What made you start to practice magic/witchcraft/wicca?

[GenevieveDawn]

Hey everyone, it's curious little Genevieve again. I was just wondering what made everyone here begin to practice. Seems like we know little details about eachother, but this is such a milestone in ones life. (If you're true to your belief that is). For some of us it was just curiousity or a dramatic life event, or maybe we just believed it was our calling. It was the last one for me. Just seemed like I always knew that it was who I was, I just denied it for so many years.

So anyway, if you don't think I'm prying to much, I'd love to hear your stories.

[thasme]

Iv just been around it all my life . my granmother doing /making tonic/cough med/ growing herbs ect..... my Mom who is a witch in denile..lol. being a halloween baby, and reading astrology books ect all the time, ghost hunting when I was like 5 yrs old w/her and bf's.. Talking dogs .. (thinking that was a drunkin stooper for her)lol.. Just the fact I feel like I was born with it.. It didn't start to set in as to what I was untill I was about 15... That was when I started searching....

.........................Rena

[LilBubbler]

I started when... um... i really dunno. I kno I liked to be gothic, and I have always been extreamly worried about the way I looked. When I saw this was a way to change the way I looked, I jumped at it, then I got a little caught up in it.

[Marie*]

I was more drawn to it then anything. I just didn't believe what the Christian religion was trying to say, and I felt that there was something else that would make more sense to me. So I started looking into the wicca religion and things made more sense, and I stopped hating myself for "sinning". So yea I was drawn to it.

[JBRaven]

My friend Bree, did a spell in front of me. I got really scared called here a crazy witch bitch and ran away. After that it has followed me and bugged the crap out of me until I started practicing

[Demi]

For a long time, I have been interested in positive magic, and helping people.

I was introduced to wicca (or what people call wicca) in Arlington, Texas, before I moved to this hellish hick town. Here in hell, though, I met JBRaven, and she gave me a much more in-depth talk about it.

Though raised baptist, I never accept Christianity as my calling... so really this is the first religion I have believed in, and tried hard to follow.

[Avlad of the Phoenix]

In November, 1989; I was informed by my father's physician that my father had only one year to live. I was raised Catholic but had not seriously practiced it or any other religion for that matter for a long time. The news about my father rocked me to my foundations. I began to seek some kind of solice, answer, anything to ease the heartbreak that I was feeling.
Having been a high school history and English teacher most of my adult life, I found myself in the one place where I could usually find something apporoaching solice and peace - our local bookstore. Something brought me to the New Age section even though I had never really concidered an alternative religion before.
Something fixed my gaze on one book, Ray Buckland's "Complete Book of Witchcraft". I bought it, brought it home, read it in one night and and the following month. I dedicated myself to the Goddess. I have since become a Wiccan High Priest and a Third Degree Wiccan Sage and founder of my own new Wiccan Tradition, Celto - Egyptian Wicca. That's my story.
Avlad of the Phoenix

[GenevieveDawn]

That's a really interesting story. It's fascinating for me to see how we have all evolved into our practice. Do you still teach? I sub right now, and hope to go back and get my master's soon. Hope you'll stick around here, I'm sure we can learn from you.

[Avlad of the Phoenix]

Merry Meet and Blessed Be, Genevieve/Dawn,
First of all, thank you for the compliment. If I can be of any service to anyone in teaching about our favorite subject - Wicca - just drop me a line either here or at my email address. I look forward to hearing from any of you. Needless to say, I have EVERY intention of sticking around here and I have just told my fiance', fellow Wiccan, and future High Priestess, Gaiasophia, about this place and she should be joining us soon as well.
I retired from high school teaching in December but I still continue to tutor, both in real - time and in cyberspace; part - time. Full time I'm preparing for a number of VERY IMPORTANT events in my life. First and MOST IMPORTANTLY is Gaiasophia and my Handfasting which we plan for sometime in December - if not earlier ( NOT SURE I CAN WAIT THAT LONG!!!!) We had planned to honeymoon in Egypt but the political climate being what it is in that part of the world, we may have to put that part of the plan on hold for the time being. After our Handfasting, we are going to move to Texas. Gaiasophia has two grown children and three wonderful grandchildren therr so we both are looking forward to a beautiful future life together in the Goddess.
Now, if I may ask you, what area and grade level do you teach? We need GOOD, CARING AND STRONG teachers today. Most of public education today consists of trying to please the political influence groups and less and less on trying to educate the future leaders of our world. Believe me, today in our public schools, a LOT of children are being left behind!!!! Well, I guess I'll climb down off my soapbox and from behind the lecturn for now. THANK THE GODDESS I FOUND THIS PLACE!!!!
Blessed Be and Merry Part,
Avlad of the Phoenix

[Starwitch]

That kind of reminded me of an email I receieved yesterday from someone who also wanted to teach and had also come up with her own brand of Wicca, though hers sounded a little stranger than yours, since many witches are into Celtic and Egyptian studies.

She said, "I am a follower of my own brand of Wicca - Buddist Shamanic Wicca. I would like to teach my new form of Wicca for a first time. I have 8 followers already, 6 men and 2 women, but they are all freinds of mine, I would very much like to teach an outsider of our ways."

At the end of this long email explaining herself to me, she said, "At this point I would also like to ask that you give credit to my fellow existing Buddist Shamanic Wiccan followers - Hawk, Jack, Alex, Danny, Brian, Wood, Bud and Berry."

Is she giving "shout-outs" or what? lol. Why would I "give credit" to some people I've never heard of before?

lol

[morgan]

my sisters started doing it and i started to we tryed some candel spells and i just couldent stop. theyer like potato chips you cant have just one, lol

[Mommywitch2]

I had a friend who was deeply into Wicca, I would hang out with her and went to some "coven" meetings. I really liked it and wanted to join, but was going through a very difficult time and so I didn't. I have never believed that christianity was right, or even sane. Then last year two of my Neices came to me and said they wanted to start practicing and asked me if I would help them. So we started practicing together. Then I read a bunch of books, including the Davinci code and I got really interested in the whole Goddess aspect of paganism. I still am not a true, practicing Pagan, but I would call myself a novice! Any way, that's my story! Blessed Be!

[poetry_princess]

well, i was a christian...by label only. a whole bunch of bad shit happened to me....i tried to kill myself and wound up on the mental ward of a hospital. my father said i needed to do some soul searching. and then, i started dreaming that i was reading books about witchcraft...which was really odd. but the dreams never stopped...so i went to the bookstore, and as i read that book, it was like all my questions were answered, and all my fears crushed. the rest is history.

[morgan]

thats awsom poetry

[Abren]

I have to admit i strated after watching the 'Craft'. I knew it wouldn't really be like it is in the movie, but i was interested in finding out the truth.
I strated with a friend but she dosn't practice anymore
and i never really agreed with Christianity. There were too many holes in its beliefs for me.