New To WitchCraft. [Wanna Help Me?]

[MoonStone Harmony]

I'm 13 and ALWAYS wanted to begin studying witch craft ever since watched my neighbors mother study,

I think this is something I can easily get into and will be determined to continue through out my life.

But here's the thing,

Where in the world do I start?

Does anyone have any good recommendations for books?

P.S. I live right next to "Witch Central" [Salem,MA] Do you think I will have any luck there?

 

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Gods no. Avoid. Lots of twits and attention-seekers in that place. (Not that all of them are, but it's hard to sort wheat from chaff at the best of times.)

First off, what elements of witchcraft interest you? Why do you want to learn? Etc... Witchcraft is very broad and it will help us with which direction we point you in.  

[surukio]

Sanguina Cruenta

Gods no. Avoid. Lots of twits and attention-seekers in that place. (Not that all of them are, but it's hard to sort wheat from chaff at the best of times.)

First off, what elements of witchcraft interest you? Why do you want to learn? Etc... Witchcraft is very broad and it will help us with which direction we point you in.

must agree here, which type, or direction would you want to go it ?  

[MoonStone Harmony]

I was wondering either neo-pagan or pagan but I don't know the difference.

 

[surukio]

i might say seach for different types, kemetic, celtic, norse ect?

first things first see which of the dieties calls to you, prehaps that can help you find a direction.

or

or are you wanting to learn something in a different vein?  

[MoonStone Harmony]

dieties? and again I'm new to this, i'm not sure if things call to me, if they are, I wish they'd speak up, or maybe I'm not noticing?

I do here things whisper my name out of no where which make me jump around like a fool in public.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Deities aren't witchcraft wink Witchcraft is a craft, not a religion. There are some Pagan religions that involve magical and witchcraft-like practices as elements of the religion and others that consider it essentially impious.

"Pagan" at its widest means "non-Abrahamic". "Neo-Pagan" refers to religions that are reconstructions of, or influenced by, Palaeo-Paganisms, most especially of pre-Christian Europe but also of parts of Africa and the Middle East.

What ancient cultures and pantheons interest you at this point?  

[Brass Bell Doll]

While I wouldn't recommend trying to form a social network out of Salem, their are benefits to being near a city with an active pagan community. The best of which is that you are likely to find a wide selection of books on the subjects that interest you in their specialty shops.

Like Sanguina Cruenta mentioned though, some thought will need to be given to sort the quality books from the white noise.

To add:

xFrenchVanillax

I do here things whisper my name out of no where which make me jump around like a fool in public.

I find this troubling- have you sought professional help to ensure this isn't a symptom of a more serious problem?  

[x Guenhwyvar x]

I am 18 years old and I still have not found a path for myself.
I don't know the first thing about any of this, but when anyone says Wicca or Witchcraft, something in my heart flips around, and I can't help but feel like that is where I should be..

(To the poster of this topic, would it be alright if I ask for help here too? Or would you prefer I post seperately?)  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

xFrenchVanillax

dieties?

Deities = gods.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

x Guenhwyvar x

I don't know the first thing about any of this, but when anyone says Wicca or Witchcraft, something in my heart flips around, and I can't help but feel like that is where I should be..

Wicca and witchcraft are actually two very different places. In fact they're not even the same type of place wink  

[surukio]

Sanguina Cruenta

x Guenhwyvar x

I don't know the first thing about any of this, but when anyone says Wicca or Witchcraft, something in my heart flips around, and I can't help but feel like that is where I should be..

Wicca and witchcraft are actually two very different places. In fact they're not even the same type of place wink

wicca= a religion into which one must be initiated

witchcraft may or may not be a religion, and doesn't nessecerally include ties to any religious beliefs, THOUGH its can depending on the person.

not all witches are wiccan wink

and i had asked about deities because my path includes them[and i find working with them easier], though yet again i must agree with Sanguina, its isn't really required persay...  

[Ritual at Dusk]

Well, I started looking into it about two years ago and now I feel that I have a pretty decent understanding of wicca and witchcraft. I would reccomend several sources.

Silver Ravenwolf has a lot of good books for beginners in wicca and witchcraft.

The Sweep series by Cate Tiernan is good. It is a fictional series, but it has tons of real facts mixed in with it. There are fifteen books in the seires, and the first several, probably to about book three are mostly real magick, real wicca, but after that it starts to turn towards the fantasy side more. It should be quite simple to decipher which is real and which is fiction, plus it is a wonderful, entertaining series and you will be hooked in no time!

The website http://www.spellsandmagic.com is a good site for slightly more advanced wiccans and practitioners so once you get a feel for it then you should check out this site. This site isn't just about wicca and witchcraft, the information can apply to a lot of religions and practices, but a lot of the info is useful.

I have a blog as well that might be of some help.
http://www.moonwebmagick.blogspot.com
You can look through the archives and check out the different posts and maybe you can get an idea of what to look for. Also, there are bits and pieces posted on the main page and it should be helpful.

Good luck in finding out about it. Maybe you could also talk to whoever you saw studying it and they can give you soem tips. Good luck!  

[oOGarrettOo]

Do NOT refer to Silver Ravenwolf as a source on ANYTHING. Especially not Wicca and/or witchcraft as she knows naught on either of these topics, effectually using them synonymously, which they are not. Considering that Wicca is a mystery religion, and Witchcraft is a practice, and both are completely different things, anyone who uses the terms synonymously can be easily dismissed, as they should be. Common sense.

Also, using a fictional story as a source for factual information is a very, very large oxymoron. Fictional stories are fictional, and while there may be fact in them this fact is usually stretched to fit the story where need be.

In other words: fictional story =/= factual information.

Also spellsandmagic.com is a joke. I was laughing at page one.