Note: This is a temporary guide, and is not written by the managers of this site. It will soon be replaced. Suggested Guide for Learning Wicca To get started in Wicca, I think the best thing you can do is to get more of a feel for the Elements in the natural world: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Collect a stone for Earth, a feather for Air, a twig for Fire, and a shell for Water, and keep them someplace special. Make friends with a tree, and try to see the world the way the tree sees it. Listen to what the wind tells you. Soak up the warmth of the sun. Look for the wisdom in the depths of a river. If you spend time getting to know the world around you the way you know your friends and family, that will be an excellent start. Second, start performing rituals to observe the Sabbats and full moons - it doesn't need to be elaborate, solitary witches often tend to simplify and abbreviate rituals. Find a quiet spot where you won't be disturbed. Don't worry, with this kind of ritual, nothing very bad will happen if you do it wrong. The basics are: - Cast a circle - walk around the space where you will be doing the ritual, clockwise, starting in the north (or east, if you prefer - either way will work); trace the outline of the circle with your finger (or use your Athame if you have one).
- Face each of the four directions, and invoke the Elements (Earth in the North, Air in the East, Fire in the South, Water in the West). It is sufficient just to face the direction and concentrate on the Element of that direction, calling to mind all the associations with that element you can think of. Trace an invoking pentagram in the air in each direction if you want to (not strictly necessary, but it's kind of nice).
- Invite the Goddess and the God into your circle - meditate on their presence, and on the season.
- Share a meal with the gods and spirits that have attended your circle - eat some bread or a cookie, drink some wine or juice, and be sure to leave some of each as an offering (it's best if you can take the offering outdoors afterward and leave it under a tree or in some natural spot where it will return to the earth).
- Release the energies you have called - think of the Elements and the Circle sinking into the earth, or scattering to the winds. This is important, don't forget to do it.
~~~~~~~~~Guideline for Learning and Living Wicca~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1st. Get some books and study, study, study! Surf the internet. Find a Mentor. Study nature. Don't limit your learning resources to merely one thing. Wicca is not like some most religions, in that in Wicca one can never learn everything... things are always being discovered, rediscovered, and took to the heart. Besides, the religion, has many more aspects than doing good things and praising the Goddess and God, theres ethics, tenets, history, and the practice (if you choose), which also needs to be studied and in some cases decided for yourself.
2nd. A few of the basic things to learn are the differences between the practice of Witchcraft and the religion of Wicca. During the 2nd phase of any religious decision, you need to decide whether you plan to practice through prayer and ritual, or to remain completely secretive if you have to. Some people decide they'd be better off not practicing, maybe common ritual doesn't please you. And one thing, if you were attracted to Witchcraft and Wicca for magick and spells, thats fine, but if over a period of a year or so you become disinterested in it, its most likely because you don't have a commitment to what it *really* is and what it can *really* do for you, rather than fooling around with simple magick. Magick is great, but its not what makes up the real religion.
3rd. Once you've studied up on the Sabbats, the Wiccan religion, and the practice of Witchcraft, you need to decide if its something you want to commit to as a practice and a religion. Remember, don't be fooled by the drama of spellcraft, I'll admit, that is what attracted me to it for the first time, but one day (literally one day) I woke up and the first main attraction is what introduced me to what it really was...peace, spirituality, and a sense of well being and strength, The Goddess and God. But for practitioners, the 3rd step may be to pick a thing in life that you want to fix and help and first find a previously written book of spells and take that spell and before you actually go through with casting the spell, rewrite it to fit you, to personalize what your going to do to you. This will give you practice in writing your own spells and you'll learn not to depend on author spellbooks for your magickal practices, but you'll learn to listen to your mind and veer away from the "easy way out", publicity. There is a mass of knowledge in books and writings, but your own mind is the only one that can decipher this knowledge and meaning. Next, perform the spell or rite, have fun with it, but acknowledge the presense of the Goddess and God through your workings.
4th. Start writing. Now you should get a notebook or a bunch of paper, with lots of pages, or a diary/journal type thing and start writing. Write about your thoughts on witchcraft, what you feel it is, the beliefs or what you percieve the beliefs as. Maybe copy down a spell or two you found that you found that works. This book will soon be your book of shadows with all you writings, spells, poems, rituals, and stuff inside of it. It'll be your own personal holy book if you want to call it that.
5th. Self Dedication. Now take how you percieve rituals and spell casting and make a ritual to truly dedicate your life to the God and Goddess and the Craft. This ritual should contain items to represent all the elements. Including water (maybe some holy or rose water), fire (incense or a small fire), air (obviously), and earth (earth item), have a holy symbol - pentagram, pentacle, celtic cross, etc. with you. Those are just a few suggestions, make the ritual with your own thoughts and power.
6th. The next step is to enjoy your life as a Witch, and enjoy the Goddess and Gods love. Spend a year or two of Sabbats (a year, 8 holidays), and start possibly writing a few spells and rituals, listen to some pagan music or read fairy tales, there are lots of things you could do. Now that you are getting familiar with the Goddess, God, and nature you should begin to learn to write your own spells, using correspondences and your own way of thinking and prayer. Remember- a witch NEVER stops learning!
7th. Maybe after a year or two you could choose the Solitary path or Coven path as a Wiccan. Perhaps you will now feel comfortable "coming our of the broom closet", though some chose not to. Choose the path you are most comfortable with, there are goods and bads to both sides. More people are becoming solitaries all around.
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