabrielle - and is disillusioned all over again (she was raised catholic).

As a child my mom taught me and my sister a respect of nature - i have journals upon journals of things my mom taught us while camping and just living in our backyard, and the forest surrounding us. She also taught me about tarot cards and destiny, and positive thinking.

My father the amateur astronomer took it upon himself to teach me about the stars and the moon, and because we live in florida and sail - about the sea and the tides, and respect for something so hard to control. My father and mother taught me about physics, frequencies and light, calculus, and cycles. I continued my pondering of these subjects in my journals.

While both my parents taught me quite thouroughly about this physical world, they both over looked the spiritual side of it all. As a child allowed to roam and feel and experience without the filters of others (tv - or ... )
i fealt connected, in a way, i realized later, they didn't.

Not having a definition of this feeling, I just continued on as i always have - roaming the woods, swimming, building bonfires, and making art and sculpture with the things i found - not to mention windchimes. Playing games with friends and then really connecting with my best friend. Learning about the underlying connections between people, with her. (how do i explain this?) Living intensely with her - i remember the energy raising, and skating in the rain, enjoying everything there was offered.

It wasn't until my sister's friend loaned her a book (and me at age 13 - or around this time) - i dont even remember what it was - and i was sitting in her room talking to her when i saw it and asked her what it was...

While alot of the books just dont make sense to me - nor do i pay that much attention to the ritualistic side - it helped me define certain things that I just couldn't explain.

So was it my parents? Myself? My sister? Or a book?
All of these things - and more i'm so very sure...

-sandaljunkie

[adrian]

Originally posted by sandaljunkie
My father is a close-minded atheist - as bad as any catholic. My mother has been born again several times, changed her name to gabrielle - and is disillusioned all over again (she was raised catholic).

As a child my mom taught me and my sister a respect of nature - i have journals upon journals of things my mom taught us while camping and just living in our backyard, and the forest surrounding us. She also taught me about tarot cards and destiny, and positive thinking.

My father the amateur astronomer took it upon himself to teach me about the stars and the moon, and because we live in florida and sail - about the sea and the tides, and respect for something so hard to control. My father and mother taught me about physics, frequencies and light, calculus, and cycles. I continued my pondering of these subjects in my journals.

While both my parents taught me quite thouroughly about this physical world, they both over looked the spiritual side of it all. As a child allowed to roam and feel and experience without the filters of others (tv - or ... )
i fealt connected, in a way, i realized later, they didn't.

Not having a definition of this feeling, I just continued on as i always have - roaming the woods, swimming, building bonfires, and making art and sculpture with the things i found - not to mention windchimes. Playing games with friends and then really connecting with my best friend. Learning about the underlying connections between people, with her. (how do i explain this?) Living intensely with her - i remember the energy raising, and skating in the rain, enjoying everything there was offered.

It wasn't until my sister's friend loaned her a book (and me at age 13 - or around this time) - i dont even remember what it was - and i was sitting in her room talking to her when i saw it and asked her what it was...

While alot of the books just dont make sense to me - nor do i pay that much attention to the ritualistic side - it helped me define certain things that I just couldn't explain.

So was it my parents? Myself? My sister? Or a book?
All of these things - and more i'm so very sure...

-sandaljunkie
Greetings Sandlejunkie! I had to respond to your thread, your candid demeaner was the hook.
I think the only thing i have to say here is this...don't be too hard on your parents, i think you are aware of their gifts to you the outdoor teachings, your mom being catholic/christian yet using taro cards...no, i would say they are very connecticed but this society doesn't allow us to be ourselves and it is only lately that it seems everyone is starting to ask questions...i'm happy for you
and the upbringing you received, look at the teachings and the love they provided in the face of adversity, we as so called spiritual beings can be really cruel towards each other especially when we go against the norm, kudos to your parents for connecting with their true spiritual selves for direction, and give thanks.

[Mairwen]

Originally posted by rantnraven
Books are a great tool. However, they don't dance Skyclad around a fire.

Oooh! I love it! I love it!

[rantnraven]

Originally posted by Fawn
My family mainly my paternal grandmother trained me--as she was High Priestess at the time of my birth and training.

Just caught this one. Though your Grandmother was a High Priestess, I would have to ask - are we not all High Preists/Preistesses of our own temples? That's how I was taught anyway.

