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Author Topic: Where should I start?  (Read 3415 times)

Ash

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Where should I start?
« on: July 11, 2014, 12:55:07 pm »
Hi.  I'm Ash and new to these forums.

In the dim and distant past I've done some research in to Wicca but never felt confident enough in my understanding and stopped.  Recently, within the last year, I've felt drawn back and am trying to decide where I 'fit'.  I suppose my uncertainly comes from a lack of understanding of beliefs within paganism, so that is certainly something I need to look at.

I've also been discussing this with a friend of mine who is a reiki healer and just defines herself as spiritual.  She suggested meditation and manifesting to me, which I've tried and got results from.  She also suggested a couple of books by Christopher Penczak , one of which I'm working my way through right now and finding interesting.  I'm so keen to learn right now, I just don't know where to put my energy.

Does anyone have suggestions?

Redfaery

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2014, 04:06:34 am »
Quote from: Ash;152764
Hi.  I'm Ash and new to these forums.

In the dim and distant past I've done some research in to Wicca but never felt confident enough in my understanding and stopped.  Recently, within the last year, I've felt drawn back and am trying to decide where I 'fit'.  I suppose my uncertainly comes from a lack of understanding of beliefs within paganism, so that is certainly something I need to look at.

I've also been discussing this with a friend of mine who is a reiki healer and just defines herself as spiritual.  She suggested meditation and manifesting to me, which I've tried and got results from.  She also suggested a couple of books by Christopher Penczak , one of which I'm working my way through right now and finding interesting.  I'm so keen to learn right now, I just don't know where to put my energy.

Does anyone have suggestions?


Well, perhaps a good place to start is to see what is in your area. That might help a good bit. If there is a coven or two, you'd want to check them out. From what I understand, it takes time to actually be accepted into a respectable coven, which is a good thing. Everybody has to make sure they'll get along! And no-one says you can't do reiki as well as Wicca. It's not an either or sort of thing.
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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2014, 05:07:29 am »
Quote from: Ash;152764
Does anyone have suggestions?

 
You could check out our Pagan Primer, and Jenett's excellent Seeking site.

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Ash

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2014, 07:06:24 am »
Thank you for the replies and suggestions :)

Aster Breo

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2014, 11:02:27 am »
Quote from: Ash;152764
Hi.  I'm Ash and new to these forums.


Hi, Ash, and welcome to TC!

If you are new to paganism, you are not alone. Everyone has to begin somewhere and everyone has questions. You've already gotten some great suggestions (a couple of which are repeated below), but here are a few more ideas to help you get started:

TC's Pagan Primer: This is a resource designed as an introduction. It includes basic information and links to more specific info on a variety of pagan topics, including "Common Questions About Paganism".

TC's Teens and Paganism FAQ: This resource was originally intended to address the kinds of questions teen pagans struggle with, such as talking to parents about religion. However, the final product turned out to include a lot of great info that is useful to new pagans of any age, including many links to very useful resources.

Seeking: First Steps & Tools:  This is a well organized and user friendly resource dedicated to providing the kinds of information and explanations that many new pagans don't even know they need.  The author, Jenett, is a long-time Cauldronite and experienced practitioner of a small religious witchcraft tradition.  (You can read more about Jenett's background in the "About Me" section of her site.)  The Seeking site includes detailed discussions of:
the basics of paganism
reaching out to other pagans
specific practices that are found in many pagan paths
some of the common questions asked by new pagans
a suggested reading list
a description of Conscious Awareness of Religious Environment (CARE) -- a method for evaluating pagan and magical groups for problematic behaviors
Each section includes numerous links to additional relevant material.

TC's Religious Special Interest Groups: In addition to folders on a wide variety of paganism-related topics, this forum also includes Special Interest Groups (SIGs) dedicated to the discussion of specific pagan paths, including practices based on the traditional religions of specific cultures. There are "sticky posts" on resources specific to each path at the top of the SIG folder, so you can easily find additional, in-depth information.

As you probably know by now, TC is a discussion and debate forum. That means posters are free to challenge assumptions, correct faulty facts, and generally disagree. This can be a bit intimidating for people who are new to paganism. So we have created three areas specifically intended as "safe spaces" for beginners, where you can ask questions about any related topic and receive answers from posters who understand that you are not yet as experienced in paganism as many Cauldronites. The beginner-friendly folders are:
Paganism for Beginners
Books and Other Resources
Magic and the Occult for Beginners
Please be sure to read the sticky posts that explain the special rules for participating in threads in those folders.

A piece of advice: TC is a bit different from most other online forums, even other pagan forums. So, we generally recommend that people who are new to TC spend some time reading threads to get a sense of the board culture here before posting questions or comments. That will help you understand how posters interact here and help you avoid unnecessary anxiety about appropriate responses.

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a.walker.abroad

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2014, 11:44:49 am »
Quote from: Ash;152764
Hi.  I'm Ash and new to these forums.

In the dim and distant past I've done some research in to Wicca but never felt confident enough in my understanding and stopped.  Recently, within the last year, I've felt drawn back and am trying to decide where I 'fit'.  I suppose my uncertainly comes from a lack of understanding of beliefs within paganism, so that is certainly something I need to look at.

