#learn wicca

[wiccansage]

Got questions about Wicca or Witchcraft? Send them to me. I've got answers.

[rowanmorgana]

Ask a Priestess - How do I learn about Wicca?

My suggestion is that you read, read, read.....you will find many contradictions and different ways of doing things in each book.  Find the way that works best for you personally.   Remember that there is no one perfect way, there are many ways and you must find the way that works best for you.  Having said that, it is important that you follow general guidelines.  Any Wicca 101 book will outline the general procedure for rituals, spells, etc.  

Here is my list of recommended reading for First Degree Wiccans:

The Witches Goddess – Janet and Stewart Farrar

The Witches God – Janet and Stewart Farrar

Book of Shadows – Lady Sheba

Gospel of Aradia – Charles Leyland

What Witches Do – Stewart Farrar  

A Victorian Grimoire – Telesco

An Idiot’s Guide to Wicca

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft – Christopher Penczak

Living Wicca – Scott Cunningham

Witchcraft Today – Gerald Gardner

Natural Magick  - Doreen Valiente

[tweencraft]

Now that Syracuse has done this, and soon other schools will follow suit...would this affect your choices when choosing a place of higher education?

[tweencraft]

Ancestor Altar

I have had an ancestor altar in my home since my Grand-Father passed away.  I thought I would  talk a bit about what an ancestor altar is and what it means to me. My altar is a old side table that my wonderful Pepere, had by his favorite lazy boy chair until he passed in April 2009. On my altar, are pictures of him and my Memere, who passed almost a year to the day after him, in April 2010. Small urns of their ashes adorn my altar, as well as two silver horses. I choose to have horse symbol, because they raised horses for almost 50 years. There is a candle for each of them, that is lit on their birth days and the anniversary of their passing. I light the candles on April 1st and they stay lit until the end of the month. I use real ones when someone is home and flame-less battery powered tea lights when we can't be home. My Pepere’s old cowboy hat is there too.

My altar is in a corner of my dining room because that is the central gathering spot in my home. The altar is a permanent year round addition to my home but as we get closer to Samhain, it becomes a place of focus and reflection. I add an offering bowl and put in food that my Grandparents enjoyed. I go to it daily and speak to them as if we are just chatting on the phone. I ask for guidance in the coming year and ask them to watch over my children as they did when they were alive. On the night of Samhain, my family and craft family gathers for dinner and a ritual. We light the altar candles and we leave a chair open for the departed and I recite this prayer; "This is the night when the gateway between our world and the spirit world is thinnest. Tonight is a night to call out those who came before us. Tonight we honor our ancestors. Spirits of our ancestors, we call to you, and we welcome you to join us for this night. We know you watch over us always, protecting us and guiding us, and tonight we thank you. We invite you to join us and share our meal." (Theses lovely words were written By Patti Wigington) Then we sit down to eat, making up a plate for the ancestors and talk about our favorite memories of  our departed loved ones.  An ancestor altar is very personal. A friend of mine has placed photos and toys of a beloved pet who passed, on her altar. There is no right or wrong way to set one up. The only warning I have is to never place a photo of the living on your ancestor altar.

[tweencraft]

Pendulum Lesson 1

  Take a piece of paper and draw a circle, put a cross through the circle. Label the up and down line as either yes or no. Then label the other line, whichever one you did not use. The circle will represent maybe.

Lay your paper down on a flat surface. Rest your elbow on the table or other supported surface, place your pendulum about 1/4 inch above the paper. Do not lift your elbow off of the table.

Swing the pendulum back and forth along the yes line. Say out loud "this means 'yes'." Stop the pendulum. Swing it along the no line. Say out loud "this means 'no'." Stop the pendulum again. Swing the pendulum in a circle and say "this means 'maybe'." Stop the pendulum once more.

Now hold your pendulum over the paper and keep your hand steady but relaxed. Tell the pendulum to show a yes. Your pendulum will very slowly, begin to swing. After a few seconds, you will notice that your pendulum is swinging along the yes line.

Now tell the pendulum to show a no. You will notice that your pendulum begins to spin, and it will begin to swing across the no line. Tell the pendulum to show maybe. It should slowly begin to spin around the circle.

Another way to practice is to ask the pendulum to show you which way is what answer. Some people will name their pendulums. So, let’s say your pendulum is named “Willow”...get into a comfortable position, hang your pendulum and say out loud  “Willow, show me the direction for yes. Note the direction. Do this again for no and maybe, noting the direction. Keep notes in your journal to see if the pendulum always shows the same direction for the same answers.

[tweencraft]

Altars

Having an altar is one of my favorite parts of the Wiccan Religion. A place to worship at and do your magical workings, a place that when you look upon it, will fill you with peace, love and understanding.

When I started as a teen, I was lucky enough to have parents who were accepting of my choice. I don’t think they quite understood and I am sure they thought it was just another passing phase of teenagehood, but they didn’t try to influence me in any way.

My first altar was just a small space on a bedside table in my room. I only had 6 things on it. A representation of each of the four elements, Air, Earth, Fire, Water, the Goddess and my tiger necklace.  Mom did not allow me to have a candle, mostly because we had several pets and she worried that it would get knocked over. So, for the fire element, she gave me a dragon pendant, that she had in her jewelry box. A big ugly thing, she wore in the 1970’s, when all things associated with Asian culture were in style. For water, I had a large seashell, Earth was a small bowl of garden dirt and Air was a feather. My altar stayed this simple for years. I would switch things up, when the seasons changed, sometimes replacing the shell with a plastic snowflake or a huge Fall leaf, in place of the bowl of dirt.

