| Steps to being Wiccan |
| Step One - Record Keeping Go out and buy yourself a notebook. It needn't be anything fancy - mine is a journal bought at a local office supply store. Begin keeping records of your discoveries as you travel down the Path. Start with the day you decided to pursue your interest in witchcraft and write down your motivations for doing so. Many witches and covens recommend a year and a day of study and discovery before completely dedicating oneself to the Craft. Let your year and a day begin with your first entry. Keep this journal faithfully to record new learnings and things of import. For now, this can be considered a diary, but if your interest and desire to remain on the Path remain strong, it will later be called your Book of Shadows. |
| Step Two - Read, Read, Read Haunt your local library. If you are lucky enough to have an occult or new age shop nearby, become a spook (many stores have courses as well). Be a spider on the World Wide Web. Read everything you can get your hands on that will help you understand your chosen religion. There are many great Wicca 101 books out there and your readings will take you along more isoteric paths such as spirit guides, astrology, Tarot - to name just a few. Pursue them all. |
| Step Three - Meditation and Visualization So much of what a witch does use these two techniques, and until you effectively master them, you will be limited in what you can do. I know, because I am currently in that situation. I'm the type of person that is never still for a minute, so learning to meditate and visualize is a very difficult process for me. There are many books and web pages that give you the how to's of meditation and visualization, but the most important requirement for learning them is patience and persistence. Do not expect instant results the first time you sit down and try the various exercises and activities that will be given to you. After all, you will be unlearning a lifetime habit of go, go, go with a brain stuck in neutral half the time. You will be learning to bend your will to your mind and for many people, that is a very difficult task. Don't get discouraged. Keep trying and try often. Once a day is good, more often is better. |
| Step Four - Get Outdoors Witchcraft should be very much an outdoor religion - although a lot of it can be practised inside. Get outdoors as much as you can. If you aren't already doing so, start going on long rambles in your local neighborhood or parks. Initially you will just be out there enjoying nature, but as you learn more, you will start keeping your eyes and ears open looking for things that call to you or make themselves known. You will begin to interpret what you are experiencing with your "third eye". For now though, the important thing is to just get out there as much as you can - try to ignore those excuses we all seem to come up with for not going - just do it! And think, if you are anything like the majority of us, this step will fit right in with that New Year's resolution of getting into shape! |
| Step Five - Think Yourself a Witch ???? I hear you thinking. What does that mean? Simply this. Witchery is a state of being. Learn to think of every situation from the viewpoint of a witch, a first exercise in creative visualization, if you will. Think of your morning shower as a cleansing ritual. That first cup of coffee that you depend on becomes an invigorating brew. Take a few minutes with it and incorporate a ritual around it - greeting the new day, waking your inner self to an alert state, etc. Feeding your pet becomes a moment of bonding with your familiar. If you have never said Grace over your meals before, give a simple thanks to the God/dess for Her bounty, if only in your own mind. In all things, think as a witch. You will be amazed at how quickly you actually begin to consider yourself one. Step Six - Develop Your Talents and Passions This relates to the previous step. Whatever it is you are talented in or passionate about, develop them along witchy lines. Do you enjoy making crafts to decorate your home? Learn the Wiccan holidays and festivals and make your crafts to celebrate them. Involved in a sport? Learn to use all this visualization you have been learning to enhance the mental side of your sport. Get creative in mixing and mingling your new found knowledge with whatever turns you on - make witchcraft fun! |
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