Broom Closet...please help!

[Midnight_Affair]

Okay, So I Have completely Fallin in love with Wicca, I eat, breath, and sleep on it, I feel happy when I think Of wicca, I'm just a beginner , I have a low budget and can only get out so much, but the truth of the matter is I need a mentor, I found somebody who was willing to teach but she needs the premisson of my parents.....Oh yes, My parents HATE the Idea of wicca, my mother freaked when she found a box of my Tarot cards and I have to Hide my other things ( Ouiji Board, My Wicca and Witchcraft for Idiot's book, Herbs , Spells, Scrolls, Candles)! My Father dis-approves they already told me that they would dis-own me If they ever found out I was Gay (Which I am..Kinda..I'm Bi) and that Any religon other then christianity / Hebrew was outta the question. I'm told "Just wait until your 18" But I can't Wicca is a part of me just like my family...and I feel horrible because it feels like I'm gonna have to choose..  

[chrkut]

I am in a similer situation. Parents dislike wicca, but I have a friend at school thats been helping me out. I would say, make some friends that practice wicca in your area and go to their homes to practice... or find a loose floorboard in your room.  

[Rainbow Holocaust]

I'm in somewhat of a similar situation.... I have no way of studying Wicca, though, because I happen to live in North Idaho, where all books you can get at a library are either on christianity or "How to Tell if My Child is in a Cult" and all the "What to Do" type things....
So I have no way of studying.
I am also bisexual (hey, we have a lot in common! lol) but my parents don't know.. Well, my dad does, but he lives across the country.... So that's no help stare
Good luck... I'm fifteen so I don't have TOO long, I guess... How about you?  

[chrkut]

Im 14, and like in Pennsylvania, where the Library is a bit more open. Also my school library has a lot of information.  

[Kandell]

i'm going through the same thing as you.  

[clandestine sheep]

*Agrees* I have to hide my books in my secret compartment by my bed. I pretty much give my (Wiccan) friend money to go to Borders and buy me books on it, slip them to me at school, then i hide them.  

[too2sweet]

It's difficult when you can't practice openly. The sad thing is turning 18 doesn't always mean you can suddenly come out of the "broom closet"...so to speak. I am 33 and although I had been drifting on the edge of wicca for years, I finally found my path about 7 years ago. It was like coming home, and I had never been so happy and at peace with myself. What we have more or less determined however, is that my husband must have been a member of the spanish inquisition or a part of the salem witch trials in a past life, because he absolutely freaked (my marriage would have ended if I had continued as I was). Even he couldn't explain why he was so against it, but it got to the point that he was actaully making himself ill (chest pains) if I went out to do rituals. I had all these great dreams of raising my children in this wonderful tradition...and now I am again more or less back in "the closet".

The good news is that just because you can't dance naked in your back yard, doesn't mean you can't hold the goddes in your heart. You also don't need to have "stuff" or to hold big flashy rituals to make it any more real. Our mother understands what is in our hearts and knows that we love her, even when we cannot show it on the outside.

Hopefully when you turn 18 things will be better, and if this is truly the path that you want to follow for the rest of your life, then I encourage you to be as open as you can about it when you are able to. In that way you won't end up like me - married to a guy who just doesn't get it.  

[Fire_Queen_xx]

When I my parents found me studying Wicca, they went totally haywire, I was about 12 years old, and my older half-sister had studied it before I was born, and she went to school, blabbing about it, telling kids to call her by her Witch's name, and so got laughed at. So when my parents saw me studying the same thing, they got really angry and banned me from a bunch of things. However, when they thought to explain to me WHY they acted that way, (y'know, worried I'd make the same mistakes) I assured them I wouldn't do anything like that, and they were way cool with it, asking me questions, letting me celebrate the Sabbats, things like that... I live in Washington State, and I only know one Wiccan and he doesn't even go to my school anymore. (and we disagree on like everything xd
Also, I'm pretty sure my parents would accept me being bi or something  

[Korealia]

I started reading on the occult at 11. I started reading about Wicca and Witchcraft at 13.

Yeah, my parents were kind of weirded out about it.

Most of what they saw from me was my Tarot, some crystals, fantasy-esque jewelry and some incense. Mostly harmless, mostly 'in my mind' or 'hippie/new age crap' to them. I got ridicule.

Then when they found out at 16, I was reading about Wicca more publicly, it was World War III. They're in fear for my immortal soul, hellfire and damnation, blah blah frickin blah....

At 16, I started practicing with an ADF Grove. As far as my mother was concerned, I was 'hanging out with friends'. My parents are divorced, and I happened upon these people when I was at work (I worked for a grocery store at the time and a woman came through my line late at night with a pentacle). sweatdrop Er...my mom couldn't read or write, being that she's from Thailand, and so I...uh, told her they were permission slips from school that needed to be signed. High Machiavellian, but... sweatdrop well, you get the picture. That's how I went to a pagan festival too.

So I can't say that I was a really good kid and waited when it came to that kind of thing, but I can say that you know your parents, you know what buttons to push and you know what ones to avoid.

Some people I know got away with it under the premise of New Age belief. Some people did LARPs and said it was part of their stuff. A few of them were so scared, they hand-copied what I wrote, wrote it in runes, then left it at school in their lockers.

