Your Wiccan/Pagan Path...and How Did You Know?

[too2sweet]

Just thought we could discuss and share how we knew that this was the path for us. Did you just wake up one day and know, or was it something that occurred over time? Are you still not sure about what path you are on, or are you set in your practices?

~*~

Personally I've been on my path for over 8 years, although I was interested for several years before I realized that there really was "something else", out there. I had spent a while searching and met a friend who was a practicing witch (Reclaiming Tradition), it was like coming home. I immediately knew I had found a piece of me that was missing. While my current practice is a meld of various traditions, I do have a Reclaiming influence. I am deeply connected to Isis - and have been, almost from the beginning, though I have not as of yet been called to a specific God. Though I am fairly set in my practices, I love learning new things - and given the opportunity I would love to be able to join a coven. I was at one time part of a circle, but have since moved and haven't yet found another group.  

[Clair Fay]

I knew a lot instinctively and never really bought into CHristianity even though it was pushed on me big time. I always felt that there was a God AND Goddess and that they had help as well. I have always believed in the fey and I always knew magick and that it wasn't flying glitter. I knew how spells worked and how to use them. I knew how to scry and how to use the pendulum. Then I just... *shrugs* I don't know. I heard some people talking about paganism and I heard how they mocked it and I became angry at them. I found paganism not on my own, but with help--both divine and human. Now, the more I learn, the more it just clicks and makes things make sense. I feel more at home among pagans and I always feel alone among Christians. I can't imagine raising whatever children I may have anything other than pagan.

Granted, I tolerate all religions regardless of my feelings towards them. CHristianity is the worst for me though. If a CHristian says one harsh thing to paganism or witchcraft or anything along those lines, I tend to snap. sweatdrop  

[WitchyBoy]

Kuriyaki

I knew a lot instinctively and never really bought into CHristianity even though it was pushed on me big time. I always felt that there was a God AND Goddess and that they had help as well. I have always believed in the fey and I always knew magick and that it wasn't flying glitter. I knew how spells worked and how to use them. I knew how to scry and how to use the pendulum. Then I just... *shrugs* I don't know. I heard some people talking about paganism and I heard how they mocked it and I became angry at them. I found paganism not on my own, but with help--both divine and human. Now, the more I learn, the more it just clicks and makes things make sense. I feel more at home among pagans and I always feel alone among Christians. I can't imagine raising whatever children I may have anything other than pagan.

Granted, I tolerate all religions regardless of my feelings towards them. CHristianity is the worst for me though. If a CHristian says one harsh thing to paganism or witchcraft or anything along those lines, I tend to snap. sweatdrop

me and kuriyaki -chan are like twins in this regard so i say ditto.  

[Milendil]

I was always searching for something. Something I never could quite place. Even now, I am searching. Aphrodite guides me and that is all I can ask for. But strangely, I am not content. I have been an eclectic Pagan for a while now, yet I don't feel at home.  

[Foxmore]

I never felt "right" with Christianity, though it was not for a lack of trying. When I was in jr high my best friend introduced me to Wicca. We didn't really talk about it again for another six months or so after I found a book on paganism and started really talking to her about it. That was about 8 years ago, and I have studied different forms of paganism since then. I have yet to find a specific tradition that I fit into yet, but I am happy for now just being eclectic. I figure I'm only 20 so I don't need to know all the answers just yet.  

[Playgunny]

I live in France, where it was hard to find a coven. It was my girlfriend who finally found one, and I was welcomed with open arms. Coincedentally, their beliefs were much the same as mine, so it is the perfect coven for me. The coven follows a little known French path called Amour de la Terre (Love of the Earth). This path does not worship any dieties, unlike many paths, but instead worships the Earth itself.  

[Rowan MacGregor]

I had a vision that lead me to my current path. I try to incorporate my spirituality into everything I do, in all aspects of my life. After all, "a path is made by walking it."  

[Enemy of Oz]

i was close to ten i was christian...... my dad introduced me and my brothers to my familys "hidden" side........ then few years later some thing felt wrong ........ my dad didnt like me to study about this but he did wnt me to do magick............. so then i studied more but b4 that i just felt .... off with christianity......... so then i sided with this and decieded to study it more....... no here i am glad and feel more relaxed and and happy with the new path i chose....... although my parents do not realy know that i decided this and do/ would not except it..........  

