Well, I started my research online, because the internet is the tool I'm most familiar with. I learned that as much information as there IS on the web about the neopagan community, and about the many different branches of the Wiccan Faith, the best and most helpful information just at first, was what I found in books.
Now that I have a basic understanding, I am forever searching for some arcane bit of knowledge or a website that offers just the right information about ordering food-safe cauldrons or who to contact about participating in the next big holyday or what THIS representation of the Goddess is known for.
So-- a few places to start. I'm giving you the websites first, because you're probably as impatient as I am, and the library or the local bookstore might be closed.
*Celtic Wicca Index of Information (and store)
*Z.Budapest's Website
*The Witche's Voice Newsletter
Now, having learned just enough to know I needed to learn more before I could really get started with anything, I found a couple of VERY useful books-- for me. You may find that locating the "Pagan Religions" section of your local bookstore or library is the best way to figure out what you are interested in learning about. You may relate strongly to some non-Wiccan pagan religion, and therefore need to read a book I haven't really noticed.
*Drawing Down The Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshipers and Other Pagans in America; by Margot Adler
This woman did wonderful original research on existing Pagan communities in America. She was allowed to participate in some of their Sacred Circles, and she has read most of the literature that is or was out there about each facet of Pagan Religion to date. This book is a GREAT way to really understand all the different forms of Pagan worship out there, what they are called, what they believe, how they worship, and the meaning behind the words we all use.
Now, being a scholar, I read all the prefaces and introductions before I got around to reading chapter one. They are dry in places, and a bit repetitive. But they definitely helped me understand the way in which she wrote the rest of the book, and gave me great insight into WHY she wrote the book. Basically, Drawing Down The Moon was originally written in 1979, based on a survey Margot Adler did at the time. You want a copy of the revised edition-- published sometime after 2005. She has done another survey and a complete re-researching of Pagan religions in America TODAY-- and has included both her original observations (take it as historical background on your potential religion), her new research, and her comments on the difference between the two. And there are tons of resources in the back of the book.
*Simple Wicca; by Michele Morgan
This book really does lay out the holydays, the meaning of words, the most common tools and symbols and rituals of the religion, and gives you some sense of the way magick is practiced. As I was first starting out, I found it unbelievably helpful to have someone tell me WHAT THEY DO, and WHY! And not just give spells and throw terminology around and assume you understand what a mixed-gender Dianic Wiccan would and would not believe (for example). However, this is just one person, and just one way of being Wiccan. There are all kinds of Wiccans, styles, beliefs, spells, and guidelines, and she only presents the ones SHE uses. They may not all be right for you. Take what resonates, and keep searching for more.
*The Chalice & The Blade; by Riane Eisler
This book looks at the archaeological records of what existed before Jewish and Christian Faiths were born-- before Christ was born, before the year 1 A.D. And it talks about how life, learning, and worship may have been. You see, Goddess-worship has existed for many thousands of years in many different parts of the world. In fact, considering that written historical records have been found in archaeological digs and anthropological studies up to and more than 8,000 before the coming of Christ, it's rather ironic that we call everything before the year 1 in our calendar (based on the coming of Christ-- A.D. stands for more or less "After Death) "PRE HISTORY." That the most meaningful way our whole society can date such events is "B.C"-- basically, "Before Christ." Many Pagans today use C.E. and B.C.E. (before common era) for this very reason. Their histories are not ruled by a god that has only been in existence for 2,000 years.
Well, that's a lot to get through all at once. I'll sign off and get some other work done while I still have hours left in the day. May the falling rain cleanse your skin, nourish your body, and inspire your soul.
Blessed Be.
This is a personal journey, describing the books I've read, how I find them, what resonates for me, my directions, what I've realized. Good stories, good people, good energy. Great Goddess, what is it NOT?
Energy
Coming here recharges me. Where do you go to heal? As long as you know, I don't need to. Go there. Set aside time for YOUR HEALTH.
Likely Links
Corrections:
...And by the way, if you are a practicing Pagan or Wiccan, and I got something terribly wrong, or you want to share another version or another vision of something I wrote-- PLEASE let me know which it is, and give me the info in a comment on the related blog entry! I'll post it as quickly as possible. After all-- until I gain a free-flowing connection with Universal Knowledge, I have only my own to draw from.
Witch Word Was It?
- Yuletide/Winter Solstice: Dec 20-23; Holy night of rebirth and turning toward the light-- the longest night of the year is when we may first welcome the return of the light. Very much a Christmas Celebration.
- Widdershins: Counterclockwise. Also means "to go backwards." Used to disconnect, banish, reverse, etc.