By my senior year of highschool, I used pictures cut out of magazines to tape inside my locker, to give me a visual altar, to use during the school day. At one point, I did the same to the inside of my notebooks so, an altar was always available. I could flip to it, say a quick prayer or chant in my head and it helped with my focus for tests and studying.

When I went out on my own for college, I rented a small apartment that had a fireplace. I never had a fire, but I did place 3 large candles inside it to simulate a hearth and represent the Maid, Mother and Crone. The mantle over it, became a place for things found while out in nature, birds nest, cool rocks, big pine cones and whatever else caught my fancy. Soon, I started decorating the mantle to reflect the changing seasons and with it, the turning of the wheel of the year.

When my children were small, I got away from altar building, and just had small statues of the God and Goddess, in my kitchen. I always made sure my kids had a special place in their room, to display what they called “treasures”. In their own way, they were setting up sacred space. Now that my guys are all older, I have altars everywhere.

At last count, I have 5 permanent altars in my home and two outside. I have a kitchen altar, that is dedicated to the element of Air, because I am focusing my study on that element, right now. I have a money bowl altar by my front door, an Ancestor altar, a large magic working altar in my bedroom, a God and Goddess altar, also in my bedroom, my garden altar and Oak tree altar are outside. I will talk about all of these altars, one by one with pictures in the future.

Some altars use Wiccan ritual tools to represent the elements and directions, Pentacle for North (Earth), an Athame for East (Air), Wand for South (Fire) and Chalice or Cauldron for West (Water). I use the Athame for the South and the Wand for Air as the Athame to me represents the God and is masculine. I also had East as Water and my West was Air because that was the way I was taught. Now, that I study a Tradition, Water is West and Air is East. Either way is correct depending on your system, if Traditional or eclectic. You can have an altar cloth, candles, statues, incense, flowers, stones, your Book of Shadows, your chosen choice of divination tool (Tarot, Runes, Pendulum), anything you like. What is important, is you know why you want it to go on your altar and where you want to put it. I still put my necklace that I wear every day on my altar at night, just like I did as a teen. I use an offering bowl on three of my altars. This is where I place herbs, food, drink, pretty stones whatever I think will be a good gift to my God and Goddess. Eventually, the offerings all go outside on my garden altar for the animals and nature to partake.

There is no right or wrong way to have an altar, but these are not ritual altars. The altar, I use for ritual is dictated by my Tradition and it has to have very specific things on it. This is an altar that is set up and taken down, each time, in a particular way. And since most traditions are mystery traditions (meaning secret, unless you are a part of it) I won’t be showing pictures of it. :-) My setup may differ greatly from another person, what may work for me may not work for you and vise versa.

An altar can be simple or complex, it doesn’t matter. It is the meaning behind the gathering of items and the time spent, that is important. Don’t feel like you need to spend any money to achieve a beautiful and meaningful altar. I bet there are things in your home or out in your yard that will do the trick. I hope this inspires you to create something for yourself and your Gods. I would be happy to address any specific questions you may have and iIf you send me a picture of your altar, I will post it here. I would love to see all the amazing things you come up with, and as always record your thoughts and ideas in your journal.

[tweencraft]

Full Moons and Rituals

If you are just beginning your study of Wicca, you may wonder how to start doing ritual. The night of the full moon is a great time to introduce yourself to the God and Goddess.

This is an short and easy one. Go outside or to a window where you can see the full moon. Outside is best but I know that it is not always possible. Look at the moon, and try and clear your mind of everything but the moon. As you gaze up, take long deep breaths and slowly exhale. Relax.

When you are relaxed, reach up and put your hands on both sides of the moon as if you were going to bring it down to you. Slowly, bring your hands to your heart. Speak from your heart, and introduce yourself to the gods, and ask for guidance in your study.  It is customary to leave an offering, it can be a pretty stone, food or drink. Different gods like different things. If you know who your gods are, a quick google search will show what is a good offering for them. If you are unsure what to offer, some common offerings are apples, milk, bread or herbs.

There are many different and beautiful rituals for the celebration of the full moon. As you continue in your studies, they will become more complex and soon you will be writing your own.

Don't forget to write down what you did and how you felt after in your journal.

[tweencraft]

Where to start? "Know Thyself"

When I was younger and in a hurry to learn all I could about being a Witch, my teacher's first lesson, was for me to start a journal. Not a book of shadows, a journal. Huh? I was disappointed. Write about my everyday, boring life? WHY????

Now, years later, I understand why. One of the most powerful thing about a Witch, is that they know themselves. In and out, the good and bad, the pretty and the ugly, all the stuff that makes them who they are.

So grab a notebook or just some loose paper and write. Write from your heart and write honestly, write like no one else is ever going to read it. Keep it secret, keep it safe. This is for you only. Write when you are happy, write when you are furious and any time in between! If you can remember your dreams, write them down. Write down your goals, no matter how crazy they may seem. This is all about you. Collect pictures from magazines, the internet or your own photographs and drawing, things that move you. My first journal contained a lot of songs lyrics, because I had a hard time expressing my thoughts and feelings as a teen but I could always find songs that did it for me.

Once writing becomes a habit, start adding things like, what the weather is like that day, what phase is the moon in, what season is it, how do you feel today. I even started jotting down if I was sick or not and how I was getting along with family and friends.

Don't just write, but also go back and re-read what you have written. Look for patterns. See if any of your nightly dreams have manifested in your life. See if you are full of energy or grumpy as heck during a new moon.

I  journal now, almost 26 years later and I still learn something new about myself and my magic everyday! I will be posting weekly questions to help you jump start your writing and to give you something Witchy to think about! :-)