RnR

[Pheonix]

I voted other because it wasn;t anyone thing. I read about avalon and fell in love with it, but thought nothing about it spiritually, and then I got intrested in eastern religions, specificly taoism, but knew I couldn't live the lifestyle. Then shamanism and researched that and then I met my husband who was a witch and showed me that I'm not a freak, others practise a wide range of religions, so I looked up my beliefs and they fell under pagan. I became a witch and never looked back! And I still practice a bit of all the others.:)

[clef0628]

I chose other because Mother Nature made me pagan. I never really believe that much in God as my parents brought me up. I questioned everything. I knew I believed in something I ws just now sure what. In college, I use to talk walks though the pine forest. I felt the wind go across my back, smelled the pine, listened and watched the birds and to the running water and just everything seem so alive and peaceful. It was as everything was alive the plants, animals, the wind and the water. It just seem like one big happy living thing. I use to just sit in the woods for hours just letting my mind and go and taking it all in. I started worshiping Mother Earth as my Goddess. It the time I didn't even know what paganism was. I had lived a real shelter childhood. About my junior, a friend of mine and I were talking religion. I told him what I believe and he said "Oh, your a pagan." I never really though of myself as being a pagan until then. So, at that point I started looking into books and found my path, and patron Goddess and of course my snake spirit guide, who had really been around since I was very young. I just didn't know him for what he truely was.

[Laiste]

For me my first introduction to my current path was about 17 years ago...although I didn't seriously approach my path until about four years ago. That old saying...there is a time and a place for everything...is so true!! I guess I just wasn't ready back then! Ironically the person who first tried to teach me has recently come back into my life..interesting...I will have to see where this goes!1:)

[Shadowulfe]

i first learned of my path through the book "Celtic Magic" by D.J. Coway about 5 years ago. i was raised Roman Catholic, and never felt "welcomed" in Catholisim. I always felt like an outsider for lack of a better term. Until i came across Celtic Magic that is. when i first started reading that book, it felt like i found home. after that book i read to Ride a Silver Broomstick by Silver Ravenwolf and Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner by Scott Cunningham.

[white_draco]

I didn't check other but I still wanna say how I got into it all, I was on the internet learning about Halloween and stuff and came upon Wicca and I was like...yep yep, this is for me...no if's and's about it. I felt so at home, so at peace, so in touch with myself like I never been before. The internet has provided me with alot of info and books are something I can take with me anywhere just about.


-White Draco-

[lucidfire]

wow, so many posts here! So many different stories

Originally, a friend of mine started teaching me, he's part native american and knew a lot about shamanism (he used to always try and tell me there are many planes of existence). I believe his father was a seventh son of a seventh son, something like that. Anyways, he initiated me as a Bard (because of my birthmark and such), and then went on to get married and I never really saw him much, but it wasn't really a surprise. From then on I practiced mainly by myself, did a lot of writing.

Eventually I started doing a lot of travelling around the country, because the area I live in just seemed to be missing something (the feel of nature I guess, living next to a sewage treatment plant..). The trip I took last year out to the ocean was a vision quest in a way, and I met what you could call my guardian spirit, who said his name was Ariel, and he gave me a tarot reading of all things, and anyways to make a long story short, when I got back I was initiated for a year and a day, and dedicated myself to the Goddess (in all her forms)

[MidnightSun]

I was first introduced to true Wicca by my little sister and a friend of my mothers. I was introduced to a very very dark form of witchcraft mixed with other stuff when I was little..'round 6 or 7 i think..from my oldest sister, who was a teenager when i was little. My little sister was researching different religions to see which one called to her. She had a book on Wicca and was like "Shan? take a look at this one" I've been hooked ever since :)

[Eeluna]

I could never accept the Christian religion, and for many years I thought I was a non-religious person. But I spent as much time out in Nature as possible. I would sit quietly watching the trees swaying in the breeze or the water running over the rocks in the creek. A beautiful sunset or a shooting star would cause a quiet ecstasy deep inside me. I felt a connection with Nature that I had never found anywhere else. Also I had always believed that our minds controlled much more of reality than most people realized. I didn't know about Magick, and I had never heard of Paganism/Wicca until I stumbled upon a book at the library. As I began to read it, I became very excited. Here! In this book was a philosophy that matched mine almost exactly! It was great! And it was like finding my home again after being lost for so long.

[Starlight]

I said book but I learned from other sources too. But mostly from a book! :D

[Rain Warrior]

I lived all my childhood by the Baltic sea, 5 seconds away from a forest and 5 minutes from the sea.
All my childhood I was sort of a pagan not knowing it.
You know, love for nature, seeking through ancient history of our country[Latvia], worshiping nature-forests, trees, air, ancient gods. But I didn't know of no such thing as paganism. You could say tht I was pagan all my life, but found a definition for it only recently. I am Neo-Pagan.
I was placed in christian school in the 1st class. In there I discovered how christianity was false and hated how those all christians were forcing others to beleive like them. In tht school I suffered a lot. Then at 4th class I said "no" to my mom and went to another school. [She doesen't know the main reason why I did tht to this day]

conclusion-------Nature made me Pagan, My land made me Pagan, I made myself pagan.
No books, no inet and no movies.

[Haedis]

well i've always sort of went my own way as far as religion is concerned. I prayed to my own gods, did a little bit of magick, and learned to meditate without ever hearing anyone talk about it, or reading it anywhere. I dont consider myself a "natural witch"...but when i read my first book on wicca when i was 11 years old I knew that it was everything I had always believed in...its just had a name. The first book...laugh if you must was one by Silver Ravenwolf. I realized right away that it was marketed for the very beginner and that it was rather cheesy, but it inspired me to read more into it. So...here I am four years later.

