Expert: Alayne Grey - 9/17/2008

Question
I have been absolutely fascinated with Wicca for quite some time. I have been trying to find my place and Wicca just seems to fit me, but, I don't know where to start, how to go about beginning the practice. I can't seem to find any good websites about it, though I have leafed through a book or two. I seem to learn better through actual people and not just their words on paper. Just, I'd love to have a place to belong and to be able to connect with something on a much more spiritual and deeper level. Help?

Answer
Hello Jackie,

Well, faith is a personal thing, so no one can tell you exactly how to begin or where to start from. But I can give you recommendations. Scott Cunningham is an excellent author for Wiccans of all levels of experience, and his two "Living Wicca" books are good for beginners wanting to know the basics. Isaac Bonewits' "Bonewits' Essential Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft" is good for its humorous tone and how he explodes myths and common misconceptions that can be confusing.

http://wicca.timerift.net is a good website to start you off, and Witchvox is a community for all kinds of Pagans where you can post essays and poetry and talk to other people. The Cauldron is an online forum where you can talk to other Wiccans, Witches and Pagans on all kinds of things, much more personal and chatty than Witchvox.

Avoid Silver Ravenwolf and D.J. Conway. Their works are not historically accurate and Ravenwolf's in particular perpetuate a lot of myths, particularly "the Burning Times" with inflated figures of the Inquisition period (only a few thousand people died overall, men, women and children, and no actual Pagans!) Silver Ravenwolf has also offered unethical advice to younger Pagans, advising them to lie to their parents about their forays into witchcraft.

But really, you just need to read everything you can lay your hands on, about history, religion (Islam, Christianity, Druidry, Buddhism etc), environmentalism and so on.

Hope this helps!

Alayne