I've also been discussing this with a friend of mine who is a reiki healer and just defines herself as spiritual.  She suggested meditation and manifesting to me, which I've tried and got results from.  She also suggested a couple of books by Christopher Penczak , one of which I'm working my way through right now and finding interesting.  I'm so keen to learn right now, I just don't know where to put my energy.

Does anyone have suggestions?

 
Welcome to the TC!  The best advise I can give is to read everything you can get your hands on, digital or paper.  There is so much out there, that without at least a general idea of what your looking for, you'll find yourself up "a river of excrement [in] a Native American water vessel without any means of propulsion."  Thank you Doctor Cooper.:D:

On a serious note, without a local group or tradition, it all starts with research.  Look and look until you find what feels right.  You'll know when you find it.

endlessGalaxy

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2014, 12:25:31 am »
I can relate in that Wicca never seemed to stick for me.  There were too many things I didn't agree with or wanted to change, or swap out with traditions from other faiths.  I decided after a lot of thought to just go with the term "witch".  I follow quite a bit from Wicca, but mix and match with other traditions as well for what empowers me most.  You might want to consider this as well.  I find trying to adhere to a religion can be stifling.  

I personally have not gotten very fair yet in my journey... but to start, I want to set up a makeshift altar.  Seems like a good place :)

SunflowerP

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2014, 12:36:19 am »
Quote from: endlessGalaxy;153293


 
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Freesia

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2014, 11:35:38 pm »
Quote from: Ash;152764
Hi.  I'm Ash and new to these forums.

In the dim and distant past I've done some research in to Wicca but never felt confident enough in my understanding and stopped.  Recently, within the last year, I've felt drawn back and am trying to decide where I 'fit'.  I suppose my uncertainly comes from a lack of understanding of beliefs within paganism, so that is certainly something I need to look at.

I've also been discussing this with a friend of mine who is a reiki healer and just defines herself as spiritual.  She suggested meditation and manifesting to me, which I've tried and got results from.  She also suggested a couple of books by Christopher Penczak , one of which I'm working my way through right now and finding interesting.  I'm so keen to learn right now, I just don't know where to put my energy.

Does anyone have suggestions?

 
My suggestion is for you to take your time absorbing information and not get too carried away with any one's idea of the "right way" to think, pray, and behave. Just take your time and enjoy yourself; your practice should make you happy not other people. I am a book worm so when I started my path last year (I'm a recovering atheist) I hit Amazon hard and ended up with a few great books and some that weren't a good match for me. I have limited funds at the end of the month so the things I buy must matter. I've found that youtube has some great pagan book reviews and channels to check out. Good luck on your adventure.    

My nephew just got a reiki licence I should look that up.

Arthurine

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2014, 12:04:34 am »
Quote from: Ash;152764
Hi.  I'm Ash and new to these forums.

... I just don't know where to put my energy.

Does anyone have suggestions?

 
I had the same issue when I was just beginning to investigate paganism in my teens; there's not much of a pagan community in my area and I was having trouble finding sources I trusted. Honestly what helped me most was picking up tarot. It was a great stepping stone in terms of thinking more figuratively about signs the universe was sending, and that combined with a lot of reflection set me on a more defined course.

I also process things better by touching, making, experiencing, etc. rather than reading, so tarot was really helpful in that respect; I also started collecting little things that called to me and started putting together a sort of altar. Just arranging things in a way that made me feel comfortable and then drawing symbolism from the way I had placed things helped me decide which aspects to focus on in my life, and then I applied my fledgling path to these various interpersonal things to see how I should handle them with this new mindset I was entering.

Basically: Any time you begin to think about the world in a new way, everything can seem so wobbly; I found the easiest way for me to cope was start small and tangible.

   With any luck, I\'ll grow up to be Nanny Ogg.    

Astrid

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Re: Where should I start?
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2014, 04:03:17 am »
Quote from: Freesia;154255
My suggestion is for you to take your time absorbing information and not get too carried away with any one's idea of the "right way" to think, pray, and behave. Just take your time and enjoy yourself; your practice should make you happy not other people. I am a book worm so when I started my path last year (I'm a recovering atheist) I hit Amazon hard and ended up with a few great books and some that weren't a good match for me. I have limited funds at the end of the month so the things I buy must matter. I've found that youtube has some great pagan book reviews and channels to check out. Good luck on your adventure.

I definitely second this. I too started taking my path seriously about a year ago, and I bought all the books I thought I needed. Introductory books are great, but you soon move on from them, and find more specific areas that interest you, leaving you with a bunch of 101 and generalised books that you're really not that interested in reading any more.

As far as getting into the slightly more specific stuff you're interested in, the bibliography of the books you've read is always a good place to start. You're reading literally branches out that way. Definitely read/watch any reviews on Amazon, forums or Youtube.

Start slow, really take your time, be kind to yourself, and just as Freesia said: It's your path, so enjoy it.

"We are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out"  - Delenn, Babylon 5


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