So, I'm definitely considering Wicca, and...

[Sanguina Cruenta]

mqstalker

I'm sorry I'm just jumping in here...so...being Wiccan involves being initiated by a coven and becoming part of it.
And not having that done means you're an eclectic pagan?

All this time, I thought I was Wiccan. Incorrect that I was.


*hides*

I really should read more around here...I haven't been on that long, so yeah. I should get to reading more.

If I may be so bold as to ask...what books would you recommend me reading? Like, specifically? I am completely interested in learning much more than I already know. which isn't much to begin with...*sigh*

It's okay, it's not your fault ^_^ There are heaps of books out there that say you can be a Wiccan if all you do is cast their spells and stuff. Even good authors like Cunningham use the word "Wicca" in ways they shouldn't. So people get mislead all the time. I was the same way for years ^_^

I personally believe that the religion based on Wiccan outer-court info exists as a specific religion in its own right. It's not Wicca, but for the sake of things "Neo-Wicca" is as good a compromise as any. (It's hard to get so many people to change the name of their religion wink ) But yeah, there are practices and beliefs that comprise that religion, so I believe it's a religion in its own right... just a religion that isn't Wicca.

But then there are a whole bunch of people who think they fit into the "Neo-Wicca" category but don't wink  

[too2sweet]

Scorplett (who is Trad) lists the following as recommended reading for Seekers:

Quote:

Witchcraft Today – Gerald Gardner
The Meaning of Witchcraft – Gerald Gardner
Alex Sanders Lectures- Alex Sanders
A Witches Bible (or What Witches Do and Eight Sabbats for Witches)– Stewart Fararr
Wicca- The Old Religion in the New Age.- Vivienne Crowley
Witchcraft for Tomorrow – Doreen Valiente
Circle of Fire - Sorita D'Este & David Rankine
Lid off the Cauldron - Patricia Crowther
The Witches God – Farrar
The Witches Goddess – Farrar
Spells and how they work – Farrar
ABC of Witchcraft – Doreen Valiente
Rebirth of Witchcraft - Doreen Valiente
Fire Child - Maxine Sanders
Fifty Years Of Wicca - Frederic Lamond
High Priestess - Patricia Crowther
Drawing Down the Moon – Margot Adler
Spiral Dance – Starhawk
Witchcrafting – Phillis Currot
Elements of Ritual – Deborah Lipp
Wiccan Roots - Philip Heselton
Triumph of The Moon – Ronald Hutton
Man and His Symbols – Carl Jung
The new Golden Bough – James Frazer
The White Goddess – Robert Graves
Aradia: Gospel of the Witches – Charles Godfrey Leyland
A Witchcult in Western Europe – Margaret Alice Murray
King of the Witches – June Johns
Magick in theory and practice – Alister Crowley
The Kabbalah unveiled – Mc Greggor Mathers


There are a fair few books that are available open source if you don't mind reading off a computer screen!

Some of them might be a little heavy going for the beginner, but they are all classic texts on Wicca and Witchcraft


The Golden Bough
by Sir James George Frazer
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/index.htm


The Witch-Cult in Western Europe
by Margaret Alice Murray
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/wcwe/index.htm

Aradia; Gospel of the Witches
by Charles G. Leland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/aradia/index.htm

Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/err/index.htm

Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/gsft/index.htm

Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft
by Sir Walter Scott
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/scott/index.htm

The Sorceress (La Sorcière)
by Jules Michelet
translation by Afred Richard Allinson
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/sor/index.htm

Witchcraft Today (PDF) - by Gerald Gardner
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/WiccaWitchcraftToday.pdf

The Meaning of Witchcraft - Gerald Gardner
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/TheMeaningofWitchcraft.doc

High Magics Aid - A 'fictional' book by Gerald Gardner
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/HighMagicsAid.doc

Gerald Gardner: Witch - attributed to Jack Bracelin but actually written by Idries Shah http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/GeraldGardnerWitch[1].rtf

God of the Witches (PDF) - by Dr Margaret Murray,
http://www.thewica.co.uk/godwitch.pdf

 

[Nattfodd]

Scorplett's list is based on Gardnerian Wicca though, which is more CM influenced; The witchcraft of more eclectic pagans is based moreso on folk magic.

The extensive references to ceremonial magic on that reading list may not work out so well for someone looking for a more folk approach to casting.  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

mqstalker

but now, that makes me wonder. How can it be that it was allowed for him to publish an untruth as big as the one he did? I can only imagine how many people, like myself, have taken it to heart and thought themselves true Wiccans. It isn't that hard for me to call my religion another name, due to the fact that I've only been calling myself such and such for a short time. But what about those who haven't had any other teachings and have called themselves Wiccan for decades?

Because some book publishers don't care if what they're printing is factual, they just want to make money. Llewellyn is notorious for publishing things that may not be true. Not to say ALL of their stuff is bunk, but a good portion of it is.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

mqstalker

but now, that makes me wonder. How can it be that it was allowed for him to publish an untruth as big as the one he did? I can only imagine how many people, like myself, have taken it to heart and thought themselves true Wiccans. It isn't that hard for me to call my religion another name, due to the fact that I've only been calling myself such and such for a short time. But what about those who haven't had any other teachings and have called themselves Wiccan for decades?

Yeah, I know how you feel. Ha, actually, I was really lucky - I'd moved away from Wicca by the time I fully discovered what it really was. I had decided that what I believed in was far enough away from (Neo-)Wicca that I should stop using the word; that it no longer fit for me and, in reality, hadn't done for some time.

But I get what you mean, yeah. And it makes it worse that there's no real name to replace it with. This sort of thing leaves a lot of people feeling a bit lost or unbalanced. Makes you a bit angry, too, that publishers like Llewellyn (and others) aren't checking their facts... or are, and just don't seem to care.

I suppose the thing to keep in mind is that the "true Wiccans" thing is mostly to do with the name and what you're calling yourself. No, you're not a true Wiccan, but that doesn't mean you're not true to your path or that you're not a devout follower of your deities.

But I guess the ones who've been calling themselves "Wiccan" for decades and somehow never discovered what it actually is are a bit slack on their studies.  

[too2sweet]

Nattfodd

Scorplett's list is based on Gardnerian Wicca though, which is more CM influenced; The witchcraft of more eclectic pagans is based moreso on folk magic.

The extensive references to ceremonial magic on that reading list may not work out so well for someone looking for a more folk approach to casting.

I got the impression that she was looking for Trad resources, and Gardnerian is pretty much as "trad" as you can get. blaugh