Wicca

This Section is dedicated to my study of Wicca. I am not trying to preach to anyone that Wicca is the only path, and I am not trying to convert anyone - anyone who knows me also knows this. It is my purpose to educate people, to teach that those who follow the Wiccan path are not evil, the only difference is that we follow a different path to enlightenment then others. I will be the first to admit that I feel that I know very little of what I am talking about, I have been learning about Wicca for about three years now, and I have been practicing for about two. But I also have personally encountered such ignorance talking to others who don't know and refuse to listen that I feel that someone, even someone who knows very little about Wicca, should try.

I first heard of the Wiccan religion while still in High School in a World Studies class when we were doing a unit on world religions. A student form my class spoke a little on what the religion was about - that was the extent of my first encounter with the idea of Wicca. In the spring of 1999, I went to Europe on a school trip and one of my friends told me that she was Wiccan. I will remember that evening for a long time, we were on a boat ride down the Seine River in Paris, right in front of Notre Dame. She told me some about her practices, and on the flight home she gave me "Teen Witch" by Silver Ravenwolf to read. From that day, I have found a path that I can follow and feel perfectly happy.

Needless to say, I have run into obstacles in my studies. I have talked with my family about learning about the craft, and the reactions have varied. My mother first learned I was studying that craft because I left my first edition of this web page up after editing it one day - and having never seen it she went exploring. A few days later, she said that she didn't know I was "so into Wicca" and we talked for about an hour on why I am doing this research, with me explaining as much as I could on Wicca to her. Now, when I bring it up, she is fine as long as I am only researching Wicca, not practicing. Dad is still a bit confused, I'm not entirely sure he knows what I am saying, but he listens and makes jokes about wicker furniture. My brother has known form the start because we stay up late talking a lot and I just told him because I knew I could trust him not to worry about my sanity. He is positively fine with anything I do, I think the only restrictions he has put on me is I do not try to bring him over to any religion, he is happy with his beliefs.

I had a bit more confrontations with my friends, and they have had interesting reactions - freaking out in the hallways at school and various other things. Oh, and I positively LOVE the looks I get when buying books on the subject in various books stores, if they have problems with what they are selling, why do they sell it?

The way I see it, it is my life, and I must live it, no on else. It is my road to travel and I will make the decisions, be them right or wrong, they are mine to make and no one can travel this road for me. I was told this by a dear, dear friend of mine:

“Don't walk in other's footsteps...make your own. Also, educate people if you can, your mom or dad, your brother or whoever. Each of us has our own special duties to perform... I really think yours lies in letting the world know we're not evil. I would do it myself, but I feel such passion inside, it makes it difficult to teach the ignorant, to open the closed mind. But I will find my mission in time. You haven't really been interested in it long enough to know, but you *will* be lonely sometimes. When you feel like the world is against you, know that everyone doubts once. But you get past that point, thankfully. Remember, the greatest gift you can give someone is knowledge, because knowledge, unlike love and hate and life and death, never goes away.”

If my friend is reading this, they know who they are, thank you so much for telling me about some paths and how hard they can be. I’ll tell you where some of them lead when I find out and where my own path as lead me.