[Sisqi]

I voted other...
Its sort have been a long time in the brewing so to speak.
I think it started when I was a child. I would always move my bed so that I could sleep in the moon beams - it was important to me back then but I never could say why. When I was in college the first time, I searched and searched and ended up staying in my birth faith. Now I am back in grad school and its funny how the important things that you didn't learn the first time around always seem to find you later.

One of my professors led an "experiential therapy" seminar. What it really was was basically shamanism/native healing and energy work. I let down my guard and did several journeys which were very spiritual for me at the time. I also took a meditation seminar. In addition, at our conference a lady came and led a labrynth walk. Turns out she was a High Priestess. Meanwhile in the two years since I've moved here, my old faith hasn't been working for me. I've felt dry, dead spiritually. I had several dreams where people would tell me that I wasn't getting what I needed where I was but I would always interpret that to mean something about work...looking on it now it seems a much deeper meaning than that. I even had one experience where a friend's supervisor appeared to me and I'd never met him but I could describe him to her. It was odd for me.

So for the last several months I'd been wondering about trying to find my spiritual nitch so to speak. I was at the Buddhist center for a while, and I do so love meditation, but I reject the priniciple that there is no God/Goddess/Higher Power/whatever. Reading has helped me learn more about wicca specifically and I am working on finding local groups right now to help me learn more experientially. While I'm a self-proclaimed book-a-holic and have read a lot on wicca, I am much more of a spiritual experientialist. I also don't feel like a "solitary practitioner" as I'd prefer a community of like-minded (but not necessarily same-minded) people who practice and support one another's individual paths.

So, that's why I voted other!

[DreamSpell333]

A friend of my fiances. We happened to mention wicca, and he came out and told us he was. we thought it was cool, so he gave us books, etc, and helped us with our altar. And we've been practicing ever since.

[Rubi Waters]

I voted book... I was brought up catholic
(yes ugly uniforms and nuns with rulers) but I always felt out of place
and uncomfortable with all that I even refused to make my comfirmation
(to my parents horror) I just knew back then that wasn't the right place for me
so i wandered around for many years. about a year ago i came across a
book on wicca and earth based magick and the more i read the more i
understood where i was supposed to be. i now read everything I get my hands
on . now i am also hooked on this site it is very informative (and fun).

[WetPaperWings]

I voted friend/relative but it was a tough call. I first heard that it existed when my mom mentioned off-hand that my aunt was a wiccan. I didn't give it much thought at the time though. Then a few years later I met a wiccan girl at camp, and then I became a little more interested and started looking for information on the 'net and reading books.

[s1ren]

Which is only half-true. My actual specific "path"/tradition I learned all I could about lots of stuff and chose what worked for me.

But it all started with a friend. And now I will bore you all with a story...

A long-time friend of mine once flipped out, alienated herself from all ther friends and family, and moved away, never to be heard from again. Once, I was wondering about it to my best friend on AOL Instant Messenger, saying "I only hope her son is ok...I would guess he's not, but I want to HOPE he's happy". Best friend says "he's not". And I say, "how do you know?" "I can see him..." "huh??" "well...I'm a witch". Best friend had only met the long-time friend once, and until this conversation, didn't even know she HAD a son to begin with, but she described him to a tee, and knew things about him that she couldn't possibly know. We got to talking, she recommended a book, and I just kinda took off from there :)

-s1ren, the babbler

[Siren]

i feel i was born pagan....but, my sister has helped me throughout my path (since i am "the lazy pagan" i need a few pushes her and there.....)

[myristica]

well i have always been interested in witches even as a child. i used to be catholic but it just wasn't in me. when i was old enough to do my own thing, i got a few books after visiting a new age/magick shop in my area. i also believe that the craft found me as though i was meant to be wiccan. it just feels right and i feel whole now. it is helping me reshape my life, which is something i've been struggling with for the last year and a half. i've been a proclaimed wiccan for 1 year now and i am starting to change in the right direction.

[Dalia]

Well, I've always been attracted to magickal things, well, I have a very vivid imagination (good tool for visualization) and most of the time I am daydreaming. So, more or less, thats how my interest started. Oh, and watching tv shows and movies such as the craft and charmed (I love charmed!) And, I've always have this hum "thing" with the dreams, always trying to figure out their meaning. Then, like one year ago, I met some pagans on my university. They told me that I am very sensitive. I might say that that explained to my why everything affects me. I even dated one of them for three months, didnt worked out. So, him (the one who I dated) started kind of teaching me but I hated it. So, I just started looking in the internet. So, I ended up here, at wicca.nu and dragongirl's course which I havent been giving much time to, shame on me! Havent read any books yet besides Paulo Cohelo. Well that's it. :rolleyes: