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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc,alt.witchcraft,alt.religion.wicca,alt.wicca
From: Fluffwikkun 
Subject: Starting in Wicca
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 05:08:56 GMT

50040729 viii om

# I am new to wicca, 

then you get to make everything up before people tell it to you.

# is this there anyone that could give me a helping hand get
# started?

is Wicca something you do or something you believe? 
let's take it from several trajectories....

	belief
	----------
	believing things to be a Wiccan is easy.

	faith in deities
	some basics include a Goddess and a God. that's right 2
	foci of worship. these are metaphorical beings who have
	some reality somewhere but as a newbie you're not really
	expected to know where. just rest assured that there's
	a Mom-goddess and a Dad-god looking out for you and who 
	will be able to come to you in rituals and tell you
	the truth about the universe. 


	"nature worship" 
	---------------------
	the best Neopagans worship Nature.

	they are indwelling to the *NATURAL* world. so one way
	to start being a Wiccan is to start focussing more on
	the world of WILD NATURE. see if you can detect some
	kind of masculine and feminine poles there, or beings
	who might be behind it. compare what you read in books
	and online and what people tell you with what you are
	observing of the natural world.


	moral guidelines
	------------------------
	doing right in service to the Old Ones is virtuous.
	
	there's this 'Rede' guideline thing that some seize
	upon like a dog on a tug-of-war toy as the One Rule.
	'do whatcha wanna, but don't harm anyone'. contemplate
	this while affirming its truth. newbies can say that
	they believe it without having thought it over very
	carefully ("I'm just learning" is the coverstory).
	'harm' is the key-term. watch what people mean by it.

that's all it takes to be a Wicca Believer as a start.
if you can do those, you'll probably not have too much
difficulty with it. it's not terribly doctrinal, plus
there's so much diversity of mind, almost anything goes 
if you sift through the Wiccan spectrum sufficiently.


	liturgy
	-------------------------
	later on there's special rituals to perform, and maybe
	special initiations and worship ceremonies. 

	for now, focus on your breath while watching a candle
        and burning some incense in a shady room or on a lawn
	or forest floor. get some cards and a book on cartomancy
	if you want some excuse (divination is often ceremonial 
	and connected with religions). the breathwork is what
	is called 'establishing an equilibrium'. meditating in
	station is the entirety of some religious practices,
	and is counted as one of the most important aspects of
	basic ceremonial work (typically classed a yogic skill).
	
	after a time engaging breathwork, observe the motion of
	Sun and Moon through or over this place. many select one 
	of these as symbolic of the Goddess and one as the God,
	and use them in their ceremonies in Divine Marriage. sit 
	so as they appear during day (solar-yearly) and night 
	(lunar-monthly) phases they move from your right to your 
	left overhead. you are facing the direction North, the 
	Darkness, the Quarter of the Great Goddess of Witches 
	and Sabbats. 

	pick a portion of the room or glade and make a table for
	offerings for your God and Goddess, of wild and crafted 
	treasures you find when you go on walks in parks and 
	preserves, or those you make in love and dedication as 
	you get to know Them. what you place there should be
	something you sought or set out to find in devotion,
	or which strikes deeply in your heart as to its beauty 
	and worthiness to offer deities. you can burn candles, 
	incenses, bring food (which you either eat yourself
	after the deity has had what its wants of it, or give
	it to some intermediary like a wild animal, or plant).

this is a good start on ritualization in internal and external
rudiments geared toward harmony with most Wiccans I've known.


	magic
	----------------
	sometimes magic is mixed with devotions, others not.

	witchery, sorcery, spellcraft, magic, wizardry: people
	call it by all kinds of names. it's all the same general
	category of thing, in a variety of flavours and colours
	usually based on intentions or sociocultural context.

	whereas the religious liturgy things like Sabbats are
	open and festival-like, the Esbat lunar spellwork is
	more personal, private, and designed for very specific
	objectives. whether these be mystical, or practical,
	the format and general structure tends toward the same
	standards wherever they appear in the world: there is
	a symbolic manipulation of a model or set of magical
	levers with the intention of producing a like effect
	or change in the world.

	start small, avoid coersion until you know what you
	are doing and are ready for any consequences, and
	when in doubt, generally seek greater insight, wisdom,
	knowledge, and orientation with respect to reality.
  
with these pointers under your belt, you should be able to
handle any Wiccan environment or pressure. understand that
the authorities of your religion transcend human beings
and that your relation to them is more important than any
initial connections to any societal group. hold to the
trust of the divinities and seek to come to know them more
fully and thoroughly than anyone you've ever met before.

blessed beast!

y
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Fluffwikkun