- Wiccan: of or pertaining to the practice of Wicca-- the modern inerpretation of Witchcraft (which also exists as a seperate practice); The Good Witches
- Tripple Goddess: Most Wiccans/Witches view the Goddess as the Moon, and celebrate her three aspects: Full Moon (Mother), Waxing-- getting bigger--Moon (Maiden), Waning-- getting smaller and the darkness of no moon-- Moon (Crone).
- Tools: Well, with Christian religions, many people wear a cross on a necklace, or hang a likeness of Jesus on the cross on their wall. They might finger rosary beads or light a candle to add power to a prayer or blessing. Well, in Wicca, we have tools and symbols, too. Ours are just anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 years older than theirs. We have our altars to help us focus on the Great One they represent, and our sacred stones to finger while we meditate or conteplate the Goddess. We light candles to add power to our spells or blessings. We hang brooms and dried herbs on our walls to signify our connection with the Earth or to help us meditate on our own personal version of Abundant Living. We have sacred cups to drink holy water from, and we ritually cleanse and consecrate our sacred tools, too. But it is a totally different energy and purpose we invoke. It is not about some far off GOD, it is about ourselves and our Will and our Goddess.
- Spring Equinox/Eostara: March 20-23; Time of balance, when the light and dark visit in equal measure and the Earth swells with new life. Symbols (prior to the invention of easter) are Egg and Hare-- fertility and new life-- as the world is reborn.
- Skyclad: Means Naked. Some of the more "traditional" forms of Pagan worship require you to go naked. But only some.
- Sacred Circle: it is the temple in which a wiccan worships-- but it is a temple of Energy and Spirit, and we create it and dismantle it each time we go to worship or meditate. It is to help us focus our energy and our magick, and to provide a safe space in which to be and do.
- Sabbat: Wiccan/Pagan holyday, of which there are eight each year.
- Ritual: any activity you plan in advance, or do in a Sacred Circle, to aid connection with Spirit. In Pagan and Wiccan belief systems, this usually includes dancing, singing, lighting candles, and calling on the four or five elements. No sacrificing a cat at midnight. We hold life to be sacred-- as a part of the inevitable cycle of birth, growth, death, decay, and regeneration.
- Pentacle: the five-point star, point-up, inside a circle. This is the traditional witch's symbol, a symbol of power and protection, and representative of the five elements and the sacred circle (and sometimes the Moon).
- Pagan: Usually an Earth-Centered Religion, the word once refered to people living on the outskirts of villages-- people who lived on the land, so to speak.
- Night of the Witches/Beltane: May 1; as is the Mayday tradition, this is a festival of passion, complete with winding round the maypole, frolicking in fields and forest... the night of the Great Rite, and one of the most important Wiccan Holydays.
- NeoPagan: The modern interpretation and recreation of ancient Pagan religions; the label we often use to encompass Wicca, Witchcraft, Fairie, COG, Native American Spiritualities, Native Alaskan, Native etc, Shamanic, Druidic, etc
- Midsummer/Summer Solstice/Litha: June 20-23; the longest day of the year, and thus the day the year begins to wane (to grow shorter and darker). A festival of growth, high magick, and change.
- Lammastide/Lughnasadh: August 1st; First of the three harvest festivals. This marks the end of summer and the first harvest of the grain. We give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, and begin preparations for winter.
- Esbat: monthly coven meetings.
- Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. These have many representations, and I've seen three different versions of which direction is which element. Because the books I most respect to date all agree, I work with North as Earth, East as Air, South as Fire, and West as Water.
- Deosil: Clockwise-- often used to describe the direction of walking to cast a Circle, calling on the Elements (N-E-S-W-N), or stirring a concoction. It is the direction of connection and embodyment, of manifesting that which you are meditating upon.
- Coven: a group of Witches or Wiccans who practice their Spiritual Celebrations and rituals together. A group of really close friends who share their spiritual journey.
- Candlemass/Imbolic: Feb 2; Feast of Lights. This marks the return of Spring. It is a time of cleansing, purification, and preparation for the abundance to come in the new year.
- Autumnal Equinox/Mabon/Harvest Home: Sept. 20-23; Night and day are again equally balanced. Rest, feast, rejoice and give thanks for the second harvest festival of the year.
- Aspects: While most of us believe there is only one Goddess, we use her many names to describe an aspect of the Goddess that we most want to connect with or draw energy from. One aspect might be Hestia-- the Greek Goddess of Hearth and Home. One might be Kali, the forceful protectrice from India. One might be Brigid-- the tripple Goddess from Irish Celtic lore. And so on.
- All Hallow's Eve/Samain: October 31; The third harvest festival, and the last day of the Witche's year. A time to honor departed ones and play host to Spirits. In this aspect of the year, the Goddess is the Crone, and the veil between worlds is thin. It is our oldest and most sacred Sabbat, as it honors death and life, the present and the past. Restore your soul and await rebirth at Yule.
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