[Kyravine]

For pretty much my entire life, I know that being a Baptist, which is how I was raised, wasn't right for me. I looked into other Christian denominations and they didn't feel right either. So, once I got to college, I began searching...and stumbled upon Wicca, though mostly I felt closest to Brighid and Herne. Though after doing that for roughly a year or so, I started to feel a tug towards Egyptian-based faiths. I had dreams about Anubis, which led me to doing lots of research, and now I am part of a reconstructionist faith that aims to recreate ancient practices and beliefs in a modern cultural context. After I was initiated into it, I felt like I had come home, in a way. Now I give offerings to my ancestors, and offer thanks to all the Names, though my main patrons are Horus the Elder, Sekhmet, and Anubis.  

[violeteyes77]

I do like going to church, but every single one of them hasn't been able to take to my liking. Whenever I get to a new one, it's like I want to leave immediately. It was like I'm being pulled more and more away from it!! When I read about Wicca, though, I didn't want to exit out of the site (I still surf sites). Now, it's like I'm longing to practice it instead of just read about it! I really want to learn more!!!! The only problem is my family....  

[Korealia]

violeteyes77

I do like going to church, but every single one of them hasn't been able to take to my liking. Whenever I get to a new one, it's like I want to leave immediately. It was like I'm being pulled more and more away from it!! When I read about Wicca, though, I didn't want to exit out of the site (I still surf sites). Now, it's like I'm longing to practice it instead of just read about it! I really want to learn more!!!! The only problem is my family....

Do you have a local CUUPs group?  

[too2sweet]

Quote:

Do you have a local CUUPs group?

In case you don't know what CUUP's is:

http://www.cuups.org/content2/aboutcuups/

http://www.uua.org/visitors/beliefswithin/6678.shtml  

[Doxa Theou]

From about five years and before in my early childhood I lived with my mother, abusive father who beat her, & my two older sisters. When they split up my sisters went with my mom & as much as she didn't like it, I went with my dad since she couldn't fully support any more on her own. From then on I was raised by a man who was loosely-based Christian, I'm not sure which one specifically. From that point I was raised knowing the vague basics of Christianity, you know Easter, Christmas, Jesus, the Christian god all that. So I was raised with a vague understanding of it all that seemed to go with what I felt right: higher powers, hell, not just humans and something else I'm probably forgetting. It wasn't until I was about eight or nine that I started learning more specifics in their world that I didn't like: Lucifer, God having a gender, worship something that smites you if you don't, eventually later I learned the seven deadly sins, but didn't think of them as deadly so much as just human nature a.k.a. what you should expect from people. As it turned out in the period where I didn't see my mother she had taken on the path of a druid so one year I went over to her house for Yule. That's how I first came to know the world "pagan" & I didn't mind it or think of it in the same religious mindset as Christianity(brainwashed as summer camp to which I didn't really fit into either). Went agnostic for a bit then about nine months ago decided to try Wicca. It's a better fit than Christianity, but then again I'm not ready to make up my mind about it so I'm still seeing where this path takes me.  

[hyacinth hunter]

Even as a small child, I knew that I had problems with Christianity. I didn't understand why church just made me feel as though I was evil and there was something wrong with me. It also never made sense to me that God just had to be male. I didn't see why men were supposedly better than women, especially since my dad was...let's just say he was a real jerk and leave it at that. From about third grade on I started praying underneath a tree behind our house to "God" and "God's Wife". Later, when I learned the term goddess, I began to use that in my prayers. When I met a Wiccan friend and the man that would eventually become my husband, I realized what I had believed all along had a name and that there was more to it than I ever could have imagined. My husband was raised Wiccan so, I have always had a resource for my questions with him and his family. I was 14 when I first officially became Wiccan. I am 23 now and I have never looked back to Christianity since.  

[AiRune]

It's hard to explain. I spent much of my childhood researching different religions, trying to find one that best fit my preconceived ideas on the divine. My biggest one was that God (divine energy) was in nature and that nature was the greatest teacher. Nothing seemed to fit. Though, I did have a strong pull towards Buddhism.

Then I randomly typed in magic in the search engine because I was always a fan of fantasy novels. I was surprised when Wicca popped up. From there, I dived in head first in research. I knew the structure of the traditional paths weren't right for me. So I didn't commit for a long time and even struggled a bit back and forth.

But I went back to witchcraft because I just couldn't walk away. So I tried searching for another path and discovered other paths that were less constrictive (ritual wise) and allowed for a more intuitive practice.

That's kinda where I am today, trying to find spells and ideas that I can incorporate into my daily life.