Being a parent, on the parent side, there are a lot of stupid things that parents do. Sometimes they react on their own feelings of prejudice and experience. Other times they're ignorant, and with ignorance of a thing comes fear of it.

And I know it sucks, but regardless, you have to remember that ultimately, they have your best interest at heart (save, maybe for the snoopy mother's boyfriend, who really has no business in your room - your spiritual path is ultimately yours, but being able to practice it should be between you and your mother, not some outsider) and will do what they think is best for you....regardless if you want them to or not.

If you can't talk, you have to wait. sad If you really want a witchie mentor, you'll have to respect the fact s/he's gotta wait until you're 18 to keep from getting arrested or sued. evil  

[Siren Stern]

What a lot of beautiful stories about our Religion. In fact, even in our times so many persons carries in their hearts medieval prejudices which they just can't understand and explains exacly where they came from. It's something like "why is it wrong to celebrate the Goddess?" and an evasive answer like "because it just is" or soemthing like that. I came from a very Catholic family, started studing Wicca when I was 14 and it was difficult to me in the beggining to be accepted in my beliefs by family and relatives. My father, who was a pagan in his youth (he celebrated the Afro-Brazilian rituas of Umbanda), became one of the most suppressive persons against my beliefs, saying I was spending so much money with bull-shits and ambiguously saying I was becoming a religious fanatic and that he was against it. But time made them see I still be the same son, the same brother, the same grandson, the same nephew. Fortunatelly I got a much better fate than some stories in here. My parents doesn't talk about this anymore, but I receive sometimes Christian gifts like prayers or something like that (today my mother sent me an email about Jesus). But I don't fight them, just delete it, acept the gift and put it in a box. Once a time my priestess said "every bless is welcome". So, I know their intention isn't bad. As long they aren't forcing me to do anything I don't wanna do, like going to church or something like that, I prefer to keep things in this way. I conquered their respect. I lent them some Wiccan books so they could see I wasn't worshipping devil or something like that, and told them it would be better if I celebrate something than if I just didn't believe in anything. I think the biggest problem is when the parents don't understand what we are doing. When you are younger, it's more difficult, I think. But we must try to see which lands we can step with our beloved ones. If we can't, like too2sweet told, maybe it's better to step back and keep things in secret for a while. I always think it's better do not fight with our family, but do use diplomacy with them.  

[School_chick1]

Reading your posts has given me some hope that my parents might somehow accept me for who i am. they let me wear my pentagram but give me $#!& about it. every family's different i guess.  

[Mariah Clark Rocks]

I'm 18 and I'm still in that situation. My mother and I are in a don't ask don't tell thing. The thing is that I'm not hiding it, I'm open with it. So if anyone needs help, just tell me. I know a bit and I can be that complain to girl. ^^  

[eartha oak]

~Im in the same place as you. My step-dad is 100% against wicca, my mother is well...idk she has to hide her wicca books even though she isnt a wiccan.me on the other hand I jsut lock my door and practice my spells late at night or when no one is home thats normally the best and most practical time for me.
I love witchcraft its been a positive thing in my life. Soon I will be out on my own in my own place so I can practice my craft and also me and a friend like to read and reserch spells and rituals together and do a few spells.
I am on the path of kitchen witchery.

ps
I hide my stuff in drawers,a trunk and in boxes in cupbords that I have in my room and as for candles do a decorative display with them so your family thinks its just for decoration.

~blessed be  

[Ellisari]

Eh, I'm also in the broom closet.

I dont know, nor do I want to find out, what my mother's reaction will be to my religion, until I'm safely in my own place. Far, far from her.

I practice late at night, when I'm assumed to be sleeping. My door doesn't have a lock, so I have to be even more cautious, and make sure nothing is too open, or that I'm too loud.

I keep a lot of candles in my room, and I know they think its entirely for decoration, which is cool with me.
I keep incense, journals, books, herbs, stones, tarot decks, and other obviously-not-just-decoration supplies hidden.

I do think my mom suspects, though. She's always trying to lure me out of my closet with promises of "Ohh, I'm open-minded, you know that" [accompanied by a pointed look =3]
She recently found one of my books [The Spiral Dance], and didnt say much after reading the back of it, she just put it down and walked away. Her condescending attitude is what makes me refrain from telling her anything.

^^ Thing is, my mom and I dont get along. At all. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Zero compatibility.
So I have never been one to confide in my mother. Any of my family, really. I've been doing fine in my little closet, and unless I'm forcibly removed from my closet, I intend to stay there, until I've moved far far from my family =3

I suggest that if you dont have to tell them, don't. Especially if you're not too uncomfortable with them not knowing, and you know their reaction will make Hurricane Andrew look like a light drizzle.
But each is different. If you're the kind who tells their parents everything, make it a gradual thing. Like maybe leave a book about Wicca or Witchcraft out in the open, where you know they'll spot it. Mention it once or twice in passing. When you know they've opened a little to the idea, sit 'em down and tell them kindly what you are. When they object, don't argue. Listen. Make sure they know you respect their religion. =3
Don't argue is the best advice I can give you. Just wait out the storm.